Tesla Cybertrucks are known for their penchant for breaking down in strange and unique ways, but this one is an all-timer, and for once it wasn’t technically the truck’s fault. Nope, this all has to do with the owner (if you ignore a design shortcoming).
TikToker Jeremy Judkins has been chronicling his Cybertruck ownership since the day he bought it, and a few days ago he posted a video about how his Cybertruck wouldn’t release his charger, which meant he couldn’t drive it. He thought he could just leave the cord in the bed and it would be fine, but that wasn’t the case — the truck knew it was still connected, so it was immobilized. He then did a little research and found a small access panel behind the tailgate of his truck, removing it and fishing out a cord that acts as an emergency release. After pulling it a few times because of “trial and error” the plug finally unlatched. He then admits that he “may have honestly broke it.”
You’d think that’s where the story would end, but no dice. A day later, Judkins made another post, saying that his Cybertruck wasn’t initially broken, and he just wanted to explain how to get the charger unstuck using an “exaggerated story.” Unfortunately, it is now actually broken. During the “trial and error” phase of pulling the cord, it seems Judkins errored a little bit too hard and broke the emergency release cable.
He said the cable is now loose and has “no give,” which isn’t ideal. Judkins added that it’s no longer pulling on anything, and it isn’t supposed to come out as far as it is – nearly a foot away from the bodywork. At first glance, this seems like it could be a user error from Judkins, but that may not be the case.
He posted an excerpt from the Cybertruck’s owner’s manual that says using the charger manual release could result in damage to the truck, and it should only be used in emergencies. Yikes. The note reads:
“CAUTION: Use the release cable only in situations where you cannot release the charge cable using the usual methods. Frequent use can damage the release cable or changing equipment.”
Judkins hasn’t posted an update for the broken release cord, but if he does we’ll be sure to follow up. Listen, I know the dude wasn’t supposed to use the cable, but I feel like Tesla should have engineered it to work more than one time. I suppose like everything else on the Cybertruck, it was slapped together and not really meant to last.