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What 459 owners told NHTSA about the 2013 Tesla Model S Bev

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (459)Crash / fire / injury (57)Electrical system (195)Suspension (91)Transmission & drivetrain (35)Steering (29)Speed control (25)Fuel system (24)Visibility & wipers (22)Brakes (21)Engine (21)Body & structure (19)

3 of 459 complaints match · Engine · crash/fire/injury only · clear filters

Feb 15, 2019Electrical systemSpeed controlEngineFuel systemCrash1 injury

IT WAS A 2HR45MIN DRIVE INTO WORK ON AN ICY BLIZZARDY MORNING, DRIVING MY 2013 MODEL S RWD P85 WITH 90,000MI. HAVE OWNED THIS CAR FOR 4 YRS. MADE IT TO WORK SAFELY AND THE LAST 6 FEET IN THE PARKING GARAGE, GOING ABOUT 3 MPH PULLING AT A RIGHT ANGLE INTO A PARKING STALL. HAD BRAKE PEDAL DEPRESSED, SHIFTED MY FOOT TO TAP ON THE ACCELERATOR TO INCH FORWARD AND NEXT THING YOU KNOW, CAR IS ACCELERATING FULL THROTTLE INTO A CEMENT WALL. CRASHED HEAD ON AND AIRBAG DIDN'T EVEN DEPLOY. SAT FOR A MOMENT TO CATCH MY BREATH AND TRY TO PROCESS WHAT HAPPENED. SENT "BUG REPORT" ON TO TESLA CENTRAL FROM THE CAR. THE DASHBOARD HAD PRND LIT UP IN RED AND THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT GO INTO DRIVE OR REVERSE. ACCELERATOR PEDAL WAS COMPLETELY LIMP. ZERO RESISTANCE. THANKFULLY, NO OTHER CAR WAS AROUND ME. CALLED TESLA SERVICE AND THEY TOLD US TO REBOOT THE CAR. WE DID, BUT ACCELERATOR PEDAL REMAINED COMPLETELY UNRESPONSIVE. HAD TO PUSH OUT OF THE 5 STORY GARAGE AND TOW IT TO AN AUTOBODY SHOP. FILED POLICE REPORT. REPORTED TO LOCAL TESLA SERVICE CENTER IMMEDIATELY. A FEW DAYS LATER, WE HEARD BACK FROM THE TESLA REP THAT SAID THAT REPORT SHOWED NO MALFUNCTION. ACCORDING TO TESLA ACCELERATOR WENT FROM 0% TO 88% SUDDENLY, IMPLYING "DRIVER ERROR." YET THEY ALSO SAID THE BRAKE WAS TAPPED AND THEN RELEASED PRIOR TO IMPACT. THIS DOES NOT JIVE, WHY WE A PERSON ACCELERATE, TAP THE BRAKE THEN RELEASE? SKID MARKS FROM REAR TIRES LEFT ON GARAGE FLOOR. TESLA WON'T RELEASE DATA. WE DO NOT WANT TO ACCEPT THIS REPORT AND THIS IS NOT WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE CRASH. TODAY THE AUTO BODY SHOP INFORMED US THAT THEY WERE CURIOUS WHY THE CAR IS NOT DRIVEABLE. AFTER BEING RESET, THEY DISCOVERED THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL IS BROKEN. EXPERIENCE DURING THE CRASH, COMBINED WITH VERY UNUSUAL CAR BEHAVIOR, AND A BROKEN ACCELERATOR REFUTE TESLA'S CLAIM OF OPERATOR ERROR.

NHTSA ODI 11180431

Mar 2, 2016Body & structureBrakesEngineCrash

SLOWLY PULLING INTO A PARKING SPOT AT A STRIP MALL, I RELEASED MY FOOT OFF OF THE GAS, LIGHTLY TAPPED BRAKE AND THE CAR "UNINTENTIONALLY ACCELERATED" INTO A PALM TREE IN FRONT OF A BRICK PILLAR AT A STRIP MALL. I BACKED OUT TO ASSESS THE DAMAGE. HUSBAND WAS WITNESS IN DRIVER'S SEAT. THIS IS THE 2ND TIME THIS HAPPENED TO ME, (LAST YEAR AT A GROCERY STORE PARKING LOT) ALTHO THE FIRST TIME NO DAMAGE WAS DONE AND NO REPORTS WERE FILED. POOR DECISION IN HINDSIGHT! SINCE NO PERSON WAS INJURED, THE POLICE DEPT WOULD NOT TAKE A REPORT. INSURANCE WAS CALLED AS WELL AS TESLA. TESLA TOOK 6 DAYS TO PULL LOGS AND ASSURED US IT WAS BEING TAKEN SERIOUSLY AND ESCALATED TO MANAGEMENT. WE RECEIVED A CALL YESTERDAY FROM TOSHA AT TESLA, RELAYING THAT THEY DETERMINED THAT T WAS DRIVER ERROR AND LOG REPORTS SHOW THAT AS THE CAR WAS PULLING INTO THE SPOT, IT WAS ON A 3 ON A SCALE OF 100 AND THEN IT ACCELERATED 87% AND THE BRAKE WAS APPLIED. DOES NOT MAKE LOGICAL SENSE THAT THE CAR COULD ACCELERATE 87% IN A MATTER OF 2 FEET! I AM 150% SURE I DID NOT HIT THE ACCELERATOR. I AM 47, NOT A 90 YR OLD WOMAN WHO MAY HAVE PEDAL CONFUSION. THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED WITH ANY OF OUR OTHER NON-TESLA CARS NOR IN MY 40+ YEARS OF DRIVING CARS OR MOTORCYCLES. THEIR RESPONSE IS SUSPECT AND WE ARE QUITE FRANKLY FEARFUL TO DRIVE THE CAR SAFELY. THIS STIP MALL HAS LOTS OF PEOPLE THAT WALK BY, ESP ELDERLY AND THE FACT THAT NO ONE OR THE PILLAR WAS HIT IS A BLESSING. AIR BAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. I WILL BE ASKING TESLA FOR A WRITTEN REPORT OF THEIR FINDINGS BUT NOT CONFIDENT IT WILL BE PROVIDED. WE PLAN TO SEEK COUNSEL AS WELL ESP SINCE THIS IS CONSIDERED AN "AT FAULT ACCIDENT".

NHTSA ODI 10839579

Jun 16, 2015Speed controlBrakesEngineCrash

I PREVIOUSLY FILED A COMPLAINT TO NHTSA ON 9/24/2013 WITH NHTSA ID NO. 10545230. I NOTICED SIMILAR ISSUE WAS REPORTED BY 3 OR 4 OTHER TESLA OWNERS: (1) 9/26/2013 NHTSA ID NO. 10545488, (2) 9/29/2014 NHTSA NO. 10639849, (3) 9/29/2014 NHTSA NO. 10639935, AND (4) 6/8/2015 NHTSA ID NO. 10723925. THERE WAS ANOTHER SIMILAR CASE IN CAMARILLO CA AS REPORTED BY VENTURA COUNTY STAR ON 3/29/2013 BUT APPARENTLY WAS NOT REPORTED TO NHTSA. THERE WERE SO MANY SIMILAR INCIDENCES HAPPENED WITH ONLY A LIMITED NUMBER OF 2013 AND 2014 TESLA MODEL S ON THE ROAD, SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT WITH THE MODEL S. TESLA CANNOT KEEP BLAMING THE DRIVERS BEING AT FAULT.

NHTSA ODI 10725634

Working with the data? Download all 459 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 21, 2026

How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2013 Tesla Model S Bev verdict →