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

MEDIA CONTROL UNIT SCREEN WENT BLANK WHILE VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION. VEHICLE STILL DRIVES, BUT DRIVER IS UNABLE TO USE NAVIGATION OR MEDIA FUNCTIONS. NO TURN SIGNAL FEEDBACK. NO BACKUP CAMERA. WORSE, UNABLE TO CONTROL AC THAT WAS RUNNING AT THE TIME OF INCIDENT. AIR CONDITIONING STILL RUNS AFTER VEHICLE SUPPOSED TO BE STOPPED, DRAINING BATTERY. VEHICLE HAD TO BE PARKED FOR 48HRS + WITH AC RUNNING CONSTANTLY UNTIL BROUGHT TO DEALERSHIP. SERVICE WANTS $1700 FOR A REPLACEMENT, OR $2250 FOR AN "UPGRADE".

NHTSA ODI 11339567

THE MEDIA CONTROL UNIT FAILED ON MY 2015 TESLA MODEL S. THIS IS A KNOWN ISSUE AND HAPPENS ON ALL TESLA'S DUE TO A MEMORY FAILURE ON THE MCU1 UNIT. THIS CAUSES THE REAR VIEW CAMERA TO NOT WORK IMPACTING SAFTY VISIBILITY WHEN BACKING THE CAR. THE CAR BEING ELECTRIC IS QUIET AND WITHOUT A PROPER REAR VIEW CAMERA IT IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE THAT IS WELL KNOWN BY TESLA

NHTSA ODI 11339612

MY MCU STOPPED WORKING AND I WAS UNABLE TO USE A LOT OF THE CARS FUNCTIONS. WHEN MY SCREEN WENT DARK I WAS UNABLE TO SEE ANY DISPLAY OF THE REVERSE CAMERA AND WAS UNABLE TO ADJUST SUSPENSION SETTINGS. THIS HAPPENED AS I PUT THE CAR IN REVERSE IN MY DRIVEWAY WITH FAMILY MEMBERS WALKING AROUND THE AREA. THE CAR WAS TOWED TO A TESLA REPAIR FACILITY AND I WAS TOLD THEY WERE ABLE TO GET MY MCU WORKING BUT THE PROBLEM WILL LIKELY RETURN.

NHTSA ODI 11339613

MCU DEGRADATION. OBTAINED THE CAR IN 2019 AND BY 2020 THE UNIT HAS DEGRADED TO DANGEROUS STATES. WHILE DRIVING THE CAR IN REVERSE THE CAMERA SPLIT INTO TWO IMAGES INVERTED, MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO SEE WHILE BACKING UP. ALSO THE SYSTEM NAVIGATION FAILED DURING ONE OF MY TRIPS CAUSING ME TO SOFT RESET IT AT NIGHT WHILE DRIVING. THE CAR SHUT OFF THE HEADLIGHTS IN A DARK AREA WITH NO STREET LAMPS, FORCING ME TO PULL OVER USING THE HAZARDS TO PARK. THE SYSTEM NEVER SHUT OFF THE HEADLIGHTS OR PREVENTING DRIVABILITY WHEN RESETTING IN THE PAST. MENU FUNCTIONS HAVE STARTED TO SHOW UP CRYPTIC AND UNUSEABLE FORCING MORE COMMON RESTARTS WHILE DRIVING. MULTIPLE TRIPS TO TESLA SERVICE CENTERS WILL NOT RESOLVE THE ISSUE. THE STAFF IGNORE IT AND SAY ITS NORMAL. THEY KEEP SAYING THE CACHE IS FULL AND ONLY THEY CAN FULLY CLEAR THE CACHE. IN ALL CASES THE VECHICLE WAS IN MOTION AND EACH COULD HAVE RESULTED IN AN ACCIDENT.

NHTSA ODI 11337409

MAIN CONTROL SCREEN (MCU1) WENT BLACK, DISABLING ACCESS TO MOST CONTROLS INCLUDING DEFROSTER. HAD REPAIR DONE (OUT OF WARRANTY) AT A COST OF $1800. PROBLEM IS POORLY DESIGNED ELECTRONICS CAUSING FAILURE OF MEMORY CHIP IN UNIT BECAUSE OF TOO MANY READ/WRITE CYCLES. MY UNDERSTANDING IS THOUSANDS OF 2014-2016 CARS HAVE SUFFERED THIS PROBLEM IN THE LAST YEAR.

NHTSA ODI 11337298

THE INFOTAINMENT COMPUTER MCU1 IS KNOWN TO FAIL PREMATURELY DUE TO SOFTWARE ISSUES CAUSED AND NOT FIXED IN A TIMELY MANNER BY TESLA. BASICALLY THE LIMITED WRITE CYCLES OF FLASH MEMORY ARE EXHAUSTED DUE TO EXCESSIVE LOGGING UP TO A CERTAIN SOFTWARE VERSION. MY CAR SHOWS THE EARLY WARNING SIGNS INCLUDING BLACK SCREENS ON ENTERING (CAR IS NOT MOVABLE FOR SEVERAL MINUTES) AND REBOOTS DURING DRIVING. FULL MCU FAILURE IS KNOWN TO CAUSE INDICATOR LIGHTS TO FAIL, AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING TO NOT ENGAGE, DISABLED FAST CHARGING AND NO ACCURATE CHARGE INDICATOR (SO RISK OF GETTING STRANDED), HEATING/VENTILATION STUCK TO MOST RECENT SETTING (NO DEFROST), AUDIO FRAGMENTS BEING STUCK ON ARBITRARY VOLUME, AIR SUSPENSION IS STUCK TO POSSIBLY UNSUITABLE SETTINGS AND THE SPEEDOMETER IS REVERTING TO MPH INSTEAD OF KM/H WITHOUT NOTIFICATION. IF PIN TO DRIVE IS USED, THE CAR CAN NO LONGER BE UNLOCKED AND MOVED. TESLA DOES NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THIS PROBLEM AND CHARGES FOR FULL REPAIR COST OUTSIDE OF WARRANTY / DRAGS CASES OF IMPENDING MCU FAILURE UNTIL THE CAR IS OUT OF WARRANTY. MCU1 CAN BE REPLACED WITH MCU2 ACCORDING TO A TESLA INFOTAINMENT WEBSITE; HOWEVER ONLY MCU1 REPLACEMENTS FOR THE OLDEST CARS (AP1 SENSOR LEVEL) ARE AVAILABLE TO DATE DESPITE ANNOUNCEMENT THESE WOULD BE READY IN APRIL 2020. NEWER CARS WITH LONGER REMAINING LIFE CAN BE UPGRADED UPON INVITATION BY TESLA.

NHTSA ODI 11331708

MY TOUCHSCREEN HAS FAILED COMPLETELY AND I AM UNABLE TO USE MY BLINKERS OR CONTROL MY LIGHTS THIS IS A BIG SAFETY CONCERN AND TESLA HAS STATED THAT IT'S NORMAL FOR COMPUTER SYSTEMS TO FAIL.

NHTSA ODI 11331332

I UNDERSTAND YOU ARE INVESTIGATING TESLA MODEL S COMPUTER FAILURE. I WOULD LIKE TO LIST THE ISSUES I HAVE HAD SINCE I BROUGHT MY MODEL S IN MARCH 2015: -APRIL 2015 ? FRONT TRUNK WOULD NOT OPEN. LATCH WAS REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY. -JUNE 2016 ? DRIVER DOOR HANDLE STOPPED WORKING. REPLACED UNDER WARRANTY -AUGUST 2019 ? MEDIA CONTROL UNIT FAILURE (TOUCHSCREEN). HAPPENED ON A FRIDAY AND I COULD NOT SEE IN REVERSE, COULD NOT USE HANDSFREE PHONE ? IMPORTANT FOR ME AS A CRITICAL CARE PHYSICIAN ANSWERING CALLS FROM THE ICUS. COULD NOT CLOSER SUNROOF. CAR COULD NOT BE SHUT DOWN. THE AIR CONDITIONER STAYED ON FOR 3 DAYS UNTIL I CAN GET THE CAR TO SERVICE CENTER. CAR HAD TO REMAIN PLUGGED INTO CHARGER TO SUPPORT THE AIR CONDITIONER ETC SO I HAD ENOUGH BATTERY RESERVE TO GET TO THE SERVICE CENTER. MY COST $2134 -AUGUST 2019 ? A/C FAILED AFTER HAVING RUN NONSTOP FOR 3 DAYS B/C OF MCU FAILURE. MY COST $869. -AUGUST 2019 ? IN EFFORT TO SHUT DOWN THE CAR, PER TESLA PHONE INSTRUCTIONS, I DISCONNECTED THE BATTERY AND CHARGED IT. AS A RESULT THE BATTERY SHAPED BALLOONED OUT AND I HAD IT REPLACED SINCE EVERYTHING WAS OPEN. MY COST $216. *TR

NHTSA ODI 11331134

THE MAIN SCREEN ON THE CAR (MCU) HAS HAD ISSUES FOR OVER A YEAR. IT WOULD SOMETIMES JUST GO BLANK WHILE DRIVING, OR NOT TURN ON WHEN GETTING IN CAR OR THE RESPONSE TIME SO SLOW (WHICH WOULD BE A REAL SAFETY CONCERN AND CAUSED ME TO PULL OFF THE ROAD SEVERAL TIMES) THE REAR CAMERA WOULD STOP WORKING. I JUST PAID $1639.00 TO HAVE THE UNIT REPLACED, I WAS INFORMED IT WAS PAST IT'S USEFUL LIFE AND WOULD FAIL IN THE NEAR FUTURE. THESE FAILURES BEGAN HAPPENING IN APRIL OF 2019 FROM PARKED TO 75 MPH. *TR

NHTSA ODI 11330790

ON JUNE 9 AT APPROXIMATELY 10:30PM, THE CAR ACCELERATED ON ITS OWN AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED. THE CRUISE CONTROL WAS OFF, AS SUCH, SO WAS THE DRIVER ASSIST MODE. IN ADDITION, WITHOUT PROMPTING, THE SUNROOF OPENED AND THE WINDSHIELD WIPERS TURNED ON. THE ONLY WAY TO STOP IT WAS TO REBOOT THE COMPUTER. THE FACT THAT TESLA DENIES THIS IS A PROBLEM IS RIDICULOUS. THERE IS CLEARLY A SOFTWARE ISSUE THAT HAS BEEN RECENTLY INTRODUCED. I HAVE HAD THE CAR FOR MORE THAN 5 YEARS AND HAVE NEVER HAD THIS TYPE OF PROBLEM UNTIL NOW. *TR

NHTSA ODI 11328382

TOUCHSCREEN THAT CONTROLS MOST VEHICLE FUNCTIONS INCLUDING HVAC BECAME DISABLED BECAUSE A CHIP IN THE TOUCHSCREEN WENT BAD. THE CAR WAS UNABLE TO CHARGE AND WOULD TAKE APPROX 5 MINS TO START AT TIMES. UNABLE TO CLEAR FOGGED WINDOWS WITH HVAC

NHTSA ODI 11281197

I HAVE THREE ISSUES REGARDING VISIBILITY FOR SAFE DRIVING: 1) A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO THE COMPUTER SYSTEM OF THE CAR EXPERIENCED A SOFTWARE CRASH. AS A RESULT THE SIDE MIRRORS DID NOT OPEN AND THE REAR VIEW CAMERA DID NOT WORK. THE CAR WAS STILL DRIVE-ABLE I NEEDED TO TAKE MY SON TO SCHOOL SO DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO TROUBLESHOOT THIS. THIS WAS VERY UNSAFE TO DRIVE, PARTICULARLY ON THE FREEWAY, AND I BELIEVE IT IS ILLEGAL IN CALIFORNIA TO DRIVE WITHOUT WORKING MIRRORS. I CONTACTED TESLA ABOUT THIS AND THEY DID NOT OFFER ANY SPECIFICS. I BELIEVE THIS IS A MAJOR ISSUE. OPERATIONAL MIRRORS ARE ESSENTIAL EQUIPMENT, I THINK IT IS BAD DESIGN THAT THESE ARE DEPENDENT ON THE SAME SYSTEM AS THE ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM. TESLA'S PLAN TO REPLACE SIDE MIRRORS WITH VIDEO CAMERAS IS WORRISOME IN THIS REGARD. 2) THE RADIO CONTROL BUTTONS FOR CHANGING THE STATION ON THE STEERING WHEEL NO LONGER WORK. I BELIEVE THIS IS THE RESULT OF A SOFTWARE UPGRADE BY TESLA. TO CHANGE THE STATION NOW REQUIRES DIVERTING ATTENTION FROM THE ROAD TO A TOUCH SCREEN. I HAVE COMPLAINED ABOUT THIS TO TESLA AND THEY HAVE REPLIED WITH ANY MATERIAL EXPLANATION. 3) WHEN THE CAR IS IN REVERSE THE BACKUP CAMERA CAN BE BLOCKED ON THE DISPLAY BY OTHER ACTIVITY. THIS IS A PROBLEM IN THAT A PASSENGER CAN INADVERTENTLY TURN OFF THE CAMERA DISPLAY WHILE CAR IS IN REVERSE MOTION. A SECOND ISSUE IS THAT THE BACKUP CAMERA WILL OCCASIONALLY DISPLAY IN SOME SORT OF SPLIT SCREEN MORE. IT LOOKS LIKE THEY ARE TRYING TO DISPLAY BOTH A WIDE ANGLE VIEW AND NARROW VIEW. THIS ONLY HAPPENS RANDOMLY (MAYBE ANOTHER SOFTWARE ISSUE) BUT IT DOES DIMINISH THE USEFULNESS OF THE CAMERA. I HAVE NOT CONTACTED TESLA FOR THESE ISSUES CONCERNING THE REAR CAMERA.

NHTSA ODI 10927077