Tesla Model 3 Complaints

2,178 consumer complaints on file.

#11481988August 30, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
Several incidences of phantom breaking occurred when no other cars were around. This took place during our road trip from Michigan to Montana. One of the days, it occurred over 10 times, with the worst resulting in a hard brake from 75mph to 50mpg before I could intervene. The majority of the time there were no cars within 200 yards ahead or behind me. If there were a car behind me, it could have resulted in a severed accident. The braking was hard enough to throw me and my children hard into seatbelts, even causing the belts to lock. I reported these incidents to Tesla but have heard nothing back.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11481947August 30, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Driving in autopilot during daylight hours (8:30am) about 70mph the vehicle suddenly braked long and hard, tires screeched when there was nothing around me or in the road. It could have caused a serious accident if anyone was behind me.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11481937August 30, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
My Tesla model 3 has detected imaginary object while using auto pilot feature and applied FULL brake pressure to stop the car, which puts us in danger of being rear ended.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11481932August 30, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
The car will dramatically, without warning, and unexpectantly brake while using the adaptive cruise control. This has occurred with absolutely no issue that should provoke the braking. One instance did occur with traffic behind me, which led to those vehicles having to emergency brake. I do note that this issue has been frequently reported and characterized as "phantom braking". It is real and it is a genuine risk and concern. I will report yesterday's incident, but it has occurred several times previously.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11481914August 30, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
While I was driving the car Unintended acceleration and jumped . Cause an accident
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11481824August 29, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, AIR, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL:ACCELERATOR PEDAL
The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while at a stop light with the brake pedal depressed, the vehicle accelerated and crashed into a Dodge Ram. There were no warning lights illuminated. There was no reported injuries, fire or air bag deployment. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow lot and then to a collision center. The local dealer was contacted but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 135
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11481757August 29, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I recently got into a car accident with a Tesla. I was injured and my car crashed against a residence’s entrance putting myself and others in danger. The components or systems that failed are the regenerative breaking on the Tesla, the torque or force that is distributed to each wheel, and the rear passenger tire shows more wearing than any of the other tires of the vehicle (not only on my car, but also on one of my friend’s Tesla.) It was raining. I was driving at a normal, slow speed, on a straight line on the road. I stopped pressing the gas pedal, the regenerative breaking activated, and my car glided and crashed. In the past, I have had some experiences where even on a dry road, sunny day and no rain, my car would slide and loose traction when letting go of the gas pedal therefore activating the regenerative breaking and making the car loose traction and slide. I have videos and pictures, filled a police report, and recently filed a claim with my insurance. The vehicles components have been inspected by the police. They have not been inspected by the insurance as of now. The only lights/car signals that turned on automatically after the incident occurred were the emergency lights. I do not recall any lights/signals showing up on the dashboard or screen while the incident was happening.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11481466August 26, 2022
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
This is a complaint about the unacceptable fire risk that affects all Teslas due to the dangerous battery chemistry and the vulnerability to impact damage that can trigger an instantaneous fire . The VIN of a random Tesla has been used. This problem affects every Tesla. Here is a video of a test conducted by a European testing authority which shows the Tesla igniting almost immediately after a deliberate crash that only caused a minor strike to the underside. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRDCKfCdh90 When NHTSA and many other testing authorities perform crash tests on Teslas they should do so with a fully charge battery that is warm from charging or from having being driven. This is a much more realistic scenario than using cold depleted batteries that are less prone to instant ignition. By comparison with a Tesla the Pinto was just a damp squib. And yet it was recalled and grounded. Please do the right thing before even more people get burned alive. Thank you
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11481379August 26, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Vehicle stated it was in turtle mode and completely shut off in the middle of the road and was not able to drive. Park, reverse, neutral, and drive was not available.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11481367August 26, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Full Self Driving on this car experienced Phantom Breaking meaning it braked by itself when there were no nearby cars ahead of me. This is very dangerous as it can cause cars behind me to crash into me.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11481352August 26, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
I wish to report numerous cases of the phantom braking or spurious deceleration that I have experienced. In driving over 2500 miles on highways I have experienced this issue at least 40 times. It would be more, but I have stopped using it. Almost all cases were on mostly open roads through Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming. The odds of it happening appear to be higher when the road is hilly and another vehicle, typically a semi, is far ahead. Timing the distance, it looks like the semi is 12-15 seconds ahead of me in a 70mph zone. This creates a situation where I may be cresting a slight hill upwards while the semi is cresting the next hill ahead of me. That situation (just one example, others are more flat roads with no vehicles ahead) creates a distance challenge where the point between the vehicles is shorter than the actual distance, due to the hills. One instance slowed so quickly the tires squealed briefly. This feature, Traffic Aware Cruise Control TACC or autopilot, should never be used if another vehicle is following closer than 5-8 seconds behind. I have tried things to help the situation, such as making sure the cameras are clean and recalibrating the cameras with clearly defined lines and no changes have resulted.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11481196August 25, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Experienced multiple episodes of severe phantom breaking when traveling over 60mph with adaptive cruise control on.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11481098August 24, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, STEERING
This is a complaint about Tesla using unqualified drivers to test Atopilot Beta on the public roads. Please note that the VIN of a random Model 3 Tesla has been used to enable this submission to be completed. Here is a video of a driver testing Autopilot on what is in his own words the most dangerous road in Virginia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VBhdrj1CqM He is driving hands free around sharp bends and against oncoming traffic entirely hands free but just giving the wheel a little nudge with his finger every 30 seconds to defeat the nag. At one point the car does swerve towards an oncoming car but corrects itself just in time. The driver is alert and monitoring the situation but because he does not have his hands on the wheel he is playing russian roulette with many lives. Please do not allow this madness to continue for one day longer. Elon Musk thinks this is all a joke which is why he has called it release 69. Smutty and unamusing. I will be posting a copy of this report on social media where it will be widely read. If you fail to take action there will be consequences. Thank you. I have archived this video in case the owner or Tesla decides to delete it. If that happens I will make another complaint with a link to my copy. A dummy USA address has been used to enable this submission. My true email address is used and you may contact me on this.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11480931August 24, 2022
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Driving with cruise control on two lane or interstate car will automatically just slam on breaks. Dropping cars speed 10+ mph. There is no warning it breaks hard enough to skid tires and lock seatbelt. I have several times it has break checked car that are behind me cause them to switch lanes abruptly. It will do it some times after you merge back into a lane after you pass some one. There is no warning at anytime it will do this. I reported this to them the day I purchased this car new. They canceled the service appointment and said car will update it self and there is a software issue they are working on. Car is getting worse as time goes on. It does it every time you drive it. I understand if it slowed down 1 to 3 mph but it will drop 20 mph in seconds. It violently brakes. You can hit accelerator pedal fast enough before it drops 10 mph.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11480915August 24, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The screen keeps freezing while I’m driving. It freezes and after a while the screen shuts off and resets. The most dangerous situation was when while I was on the interstate between Barstow and Baker. The screen screen recently froze while driving on August 20th around 255pm
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11480913August 24, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
My Tesla will repeated and randomly brake strongly. This happens on regular streets and on the highway at speed. It’s not like slamming on the brakes with the wheels screeching. But a quick and strong deceleration and then it lets go. There has never been anything in front of me when this happens.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11480599August 22, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving approximately 75 MPH with the cruise control activated, the vehicle abruptly reduced speed to approximately 35 MPH without warning. The contact indicated that no other vehicles or objects were nearby to cause the Forward Collision Avoidance system to be activated. The cause of the failure was not determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 7,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11480590August 22, 2022
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Multiple instances of hard phantom highway braking on clear sunny days with no other vehicles close while using adaptive cruise control. If another vehicle had been following closely it could have caused a rear end collision as there was no cause to slow down. This problem is recurring. Tesla says to just report the incident on their automated system but there has been no response from them.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11480491August 22, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
While making a u-turn on a quiet culdesac at approximately 5 mph, the 1 week old brand new Tesla, suddenly speeded up at the end of completing the u-turn (in last 5% of u-turn). It jumped the curb and hit a tree. All these happened in a fraction of a second and driver had no control when this happened. No automatic emergency breaks got activated. Autopilot or Cruise control features were not activated when this incidence happened. Driver and passenger incurred minor injuries, but their safety was put at risk. If this had happened on a busy area, the outcome would have been lot worse. This is a brand new car (1 week), and something is definitely wrong to have this happened. Police report (2022-56272) has been filed with Fayetteville Arkansas police dept. The report will be available in few days. We are trying to get in touch with Tesla to report this, but are not able to reach them yet. The car is currently at a towing company and my insurance company (State Farm) is going to move it to their storage facility to assess damage and determine if it is repairable. I am not aware how long will it stay there for someone (Tesla) to inspect the on-board computer which supposedly stores the records prior to the accident. If the insurance company determines this as a total loss, we are concerned that this investigation may not happen, especially since Tesla is not even reachable on the phone. We are concerned that if not properly investigated, it will be incorrectly considered as driver error and this may put general public at risk by people using this type of a car. I have uploaded pictures and claim documents I have so far.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
2
Deaths:
0
#11480318August 20, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
While using the Autosteer/ Adaptive cruise feature on a recent long trip multiple times while at speeds of 55 - 75 MPH the car aggressively applied the brakes almost causing an accident where an 18 wheeler was following closely passing another truck. The other times it occurred were on flat roads with no vehicle in front or on either side.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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