Our Tesla Cybertruck Already Had a 'Critical Steering Issue'

• Our long-term Tesla Cybertruck had a series of electrical mishaps during testing this week.
• Our truck threw a "critical steering issue" warning, at which point the rear-axle steering deactivated and we could not drive the truck above 4 mph.
• Thankfully, the truck is working fine now.

The recent CrowdStrike outage left many PC users facing the infamous blue screen of death, or BSOD. But at our test track on Monday, our long-term Tesla Cybertruck threw us a new one. Say hello to the FRSOD — the flashing red screen of death — brought on by an electrical fault and, ahem, "critical steering issue."

What happened?

During our routine instrumented testing process — the same tests we apply to every new car — director of vehicle testing Jonathan Elfalan was looping the Cybertruck around our handling track when the Tesla started to flash a warning. Elfalan pulled into the paddock and observed the following:

• Reduction of power (little turtle icon on the center screen)
• Air conditioning refusing to blow cold air
• Error message: "Low voltage electrical system issue detected / Vehicle power reduced — Schedule service"

We decided to park the truck and let it reset, hoping that'd fix the problem.

[Narrator]: That did not fix the problem

Editorial assistant Albert Hernandez and I got into the Cybertruck to try and run interior sound level testing. Attempting to shift the Cybertruck into drive brought up a new window:

"Unable to shift out of Park (P) because the vehicle has detected a loss of redundancy. Out of Park (P), the vehicle may suddenly lose electrical power, steering and propulsion, and may be unable to apply the parking brake.

"It may be possible to recover the system by performing a vehicle power cycle: Exit the vehicle, close all doors, reenter the vehicle, and attempt to drive.

"An override is available for low-speed maneuvering to position the vehicle for roadside support. Be ready to apply the brake pedal."

We tried the exit/enter strategy, and nope, nothing. So we tried shifting into drive again, got the same error message, accepted the override, and bam, FRSOD. At this point, the rear-axle steering did not work, the Cybertruck's front running lights turned off, and the vehicle would not exceed 4 mph.

But then …

We moved the Cybertruck out of the track paddock and into the parking lot, assuming we'd leave it there until we could get roadside assistance out in the morning. (Remember, we own this Cybertruck; Tesla did not provide it to us for testing.) When we wrapped for the day, about 30 minutes later, we figured we'd try it once more, just for kicks, and of course, this time it worked.

The truck started, shifted into gear, and drove away without a single issue.

We aren't alone

Business Insider reports several owners have cited similar issues with the Cybertruck's fully electric steer-by-wire system. The Cybertruck forums have posts with FRSODs as well. No one seems to know what actually causes this problem, just that it happens and that sometimes it goes away on its own.

Tesla does not operate a public relations department, so we're unable to contact the automaker for comment on this matter.

Edmunds says

We're certainly used to teething issues with Teslas — we've owned several. I guess we were just hoping our Cybertruck's first snafu wouldn't happen while it was still wearing its new-car temporary tags.