--- title: "Body Panels Flying Off Cybertrucks on Highway, Drivers Report" description: "Tesla's Cybertruck faces safety concerns as metal body panels detach at high speeds due to a unique manufacturing method." date: "2025-02-22" modified: "2025-02-22" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/panels-flying-off-cybertrucks" categories: - "Advanced Transport" tags: - "cars" - "cybertruck" - "tesla" --- # Body Panels Flying Off Cybertrucks on Highway, Drivers Report ![Tesla's Cybertruck faces safety concerns as metal body panels detach at high speeds due to a unique manufacturing method.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* Tesla's Cybertruck has quickly become an extremely politically charged target of anti-Elon Musk sentiment. The bulky steel tanks seem to court [vandals]() and [loathing]() almost everywhere they go. But when spray paint is the worst a Cybertruck driver has to worry about, they’ve gotten off easy — there are now several reports of the 6,600-pound EVs [shedding metal body panels]() at dangerously high speeds. The Cybertruck is designed with a nine-foot piece of boomerang-shaped window trim on each side. In a typical car, similar bits of body panels are held in place by bolts or else welded to the frame. But the Cybertruck is *not* a typical car, as one [Michigan driver]() found out the hard way. While driving at highway speeds, the glue holding that piece of frame failed, causing it to rip off. "I ran a quick errand tonight," the driver complained in a [post]() on the Cybertruck Owners Club forum, "and while merging and accelerating on the interstate in normal traffic, at about 70 mph, I heard a loud ripping sound and the metal panel liberates and flew into traffic behind me." "I was not able to stop as I was in the middle of a highway split," he continued. "I rolled the window down and felt for it, and yes, the trim was gone." The Michigan driver is far from the only one. Car enthusiast publication *Road & Track* found [multiple cases]() where that exact panel has peeled off its adhesive, on top of other body panels and the tailgate. Since the Cybertruck launched in November 2023, at least [two other]() boomerang-panel complaints have been filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. When one [Illinois driver's]() piece flew off, he asked a Tesla representative to also replace the other side, only to be told they "will not do it unless \[the panel\] falls of," per *Road & Track*. Heavy steel panels aren't the only thing flying off Elon Musk's EVs. A [four-year investigation]() by the NHTSA found that almost 75,000 Teslas were equipped with shoddy front suspension, causing the tires to [fly off at speed](). Nicknamed "whompy wheels," the issue haunts Teslas of all makes and models around the world, including the brand new [Cybertruck](). Though the EV company issued [seven Cybertruck recalls]() in a little over a year, it has seemingly yet to address whompy wheels or the boomerang trim. Until it does, drivers might want to give these rolling doorstops a wide berth, unless they want a piece of the "[toughest and most badass truck ever made]()" flying through their windshield. **More on Cybertrucks:** [*Cybertruck Owners Actually Love the Fact That Their Car Could Fly Apart at Any Moment*]() ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()