Tesla Model Y Complaints (2021)

1,096 consumer complaints on file.

#11452798February 18, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I am aware that NHTSA is investigating Tesla over the emergency braking issue when using its advanced features. When I have read articles about this they always reference auto pilot or full self driving. I wanted to make sure you knew that this issue also impacted adaptive cruise control. When I brought my Model Y home in August of last year I quickly learned I could not safely use the adaptive cruise control. I live in rural NE Iowa, and mainly drive on two lane roads. If I was on a downhill slope and meeting a vehicle with any kind of height to it the car would activate emergency braking, even though the other vehicle was completely in its own lane. It appears to me this issue has gotten better as updates have been issued the last six months and I have started to gingerly use cruise control again. It is common in the winter here to have tall piles of snow in parking lots. I also noticed on a sunny day I could drive right up to one of these piles when parking. It was striking that that huge pile of snow was invisible to the vehicle. Any other time I approach a barrier (e.g. pulling in to my garage) it gives all manner of warnings and a visual indication of how far you are from the wall. This issue would be much more dangerous if an analogous situation occurred using Autopilot or FSD. It is my understanding that for the 2021 Y Tesla went to just a camera based system (dropped LIDAR). I don’t know if that is what caused these problems or not. The car is a joy to drive. BUT, Tesla’s habit of releasing updates and features to the masses before they are fully tested is dangerous in my opinion. There are more Tesla’s on the roads these days, at some point the accidents are going to add up. The ability to update systems that control how a car is operated/functions is relatively new. I would offer that the processes around how these updates are managed should be the subject of a separate investigation.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452796February 18, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
After seeing news reports about the problems with Tesla "phantom braking", I realized this is not an issue localized with my vehicle. I also have this problem where the car will slam on the brakes when using the advanced cruise control system. It's jarring, to say the least. I reported the issue to Tesla a month after buying the car (10/21) and they instructed me to do a power cycle on the car but this has not helped. Incidenct occurance varies on the type of driving, but it's probably every 5 miles or so on a 2-lane road.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452783February 18, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
"phantom" braking occurred 2/17/22 ~ 630pm driving in parking lot, not in autopilot no people or other cars nearby went from 15mph to 0 instantly screen showed a person directly in front of car - no one there was foggy with light rain
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452770February 18, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES
The contact owns a 2021Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 72 mph on autopilot when the vehicle suddenly activated the braking system. The contact took the vehicle off of autopilot mode causing the vehicle to function correctly. The contact had not informed the dealer. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware. The approximate failure mileage was 7,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452764February 18, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
The driver assist feature was engaged, what TESLA calls FSD, full self-driving. This has happened multiple times where the car will slam on the brakes, even on the highway for obstacles not in the car's path. For example, a car is on the exit ramp and I am in the adjacent lane. The car on the exit ramp slows down to make its exit and the TESLA will slam on the brakes. The TESLA also has done this for cars making turns. It will not brake until the last second and then it slams on the brakes, even after the car in front of me has turned.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452721February 18, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
While driving with cruise control engaged my car has now on several occasion suddenly and without warning applied the brakes on its own when there was no reason for the brakes to have been applied. Sometimes it has done it when a truck is approaching in the opposite direction, but sometimes it does it for no reason at all. Recently it did it with such severity that it was clear to me that if a car had been behind me I would have been hit from behind. Also, it was startling to the point where I could have lost control of my vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452709February 18, 2022
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
I have already reported this to TESLA and they did nothing for the following except to ask for a "time stamp". As I'm driving in Auto or Full self drive mode the car will suddenly brake as though there is something on the road in front of the car and at the time there is nothing present on the road or coming out into traffic. The car will make an alarm noise (internally) as though I did something wrong and as I said will decrease in speed dramatically and scare the driver behind me if there is a driver present.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452706February 18, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
After hearing of the "phantom braking" problem with the 2021 Tesla Model Y I thought I'd add my observations. My car has rapidly, unexpectedly, and without other warning decelerated several times but always when the forward sensors apparently picked up a car crossing in front of me. Normally, I'd appreciate the help but it has happened several times when the crossing car was well in front of me and there was no cause for alarm from me and no way a tailing car should expect such a dramatic braking action. Tesla should certainly be asked to review this system and modify the braking action so that it is more gradual for distant cars or preceded by a moderate sound alert for concerning but not immediately threatening front-crossing cars. I should also note that the warning sound seems to go off at appropriate times as I approach stopped cars and it doesn't brake inappropriately when I approach stopped cars. The only problem I've noticed is cars crossing in front of me, mostly from my left to right, when I'm still comfortably distant from that car. Hope this helps.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452702February 18, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
Numerous times in the last 6 to 7 months, while driving my tesla on the freeway in auto pilot mode, auto pilot will just turn off and the car will abruptly slow down. Without reason, auto pilot turns off. And because of the settings on my car, this causes the car to quickly slow down. I rarely use auto pilot because I am afraid it will happen again and I’ll be rear ended.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452701February 18, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
My 2021 Tesla Model Y has two problems related to braking: (1) frequent unexpected and unnecessary slowdowns while driving on Autopilot adaptive cruise control. The vehicle seems to believe something is in the road but it is not the case. This has been called "phantom braking" by many online reports. I experience this on nearly every drive where adaptive cruise control is engaged. (2) On one occasion the car locked up its brakes and began swerving to the left for no reason whatsoever. An alarm appeared on the screen and audible tones and a video was automatically saved. The event lasted only a second but would surely have caused a collision if another car was following me. The event occurred as I passed an oncoming truck on a two lane highway at night in good visibility. I was driving manually. Adaptive cruise control and auto steering were *not* engaged at the time. The extreme braking event was caused by the Adaptive Emergency Braking (AEB) system.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452687February 18, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
I have owned two Tesla Model Y's, this one from 2021 and a 2022 version as well. Both vehicles have exhibited the type of "phantom braking" that I have now seen described by several other owners. When attempting to use either the full Autopilot system (which includes both adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assist), or when using just the adaptive cruise control (without lane keeping), the vehicle would brake suddenly and forcefully. This appears to be in response to a threat perceived by the car, but it would happen on totally clear roads, in great weather, without some of the typical false indicators experienced by "vision" based systems. It's noteworthy that both of my cars used the vision-only system, as this vehicle was one of the first ones that Tesla produced that did not include a radar-based system. I experienced phantom braking so often with this car that I was completely unable to use cruise control. On a ~1,000 mile road trip through Wyoming and South Dakota (with minimal traffic in clear conditions on well-marked roads), I experienced over 100 phantom braking incidents in 4 days of highway driving. After that trip, I never used cruise control again regularly, but I would occasionally attempt to see if it fixed itself, and every time I would turn it on, I would have a phantom braking incident within minutes. I was able to capture a few videos of this behavior that I can send, as well, but I apparently can't do that as part of this form so please let me know how I could provide those, if required. Finally, the dates that I'm entering below are for the first occurrence of the phantom braking that I experience, but between the two vehicles, I have probably had it happen to me 150-200 times now. I have since sold the second Tesla (largely to avoid these issues), but please let me know if I can provide more info. These cars are not safe right now, and I've been looking for a way to remedy that for a while.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452683February 18, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
While driving my Tesla Model Y with Cruise Control activated, the vehicle would inexplicably brake/decelerate rapidly without any vehicle traffic in front of the car. It would occur at its worst while changing lanes, as I approached another vehicle from behind and attempted to change lanes to overtake. I would either be mostly in the other lane, or had already successfully changed lanes, when the vehicle inexplicably braked/decelerated. It was alarming, frustrating, and infuriating as it seemed clearly unjustified. This occurred while on the interstate, which was extremely dangerous given the speed traveling at as well as the number of vehicles that typically travel on the interstate. I have not used the feature since, and have even attempted to try and disable the feature while still being able to utilize some sort of basic cruise control feature, to no avail.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452673February 18, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
At 55 MPH on clear day, with visible lines the car automatically braked when an on coming truck passed nearby causing near rear end collision. I have two good videos of this if you wish to see actual conditions. Dealer acknowledged problem but said there was no fix and I should turn off automatic braking.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452664February 18, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The Tesla Model Y had a software update at 12:05 am on Feb 13, 2022, which was complete. I drove the car to local YMCA at around 8:15 am on Sunday Feb 13, 2022, for my swim exercise and drove it home at around 9:30 am. I planned to park it by backing up to my driveway so that I can charge it. I positioned my car, with the front facing my neighbor's house. My foot was on brake and my right hand was moving the Drive Stalk towards R for reverse. The car all of the sudden flew forward on its own! It was only stopped after it hit my neighbor's house, making a big hole into her house, and causing severe damages to it outside and inside (smashed furniture and falling glassware), as well as to her landscaping. When this happened, my foot was still on the brake but pushing brake did stop the car. Additionally, hitting a tree also did not stop the car. Only the house and its strong frame stopped the car. The front of the car was totally damaged, including pieces falling out of the car and a big piece under the car falling down. Please come by immediately to take photos and examine damage. I called 911 immediately. The police and emergency trucks came. Since no one seemed to be visibly hurt (I had a whiplash and headache due to impact but was more was scared and shocked), the emergency medical crew left. The police said they are not making a report because the accident happened in private driveway and no crime was involved. I called Liberty Mutual to file a claim and was directed to file it online. I never bought the Tesla autopilot package but the new software update showed autopilot is an included package. This is a problem. I called Tesla customer service and reported this serious software malfunction. Thinking back, software problem caused another safety concern that started on Feb 6, 2022. Not only the right passenger door cannot be opened from outside, it also cannot be opened from inside. Someone could be trapped inside. This is a SAFETY alert!
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11452662February 18, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
I have had over 18 occurrences of phantom braking while on cruise control; rapid deceleration without warning. I reacted by accelerating with the brake pedal. I reported this twice to the service adviser. One response was I needed to return with a date and time when it occurs again. When I did this, they could not find it in the computer record. They explained this occurs because cruise control is part of the self drive software and that is only in beta stage.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452647February 17, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
I’ve been driving my Tesla mostly under autopilot about 90% of the time over the past 4 months. During that time, I’ve experienced about 30 or more phantom braking issues where the automatic braking system will engage when there is no object in front of the car. It’s all happened when autopilot was engaged. It happens during the day, generally on a single lane road, and also at night when on coming traffic lights are blinding. Each time it causes the car to rapidly slow down and causes the car behind me to slam on their brakes, potentially causing an accident. This needs to be fixed since it’s safety risk.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452645February 17, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Several times over the past 6 months the car suddenly slowed down without any reason while driving on autopilot with nothing ahead of it on highway (there was no change of speed limit so that can’t be an explanation). Also known as “phantom breaking”
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452642February 17, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
We are familiar with managing the controls which, in my experience, operate similarly to other vehicles with similar safety and driver-assist features. Unfortunately, in regards to the effectiveness and ease of operation of the TACC, our Tesla is by far the worst of the 5 vehicles with which I'm familiar. The experience of managing TACC with oncoming traffic is frustrating, distracting and sometimes unsafe. Autosteer, because it builds on TACC's systems, is similarly deficient although the features it provides would be extremely welcome when TACC is improved. Nearly every oncoming large truck (including many pickup trucks) caused TACC to brake the car TACC assisted braking was inconsistent. Sometimes an immediate, slight reduction in speed (5-10mph) and other times it was an immediate major reduction in speed, on the order of half-speed within 3 - 5 seconds. It was common to have the car brake from 65 - 35 for no other reason than a large, oncoming truck. After 3 or 4 occurrences of heavy braking, I would turn off TACC and manually maintain speed with the accelerator. This in itself is fatiguing and I would eventually resort to a system in which I would disengage TACC when approached by a truck, usually 200 - 300 yds away and then reengage when traffic was clear Heavy braking was severe enough that, if a there had been a closely following/unaware car, it would have rear-ended our vehicle TACC (and Autosteer) seem "happiest" when following other vehicles and, even on 2 lane highways, phantom braking was much less frequent A standard cruise control (no Traffic Assist except for Following Distance) is not available but would be welcome Summary: On the Interstate Highway system TAAC works reasonably well but could use improvement. On 2 lane highways TACC is more work and less safe than operating the vehicle manually and, as a system designed to reduce driver workload and improve safety, it fails.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452639February 17, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES
I’ve had this vehicle since June 2021 and experienced times when it would automatically brake abruptly, as if I were about to hit the vehicle in front of me. The first couple of times, I thought it was something I had to calibrate within the digital dashboard, but realized that it wasn’t something that could be adjusted — it was just the vehicle’s way of using it’s sensors to prevent me from colliding with the vehicle in front of me. The problem is that I wasn’t ever in danger of hitting anything in front of me. There were even times when I was gradually braking, but the vehicle automatically took over and broke for me. The painful part of it is that when this happened, it was so sharp and abruptly braking that I could feel my head jerk forward. It wasn’t until recently that I learned that this is actually a very big problem experienced by many other Tesla Model Y owners — called “Phantom Braking”. I’ve also had many other issues with the vehicle’s operating system, and have had to bring the vehicle in for Tesla service 5-6 times within a period of 7 months of taking lease of the vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11452627February 17, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Anytime we are using the adaptive cruise in our Model Y, we have experienced "phantom braking" issues where the car suddenly brakes for no apparent reason, decreasing cruising speed from 60-70 mph by as much as 20 mph all at once. This mostly occurs on two lane highways and with oncoming vehicles that are larger (truck, etc.). Also sometimes occurs cresting a hill. It happens so often that we do not use the crusie control feature unless we are on an interstate with dividers between oncoming traffic and ourselves. Any rural two-lane highway causes multiple incidences of "phantom braking" every time we use it. Literally happened dozens of times at this point.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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