What 647 owners told NHTSA about the 2015 Tesla Model S 60

On September 7, 2021 I was driving in heavy rain conditions. The rain was so heavy I could only drive at speed of 25 mph. My car displayed a message "Car may not restart - service required" I pulled under a canopy of a gas station and put the car in PARK. The car did not restart after that and was towed to Tesla Service Center. The next day I was told that a RAPID MATE vehicle side connector failed due to water ingress and that HV battery needs to be replaced due to same damage. I was presented with a $23622.54 invoice even, though, the battery is covered under existing powertrain warranty. The car was never driven into standing water or a puddle. Water has NOT entered the interior of the car. The battery and other electrical components of the car are poorly insulated / isolated presenting the risk of water damage and or electric shock under ordinary driving conditions.

NHTSA ODI 11433218

The contact owns a 2015 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that while driving at 70 mph, the vehicle went into autopilot and crashed into the median divider. No medical attention was received on the scene but the contact later went to the hospital for injuries sustained. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to the contact's girlfriend's residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired and will be towed to a body shop to examine if it is totaled. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that they would contact back after their investigation. The failure mileage was 51,720.

NHTSA ODI 11429335

Tesla was to rebate the money for the VCM Daughterboard and did NOT. We have been trying to collect this money for over a year!

NHTSA ODI 11425865

I received an “important safety recall” letter from Tesla, dated July 14, 2021. This is to replace the embedded MultiMediaCard (eMMC) in the media control unit. The instructions were to set up an appointment with Tesla to replace the VCM daughter board with on containing an enhanced eMMC. Yesterday, upon receiving the letter, I created an appointment for this Friday per Tesla’s instructions. I received confirmation of the appointment. Today I received a message from Tesla: “For this recall, unless you are currently experiencing issues with this touchscreen that we are able to verify, we will not be replacing it at this time. Please let us know if you have any other concerns, otherwise we will close this work order.” I wrote back asking for them not to cancel my appointment. I have had the main screen “blank out” with no controls. This also turns off my air conditioner, rear camera, and other controls. This screen has gone out three times over the past year. I’m concerned that they are not going to fulfill their obligation for me and others who have these cars and are experiencing the same problem. I have asked Tesla to remedy the situation and have not heard back.

NHTSA ODI 11425573

The part that is currently under recall (eMultiMediaCard) has failed for the fourth time. The first three times it failed, it was repaired under warranty and was repaired in a timely manner. This time, it has failed (only a few days after I got my recall letter) and the car is unsafe for me to drive. The turn signals don't even work. Tesla seems to think that is perfectly fine and seems to believe (as they have told me outright) that there is nothing wrong with the car and it is still drivable. However, it is NOT LEGAL for me to drive without working turn signals. They have refused to make a timely appointment for me to get this repair completed. This the FOURTH time I have had to send my car in for THE SAME PROBLEM! They are not taking this issue seriously enough! It is neither legal nor safe for me to drive without turn signals. This is an unacceptable attitude on their part.

NHTSA ODI 11423866

My vehicle was having issues during 2020 with the eMMC recall. I took the vehicle to the dealership to be repaired and paid for the repair out of pocket. After this repair took place, the NHTSA forced Tesla to do a recall for the part that failed. I subsequently was reached out by Tesla who denied a refund for the repair that I paid out of pocket and did not and has not (3 months of following-up with the company) explained the denial nor offered repayment as directed by the NHTSA. Unfortunately, I am not the only individual who has had this same experience. Many individuals online have ran into the same unfortunate circumstances. See instances linked below. https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/emmc-recall-reimbursement.222189/

NHTSA ODI 11420616

In May 2019 Tesla pushed an OTA update on the car (including mine) with caused the car to reduce charging speed a lot. I normally go at the Green Acres Mall supercharger, in Queens NY near JFK airport and my car used to charge at 74kW (about 40 min of time from 50 miles range to 200 miles range). After the update the time more than doubled (about 1 hour and 30 min of time to add the same miles range). The update was in response to a Model S bursting into flames in Hong Kong, although there have been multiple seemingly spontaneous fires over the past several years. Tesla allegedly knew the cars' batteries were defective and decided that it would rather push an update that reduced range, performance and charging speed than replace batteries under warranty. My problem with this is that I need to know if my car is safe to operate. If there were a battery chemistry which was not safe and Tesla rather than change it decided to reduce the charge rate, is this solution acceptable for NHTSA? Also this solution is impacting significantly my schedule. When I bought the car, I considered using it for certain road trips assuming the downtime was reasonable, but after this update it basically made my car usable only for local trips. If you have to charge the car a couple of times over a 500 miles trip, one thing is to add a couple of 30 mins pit stops which is fine considering that most people need to use the restrooms, get something to eat or drink, but another thing is now having to wait a total of 3 hours.

NHTSA ODI 11419324

12V battery coolant system failure results in vehicle becoming inoperative. Car must be towed to service center.

NHTSA ODI 11419251

I brought my vehicle in to get the eMMC fixed per the recall. I had to change my appointment twice because they did not have the parts in stock. When my vehicle began to experience symptoms of this defect, I called Tesla again and made an appointment for today. I brought my car in this morning. I just found out that they did NOT fix the defect and are charging me $105 for the “repair”.

NHTSA ODI 11419288

TOUCH SCREEN WILL BLANK, SHOW UNUSUAL CHARACTERS, NOT RESPOND, EXHIBIT PIXILLATION, STOP REAR VISION CAMERA FROM DISPLAYING, NOT PLAY RADIO OR MUSIC PROPERLY AND/OR INTERMITTANTLY, AND PRESENT NAVIGATION INFORMATION IMPROPERLY. MEDIA COMPUTER WAS REPLACED LAST YEAR, BUT NEW COMPUTER STILL HAS THOSE SAME AND OTHER PROBLEMS. HAPPENS WITH VEHICLE IN MOTION, CITY AND HIGHWAY, RANDOMLY. EVIDENCE INDICATES THIS MAY BE RELATED TO A MEMORY STORAGE HARDWARE CHIP INSIDE THE MEDIA COMPUTER, BEING OF TOO LITTLE TOTAL CAPACITY. OR RELATED TO INTERNET SIGNAL FROM MANUFACTURE BEING UNRELIABLE, WEEK, INTERMITTENT, OR DEFECTIVE.

NHTSA ODI 11415502

2015 TESLA MODEL S. CONSUMER WRITES SEEKING REIMBURSEMENT FOR REPAIRS RELATED TO SAFETY RECALL. *LD *JS

NHTSA ODI 11414837

THE CAR THINKS THE TRUNK IS OPEN BUT IT IS NOT. AS A RESULT, THE CAR DOESN'T STOP BEEPING AS A WARNING TO A TRUNK THAT IS FULLY CLOSED. IN ADDITION, I CAN'T OPEN THE TRUNK AT ALL. WHEN DRIVING THE CAR I CAN NO LONGER USE AUTOPILOT AND OTHER SAFETY FEATURES OF THE CAR. I ALSO CAN'T LOCK THE CARE. ALL AND ALL, THE CAR IN UNUSABLE, BECAUSE OF AN ISSUE WITH THE TRUNK, THIS IS DEFINITELY A FAULTY DESIGN.

NHTSA ODI 11414034

TESLA HAS BEEN UNABLE TO HELP US NAVIGATE THROUGH THIS EMMC 8GB RECALL AND PROVIDE US WITH EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION. THEY HAVE ATTEMPTED TO DENY OUR REIMBURSEMENT REQUEST BASED ON INACCURATE INFORMATION AND EVEN SHARED UNRELATEDINVOICES AS THE BASES FOR THE DENIAL. OUR MCU WAS REPLACED DUE TO THE EMMC 8GB CARD FAILING LAST YEAR. THE SYMPTOMS AND REPAIRS NOTED ON THE INVOICE ARE IDENTICAL TO THE RECALL INFORMATION. FURTHERMORE, THE TECHS AT THE SERVICE CENTER TOLD US VERY CLEARLY THAT IT WAS DUE TO THE MEMORY ISSUE, BUT WAS OUT OF WARRANTY AT THE TIME. I AM VERY FRUSTRATED THAT I CANNOT CALL ANYONE TO RESOLVE THIS AND AM REACHING OUT FOR HELP!

NHTSA ODI 11406953

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2015 TESLA MODEL S. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING 30 MPH, THE DISPLAY SCREEN STOPPED FUNCTIONING. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 21V035000 (BACK OVER PREVENTION, VISIBILITY, EXTERIOR LIGHTING). THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO TESLA SERVICE - LATHAM (326 OLD NISKAYUNA RD LATHAM, NY 12110) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED AND THE CONTACT WAS INFORMED THAT THE EMBEDDED MULTI-MEDIA CARD (EMMC) CONTROLLER NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS INFORMED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 118,398.*LN CONSUMER CONTACTED THE MANUFACTURER TO GET REIMBURSED FOR THE REPAIR, BUT THE MANUFACTURER TOLD THEM THAT THEY HAD NO RECORD OF THE REPAIR.

NHTSA ODI 11404815

TESLA ARE DRAGGING THEIR FEET MANUFACTURER RECALL # SB2121001 (NHTSA RECALL # 21V035). TESLA HAS STATED THAT THE RECALL WILL NOT APPLY TO VEHICLES WITH OVER 100,000 MILES. CURRENTLY, MY VEHICLE IS AT 96,164 MILES. TESLA APPARENTLY WANTS TO "OUT-WAIT" ME ON THIS RECALL UNTIL MY VEHICLE IS OVER 100,000 MILES. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE FOR ME HERE, AND NHTSA NEEDS TO TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY.

NHTSA ODI 11402972

I PARKED MY MODEL S AND WENT TO GRAB SOMETHING FROM THE TRUNK, CLOSING MY DRIVER'S DOOR AND LEAVING MY CAR KEY INSIDE OF THE CAR. I WAS THEN LOCKED OUT OF MY VEHICLE, UNABLE TO OPEN THE CAR THROUGH MY PHONE APP OR BY TOUCHING THE HANDLES TO GAIN ENTRY. THIS SAME THING HAPPENED A FEW MONTHS BEFORE, TOO, THOUGH I CALLED TESLA SUPPORT AND THEY WERE ABLE TO REMOTELY UNLOCK MY CAR. IN THIS PARTICULAR INSTANCE, HOWEVER, I CALLED TESLA SUPPORT AND THEY WERE UNABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH MY CAR AND UNLOCK THE DOORS REMOTELY. I EVENTUALLY GAINED ENTRY INTO MY CAR BY HAVING THE DOOR MANUALLY OPENED BY SOMEONE FROM A TOW COMPANY. IT WAS RECOMMENDED BY TESLA SUPPORT THAT I TAKE MY CAR IN FOR SERVICE. WHEN I DID, THE SERVICE TEAM SAID IF I DIDN'T REPLACE MY MCU, THE CAR WOULD EFFECTIVELY BECOME INOPERABLE. PER MY TESLA INVOICE, THE SERVICE TEAM "INSPECTED AND WERE UNABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH VEHICLE. VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN COMMUNICATING WITH MOTHERSHIP DUE TO INTERNAL FAILURE OF MEDIA CONTROL UNIT. RECOMMEND REPLACING MCU. REPLACED MCU." WHEN I CALLED ABOUT THE EMMC RECALL THIS PAST JANUARY, I WAS TOLD MY VEHICLE DID NOT QUALIFY. TODAY I RECEIVED AN EMAIL ABOUT THE REIMBURSEMENT OPTION FOR THOSE WHO HAD THEIR UNITS REPLACED/REPAIRED; UPON FILLING OUT THE FORM TESLA PROVIDED, I WAS TOLD I DID NOT QUALIFY FOR THE REIMBURSEMENT. IT FEELS AS THOUGH TESLA IS MAKING THIS OVERLY COMPLICATED AND FINDING LOOPHOLES. I ALSO REPORTED THAT MY SCREEN SHUT OFF WHILE I WAS DRIVING MY MODEL S ON TWO INSTANCES WITHIN THE PAST YEAR, AFTER HAVING THE MCU REPLACED. THE SERVICE TEAM TOLD ME THAT THEY COULDN'T FIND WHAT I WAS REFERRING TO IN MY CAR'S LOG, ADDING THAT I WOULD NEED TO GIVE THEM THE EXACT DATES AND TIMEFRAME OF EACH INSTANCE. IN BOTH CASES I WAS DRIVING MY CAR ON THE FREEWAY AND WAS SCARED THAT THE CAR WOULD SHUT OFF; I DIDN'T THINK TO WRITE THE DATE AND TIME DOWN FOR LATER FOLLOW UP.

NHTSA ODI 11399446

TESLA HAS REDUCED THE CHARGING CAPACITY AND CHARGE RATE PER: RE: NHTSA ACTION NUMBER: DP19005 - INVESTIGATION SUBJECT : BATTERY MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE UPDATES PRIOR TO THIS SOFTWARE UPDATE, THE CHARGE RATE WAS DOUBLE THE SHOWN RATE.

NHTSA ODI 11395064

MCU GOES BLANK; THIS EFFECTS EXTERIOR LIGHTS; ACCELERATION SETTINGS; STEERING MODES; REGENERATIVE BRAKING; STOPPING MODE; THE ENTIRE SOUND SYSTEM, INCLUDING THE TURN-SIGNAL TONES; DISPLAYING WARNING NOTIFICATIONS; CRITICAL GAUGES; GPS NAVIGATION; SELF-DRIVING MODE; REAR VIEW CAMERA; ABILITY TO CHARGE; SUSPENSION; HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING; AND THE SUNROOF

NHTSA ODI 11391179

CAR FREQUENTLY REBOOTS ITSELF, TURNS OFF OR JUST BLANKS THE SCREEN. TOUCHSCREEN DRIVERS MANUAL CANNOT BE ACCESSED OR IF IT DOES, TAKES AN EXTREMELY LONG TIME. THIS CAR EXHIBITS CHARACTERISTICS REFERENCED IN ONLINE POSTS AND FORUMS ABOUT EMMC FAILURE.

NHTSA ODI 11390983

CAR RANDOMLY FREEZES. MANY NAVIGATION FUNCTIONS SUCH AS TURN SIGNALS WILL STOP WORKING. NEARLY CAUSED A COLLISION. REPLACED MCU PER TESLA'S ADVICE. ISSUES CONTINUE. THE LAST WRITTEN STATEMENT FROM TESLA IS "KNOWN CHARACTERISTIC OF CURRENT FIRMWARE." UNWILLING TO ADDRESS OR FIX ISSUES AT ANY COST.

NHTSA ODI 11389873

TESLA MODEL S HAS AN AUTO PRESENTING DOOR. EARLY MODEL HAS A FREQUENT FAILURE AND TEALA HAS UPDATED IT WITH 3RD GENERATION. IF IT IS FAIL IT CANNOT OPEN FROM OUTSIDE SINCE IT IS STUCK AND IT MIGHT BE CRITICAL IN ACCIDENT

NHTSA ODI 11389449

VEHICLE HAS DOCUMENTED MCU/EMMC ISSUES THAT TESLA AVOIDS FIXING. HVAC FROZE/INOPERABLE, CHARGING LEVEL FROZE INOPERABLE TO ADJUST, SUSPENSION SETTINGS INOPERABLE CAUSING SCRAPING, DISABLING OF AUTOPILOT AND OTHER NAVIGATION AND SAFETY FEATURES, OCCURED MID-DRIVE ORIGINALLY, NOW WHEN STATIONARY WHILE VEHICLE IS STARTED IT IS INOPERABLE/FREEZES FOR 7-10 MINUTES BEFORE TURNING ON, OFTEN CANNOT SELECT DRIVE UNLESS IT IS THROUGH THE APP ON PHONE, BACKUP CAMERA FAILS/IS UNAVAILABLE OR IS VERY SLOW TO APPEAR, OFTEN AFTER BACKUP COMPLETED. JULY '20 AT 64K MILES DEALER ACKNOWLEDGED EMMC/MCU ISSUES, PERFORMED SOFT RESET, CLAIMED WORKED M, YET AUG '20 THEY HAD TO DO AGAIN. VEHICLE CONTINUES TO DISPLAY ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH LAGGING/SLOW PROCESSOR, DEALER INDICATES IT IS NOT THE DOCUMENTED ISSUE ABUNDANTLY DESCRIBED AND CONSISTENT WITH ISSUES ON TESLA FORUMS ACROSS THE INTERNET. FURTHER DETAILED DOCUMENTATION/COMMUNICATION AVAILABLE WITHIN TESLA APP WHEN I SUBMITTED TO TESLA, BUT HERE IS ANCILLARY SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION ATTACHED.

NHTSA ODI 11389506

DOOR HANDLES CONSTANTLY BREAK. I AM CHANGING THE 3RD DOOR HANDLE IN LESS THAN 2 YEARS OF OWNERSHIP. WHEN THE DOOR HANDLE BREAK, THE CAR DOOR DOES NOT OPEN AND YOU CAN'T ACCESS THE VEHICLE (YOU'D BE FORCED TO GET INSIDE THE VEHICLE USING ANOTHER DOOR). I THINK IF THEY HAVE SO MANY BREAKING (A LOT OF TESLA CAR FORUMS INDICATE THAT MOST OWNERS REPLACED 2-3 DOOR HANDLES EACH), THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN A RECALL FROM THE FACTORY.

NHTSA ODI 11388995

I HAVE THE MEDIA CONTROL UNIT (MCU 1) AND IT PRETTY ROUTINELY SHUTS DOWN WHILE DRIVING WHICH CAUSES A LOSS OF MAJOR COMPONENT FUNCTIONALITY. I SAW THAT NHTSA IS ASKING TESLA FOR A RECALL TO REPLACE AND I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT TESLA DO RECALL THESE VEHICLES BECAUSE THE SOFTWARE UPDATES ARE INSUFFICIENT TO FIX THE PROBLEM. THE MCU JUST NEEDS TO BE REPLACED.

NHTSA ODI 11388849

THE MCU WILL GO TO A BLACK SCREEN WHILE DRIVING AND IS UNRESPONSIVE. I AM NOT ABLE TO USE THE WINDOW DEFROSTER AND HAVE TO PULL OVER UNTIL THE UNIT POWERS BACK UP. THIS CAN TAKE SOME TIME AND CONTINUES TO TAKE LONGER EACH TIME THIS OCCURS. I HAVE REPORTED THE ISSUE TO TESLA AND WAS TOLD THAT EVERYTHING WAS FINE.

NHTSA ODI 11388546