Roger Yu

USA TODAY

Tesla, the electric car maker founded by billionaire Elon Musk, has issued a voluntary recall of its Model S and Model X vehicles, citing a faulty gear in the electric parking brakes.

A small gear in the parking brakes installed on the models built between February and October 2016 could break and prevent the brake from releasing. If the gear were to break, the parking brake would then be stuck in place. The issue is not related to the regular brakes, it said.

"Less than 5%" of the vehicles being recalled may be affected by the issue, but it is recalling 53,000 total "out of an abundance of caution," it said.

"We do not believe this issue could ever lead to a safety concern for our customers, and we have not seen a single accident or injury relating to it," it said.

Tesla said it will soon contact owners of affected Tesla cars and inform them on how to have the parking brakes replaced.

Shares of Tesla fell 1% to $302.91 in afternoon trading Thursday.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Roger Yu on Twitter @ByRogerYu.