What 982 owners told NHTSA about the 2018 Tesla Model 3 Bev

I have noticed unwarranted braking while using cruise control. I have been able to confirm at least some of it is due reconstruction of the highway. At certain places the car thinks I am on an exit ramp with a 45mph limit when I am actually on the main highway. It then suddenly slows the car until I correct it using the accelerator.

NHTSA ODI 11475999

The car brakes by it and accelerates by it. Some time it says I am not holding the steering wheel and it cancels the autopilot in the middle of the long distance driving. The defective cabin camera does not see the hand position at all and randomly keeps on distracting from the front road view to the screen which is not in the same line as the road. Too many errors of auto pilot are very frustrating and distracting. The Tesla’s team tries to repair something and keeps on blaming their own departments not to fix things correctly. I have tried many times to make an appointment thru their app which is very buggy and it’s like one way communication. I have multiple recalls on my car but they don’t have time or parts to fix it. They will not allow making any weekend or within 20 mile radius service center. Once they do any repair their technician drops the ball and do not want to fix the original problem correctly. The full self driving is ridiculous I have not been able to complete even 10 miles trip without taking over in few minutes. This FSD software/hardware needs to be more accurate as soon as possible so that there is no harm done to the driver and passenger to the Tesla and other cars.

NHTSA ODI 11474591

1) Ongoing issue with car braking suddenly when no other cars are ahead of it. 2) When in auto-pilot, the car brakes late when carrying speed. This has happened when the car is less than 1 car length behind the car ahead of it forcing me to disengage and brake hard to avoid a collision. In one incident, I had to swerve the car and drive onto shoulder of the highway to avoid a collision. 3) On 7-16 the the undercarriage cover detached from car while driving on highway.

NHTSA ODI 11474359

Cruise control was engaged at 70mph. Auto without warning while traveling suddenly started severe braking. Driver was only guiding steering at the time ( foot did not touch brake). The dual lane highway was level and straight. There were no other vehicles in sight. The skys were overcast so there were no shadows. There were no overpasses. I have had this happen several times when autopilot is engaged but never when just cruise control activated. Sudden braking like this at high speeds could cause a vehicle following this auto to rear end that could cause the loss of control of this vehicle that would cause a life threatening event to occur.

NHTSA ODI 11468900

The optional "Self Driving Option" we purchased for an additional $8,000 when we purchased this vehicle has never worked properly. The adaptive cruise control will brake for no reason, often multiple times per mile. It seems to be affected by shadows on the road and the vehicle mistakes these shadows for obstacles. The "Self Driving Option" will abruptly jerk the steering wheel in the direction of oncoming traffic and violently disengage. My wife and I find it to be unusable. Multiple service requests to Tesla have resulted in no actions.

NHTSA ODI 11468574

PHANTOM BRAKING!!! Ever since purchasing the car in March 2018 and right up to the present, when using AUTOPILOT or more recently FULL SELF DRIVING (FSD), especially at highway speeds, the car will suddenly start significantly braking and slow down for no justifiable reason. This is dangerous enough that if the vehicle behind me is not paying attention, they could rear-end me. It’s totally unpredictable when this will occur, but it does happen frequently at highway speeds. This is a very well-known problem, but even after dozens of software update releases, Tesla has been unable to eliminate or even reduce the frequency of Phantom Braking.

NHTSA ODI 11468616

NHTSA forced Tesla FSDBETA to remove “Rolling Stop” behavior at clear intersections. This has caused me to be continually honked at, drivers aggressively passing my slow FSDBETA car. The decision by the NHTSA has caused my car to be more UNSAFE by impeding proper traffic flows. NHTSA should be focused on improving safety and not traffic law enforcement. This complaint is directed at the improper decision and solely on the NHTSA to lift the guidance to Tesla. As a customer I now feel my car is unsafe to drive due to your decision.

NHTSA ODI 11467542

While using the adaptive cruise control plus autopilot, car suddenly and rapidly slows to stop. At each instance, there are no cars in front of me or any other obvious obstruction to cause the car to rapidly deaccelerate. It only happens on the freeway at freeway speeds. It is shocking and unnerving. When I quickly take back the control, I can bring the car back up to speed. So far, there has not been a car close behind me to cause a rear-end collision, but that is my fear. This has happened sporadically since I got the car, perhaps ten times total. The form asks for a date, but there are multiple across years so I put the approx latest date.

NHTSA ODI 11467502

I saw the reports on all the auto breaking issues with tesla, and i wanted to report for over a year my car does this ALL the time when auto pilot is engaged. I can remember hundreds of times where there is nothing around and all of a sudden the car auto breaks and its hard breaking as though im slamming on the breaks.

NHTSA ODI 11467384

Vehicle center screen freezing multiple times per drive. Speedometer, turn signals, autopilot, battery percentage, backup camera, blind spot monitor, parking sensors, HVAC and garage door opener all repeatedly inoperative. Audio chimes also freeze up and previously-engaged “navigate on autopilot” functions continue to operate without any visual or auditory alerts.

NHTSA ODI 11464794

The enhanced autopilot failed to recognize a divider/Jersey barrier or alert the driver of the obstacle, as the software is advertised and was relied on to do, at an exit ramp and ran into the barrier without any type of maneuver or breaking to avoid the collision causing substantial injury to the driver. This exit is a very busy exit on I-95 with many commuters going to work at this time. It was by sheer luck that no other vehicles were involved. The driver endured an immediate stop from above 50mph to 0 in about a second. As far as I know, no inspection was performed. There were no warning messages, symptoms or problems related prior to the incident.

NHTSA ODI 11462863

The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving at a slow speed in ongoing traffic, the vehicle accelerated independently and bumped into the vehicle in front of her lane. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated no one was injured nor sought medical attention. No police report was filed. The contact stated her vehicle did not need any repairs but the other vehicle did. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted about the incident. The contact stated she continued to experience the failure. The contact stated on November 2021, while she was driving at slow speed in a parking lot, the vehicle accelerated independently and she crashed into a concrete post. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated no one was injured nor sought medical attention. No police report was filed. The contact called the manufacturer and was referred to the body shop. The contact took the vehicle to the body shop and had the bummer, the passenger side headlight, the bender, and other front components. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated she had experienced the failure on 4 different occasions in total to herself and once to her husband. The contact stated her husband ran into bushes but no damage to the vehicle. No one was injured nor sought medical attention. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 17,000.

NHTSA ODI 11460392

The vehicle looses power on the freeway and will continue to slow down despite repeatedly depressing the accelerator and holding it down. The vehicle has been brought in to Tesla and no fix has been found to this date. No warning lights go on and sounds are heard to alert to any problem. I have video of this.

NHTSA ODI 11456770

I needed to back up slightly to make room to get our of a parallel parking position. I pressed the brake and put the car into reverse, pressed the accelerator slightly to back up. I then pressed the brake again and put the car into Drive. I then pressed the accelerator slightly to drive off, but the car suddenly accelerated in an uncontrolled manner. I was able to slam on the brakes to prevent an accident. This is not the first time that this type of unintended acceleration has occurred in this vehicle.

NHTSA ODI 11455066

regularly experience phantom breaking and unwarranted early collision warnings

NHTSA ODI 11453589

“Phantom emergency braking” problem while autopilot engaged. Will go from 65 to 45 or sometimes lower. Occurrences are unpredictable. There are no apparent causes. If I set driving speed to be 65, I expect it to remain at 65 unless adaptive cruise control reduces the speed for a slower moving car in front of me or if there is a detected potential for a collision. This problem causes driver anxiety. The fear is someone behind who is not paying attention or following too close rear ending the vehicle if it brakes suddenly. Sometimes I wonder if a bug hit a sensor or camera and caused the braking, but it doesn't always happen in the same location. It's jarring. I've tried adjusting other settings like crash avoidance detection, but it hasn't made any difference. This has been happening since taking delivery of the car, but I expected a software fix to be implemented before now.

NHTSA ODI 11452805

My 2018 Tesla model 3 experiences “PHANTOM BRAKING” specifically and repeatedly traveling eastbound on the Loop 202 approaching 32nd street in Phoenix AZ. I have reported this issue to Tesla with no resolution.

NHTSA ODI 11452635

Car constantly phantom braking seemingly because of oncoming traffic safely in their own lane.

NHTSA ODI 11452646

Was on highway using full self-driving feature when my car suddenly braked hard and in other instances I received a forward collision warning to take immediate action. These incidences (1/17/2022 & 2/6/2022) occurred when no cars were in front of me. I do not feel safe using this feature.

NHTSA ODI 11450679

When I use auto pilot on freeways, the car will suddenly brake, when there are no vehicles or obstructions in front of me. The sudden reduction in speed is jarring, as I fear getting rear-ended. This "phantom breaking" has happened on numerous occasions, to the point that I do not use auto pilot when I have other passengers in the car.

NHTSA ODI 11450575

Car randomly brakes very hard when using driver assistance systems. This has happened on wide open roads on clear days, multiple times.

NHTSA ODI 11450448

I have been plagued with Tesla’s phantom braking for *years*. For all that they do, this seems like a problem they are not willing to invest enough resources to combat the problem. Some releases have been better than others but for last batch of releases, it has gotten far worse than ever before. The car is afraid of bridges and slows down unreasonably. The car is afraid of overhead signs (carpool ones especially) The car is afraid of cars riding on or near the lines of an adjacent lane. The car is afraid of oncoming traffic on the left while driving. What is ironic is these events of aggressive braking is all for nothing. 90% of the time,. The car brakes and does drama without actually having enough time or space if what it was afraid of actually happened. The car has a rear facing camera - why can’t it adjust behavior based on tail gating? Would the car rather have a rear end collision or be afraid of a bridge? It is straight dangerous. The fact there aren’t a lot more accidents is auto pilot/fsd drivers be a large majority pay attention. But, I have had close calls and *many* angry drivers around me get frustrated when it happens. It’s been happening for 4 years…. I realize navigating a complex intersection is a tough problem to solve. They have prioritized this over the fundamentals of driving in a sane way on the freeway in a straight line. It’s ridiculous and I for one am very tired of this problem lasting so long. What chides me is that, “car, why are you braking when a car right in front of you magically went through the bridge you are afraid of?” It is basic logic and simple/obvious clues to help avoid this. They choose not to use it. Also - being in technology myself, I have to rake Elon over the coals. No one smart chooses to not use available data. Elon calling ultrasonic data to be ‘noise’ to turn to vision only is a sign of great hubris over being pragmatic. His ego regarding Lidar is a problem.

NHTSA ODI 11450181

Several times I am driving on the Highway at 65 mph and the car decelerates rapidly for no reason while I am in the drive assist mode. I have reported this several times to Tesla through the "report bug" feature in the car. It's very scary and dangerous. Additionally the drive assist mode doesn't work well in dense fog or rain and there should be a warning to that effect.

NHTSA ODI 11444440

Multiple "phantom braking" events while using Tesla's Auto Pilot system. Vehicle, while in Auto Pilot mode, will suddenly aggressively brake for no reason (no road hazards or other imminent dangers). Occurs about once every 50 miles driven with Auto Pilot on. The last incident occurred on 11/14/21

NHTSA ODI 11440466

I was driving on interstate, using adaptive speed control but not autopilot. Middle lane. Car suddenly applied brakes. A car was ahead of me but not very close, there was no reason to apply brakes. Slowed down from 65 to 45 very fast, (seatbelt tightened) before I resumed acceleration myself. Lucky I wasn’t rear ended because traffic is usually heavy in that area. I had one passenger who was as surprised as I was. Yes, the car can be inspected. Not reported to Tesla. No warning messages, including didn’t make the loud sound Tesla makes with normal city driving if a car ahead is turning right and I start to accelerate before it has completely left the lane I am in. Tesla cameras are also not seeing cars traveling in my driver side blind spot. They used to show up on the screen but haven’t for months. Tesla cameras also do not see low flat bed trailers (such as empty car carriers) pulled by pickup trucks, common in Ohio. Screen shows the truck but does not show the trailer. I don’t use autopilot because of the blind spot issue, now I’m afraid to use cruise control too.

NHTSA ODI 11440469