Tesla finds ‘cell-dent’ issues in Cybertrucks, starts replacing battery packs

Tesla has found a problem with “cell denting” in some Cybertrucks and it is starting to change the battery packs. The automaker is even sending the trucks back to Gigafactory Texas to investigate and replace the packs.

Cybertruck has been in production for a year now, and the production ramp has been relatively smooth.

Tesla is now capable of producing several thousands of Cybertrucks per week at Gigafactory Texas.

However, the vehicle program isn’t without issues.

Tesla issued several recalls on the Cybertruck and many owners have reported frequent service visits. Tesla even bought back some Cybertrucks that had many problems.

Now, Electrek has learned about a new Cybertruck problem: cell dents.

According to sources familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by Electrek, Tesla has detected “cell dents” in some Cybertruck battery packs and it is now shipping those trucks back to Gigafactory Texas to have the battery packs replaced.

Cybertruck is the only Tesla vehicle built with Tesla’s own in-house 4680 battery cell.

The issue was detected in “many inventory vehicles,” according to someone familiar with the matter, but it doesn’t appear to have shown up in customer vehicles yet.

As we reported this week, Tesla has been stuck with a high number of Cybertrucks in inventory in the US and it is now taking actions, including converting Foundation Series Cybertrucks into regular ones and homologating over 800 inventory US Cybertrucks for the Canadian market.

Tesla’s service and collision centers are already overwhelmed by these modifications and other issues, like self-driving computer replacements in newer cars.

Therefore, the automaker is sending the Cybertrucks with those battery pack issues to Gigafactory Texas, or other locations that are not as busy.

Tesla hasn’t issued a service bulletin about the problem and it is unclear how many vehicles are affected by this “cell dent” problem.

However, Tesla has recently found another issue with the Cybertruck battery pack and released a service bulletin about it. Some trucks have the battery ancillary harness improperly installed.

The automaker wrote:

On certain Cybertruck vehicles, the HV battery ancillary harness may have been improperly routed, which might strain the harness branches and/or connectors between the High Voltage Controller (HVC) and Battery Management Boards (BMBs), potentially preventing HVC and BMB communication through one of the two harness branches.

If necessary, Tesla technicians are asked to inspect vehicles for symptoms and replace the harness on trucks coming into service if they have to.

Electrek’s Take

It sounds like Tesla is having a tough end-of-quarter/end-of-the-year. On top of the usual madness to try to deliver everything in inventory, the automaker is facing some serious issues with the new version of the HW4 computer and trying to get rid of Cybertruck inventory.

To address the latter, Tesla has to convert them to Canadian vehicles, non-Foundation Series, and now also replace some battery packs.

But Tesla needs to attempt to sell these trucks by the end of the quarter to make its financials look better for the end of the quarter.