What 129 owners told NHTSA about the 2018 Tesla Model S 60d

While driving in Autopilot mode, approx 70 mph in light rain the vhicle began to drift side to side almost crossing over the lane dividing line. Upon grabbing the wheel to take control the vehicle entered multiple 360 degree spins crashing into "K" rail. In the past I have noticed when taking control of the vehicle from Autopilot the wheel jerks.

NHTSA ODI 11629913

Shortly after an update in December, my 2018 Model S started getting alerts: Driving visualization temporarily degraded, charge port sensor fault, autopilot cameras unavailable, automatic emergency braking unavailable, lane departure avoidance features unavailable, steering assist reduced. The map no longer knows where the car is located and cannot navigate or tell what the battery percentage will be at. All automatic features have stopped working. The service center claims the ECU needs to be replaced. It was upgrade to the Autopilot/Full self-driving ECU in 2020. I have read reports from dozens of other Tesla owners that this update also broke their ECU. I believe Tesla knows the new requirements for full self-driving to be safe and usable does not work with their current ECU. They want to charge me $1600 to replace the ECU. I cannot receive the recall OTA update with my current ECU.

NHTSA ODI 11578300

I believe my software is hacked. Car was purchased 6 months prior to when the vehicle shows registered to me. The vehicle shows no location with Tesla and has no direct contact from the vehicle with Tesla. My display screen blacks out while I’m driving on the freeway or streets. Leaves me feeling unsafe in bad areas I am driving to pick up drop off kids from college, school, or film school projects . Some of the safety hazard warnings do not work at times. Does not give me correct supercharger locations which leaves me in scary situations. Traveling on [XXX] my car excelled to 91mph without warning and didn’t use any sort of automated system as I do not have that capability. Tried to step on brake but did not work and I changed lanes which suddenly caused the car to slowly bring the car to driving mode again. Very scary. The car speaker had a male voice and all the car occupants pulled out their phones to see if it was coming from their phones. But it definitely came from the vehicle speaker system. My iPhone was hacked with NSO Israel' Company Pegasus spyware and now my car is being hacked. I never connect my device to my car. Although my kids do periodically. Please advice on this urgent matter. Please contact me [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11577417

On the afternoon of [XXX], my car’s speed assist was set at 30mph, and I was traveling north on [XXX] . At the end of that avenue where it joins [XXX] , a red traffic light was detected and my vehicle stopped normally. However a unique anomaly occurred. The vehicle crept forward three times against the light. I was required to apply brake pressure to stop the car from moving forward illegally. This phenomenon has never occurred since I have owned the vehicle beginning in early 2019. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11569650

Multiple components failed or malfunctioned. FSD beta, lane keeping assistance, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, and Automatic emergency braking, all failed or malfunctioned. I have requested TESLA to provide me the details on what happened, but after multiple attempts of reaching out to them, they are not providing any answers. I was driving with my son and we both got injured, my son was admitted to the hospital for 4 days. I am not sure if TESLA inspected it, they are not answering my questions. There was no warning or there were no symptoms of the problem before the failure. This is what happened, I was driving on FSD beta on a 2-way street with one lane in both directions, The car suddenly drifted, crossed the opposite lane, went over the sidewalk, and hit a tree. The airbags were released, and the front of the car was destroyed. The speed limit on the road was 25, and as it was in FSD mode, the speed was locked in at 25 mph. I was driving with my son, and my son got a lot of bruises internal and external from the seat belt, I had some bruises on my forehead. This is a complete failure of Tesla's FSD capability because it didn't detect the tree or the sidewalk and failed to apply the brakes. The car was declared a total loss by the insurance company. I am attaching a few photographs of the car after the accident.

NHTSA ODI 11565412

The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the forward collision avoidance feature was inoperable. The contact stated that due to the failure, the vehicle crashed into the guard rail. The contact stated that damage was done to the front driver's side and rear driver's side of the fender. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000. The VIN was unavailable.

NHTSA ODI 11561444

My car will randomly apply the brakes when driving on the highway for no apparent reason. I have noticed this to occur when going under overpasses especially on a bright sunny day, but also at other times. I do not find it to be predictable and it can be quite dangerous if traffic behind me is very close. This has occurred many times, most recently as yesterday.

NHTSA ODI 11560509

I was using the Enhanced Cruise Control and the car just slammed on brakes out of nowhere. There was not any cars ahead or beside me at the time. This has happened about 5-6 times since I purchased the vehicle on March 10, 2023

NHTSA ODI 11534345

Maryland State Police Report [XXX] says: On [XXX], [XXX] was driving his 2018 Tesla Model S in Maryland on what is known in the DMV as the important highway, "The Beltway". According to Police Report [XXX], "Unit 1 was traveling southbound in Lane 1 on [XXX]. The Autopilot feature on the Tesla was engaged. The Autopilot malfunctioned causing the Tesla to lose control and leave the highway on the Left Side. The Driver was Transported by ambulance to the hospital ...." "Equipment Failure, Ran Off Road Left" INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11528444

While driving on the highway using cruise control, the car unexpectedly and rapidly slowed down. This has happened several (5-10) times, day and night, generally in low traffic areas (mostly with no traffic anywhere nearby). I have experienced this issue throughout my ownership of the car. In the most recent case, the car seemed to think that the speed limit had dropped to 35mph, perhaps seeing a sign from a nearby road. Other times, I could perceive no cause, so UNKNOWN. The date below is the most recent time, where the car thought the speed limit dropped.

NHTSA ODI 11526759

Door handle not working and not popping out as expected and driver can’t go inside the car. A few complaints already from the internet and a lawsuit already filed by other owner and this seems to be recall already but nothing was mentioned yet Camera get blinded or get block easily with rain or sun. This is an issue if you’re using the autopilot.

NHTSA ODI 11513151

On March 17, 2023 at approximately 4:00 pm MT, I was traveling at approximately 75 MPH with adaptive cruise control and auto pilot engaged when the car suddenly applied brakes with no obstruction ahead or behind or on the side. The car quickly slowed down to approximately 55 MPH, released the brakes and began to accelerate back to the speed limit of 75 MPH.

NHTSA ODI 11512646

On freeway in traffic, autopilot is enabled. Vehicle is running perfectly fine in start stop traffic slowing down and speeding up as needed. Traffic starts to clear up, and as vehicle speeds up, there is a sudden slowdown again. Instead of braking/slowing down, autopilot turns off without an additional audible alarm (just the standard sound for turning off autopilot), instead the forward collision warning alert goes off. Able to brake in time to prevent accident.

NHTSA ODI 11511387

MCU2 Failure. Dashboard and Screen no longer works Turn signals and headlights do not work There are no seatbelt warning Can no longer see battery levels / range (via app or inside car) Can no longer see car's location (via app) The car will drive, brake lights and windows work THAT'S IT. Car it totally unsafe to drive otherwise. Tesla is charging $1965.75 plus taxes which equals $2083.70 Parts $1800 Remove and Replaces $165.75

NHTSA ODI 11492143

The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed with the Self-Driving feature activated, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 36,000.

NHTSA ODI 11467292

On 3/15/2022, I was driving on I405 with auto-pilot engaged. My car (Tesla Model S) suddenly braked hard for no apparent reason. I had to disengage auto-pilot and quickly accelerate to avoid the car behind me from rear ending my car. Fortunately, I remembered to save the event recorded on Tesla cameras. Take a look at 2022-03-15_12-24/2022-03-15_12-24-53-back.mp4 file around 46 sec ~ 51 sec within the file. You will notice that the car suddenly braked around that time causing the car behind to nearly rear-end my car. If you watch recording from the side+front cameras around the same timeframe, you will notice that there was nothing in the front or on the sides that warranted sudden braking. Those files are 2022-03-15_12-24-53-front.mp4, 2022-03-15_12-24-53-left_repeater.mp4 and 2022-03-15_12-24-53-right_repeater.mp4 The Tesla app does not allow me to create a new service request for this issue because I have another request open for a minor and unrelated issue. Therefore, I have not been able to report this to Tesla. I will do so after 3/22 when the current request is resolved. Note your site does not allow uploading video files therefore I could not attach them to this report. I can make them available if you need them.

NHTSA ODI 11457532

The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving at 65 MPH with cruise control activated, the vehicle inadvertently started braking and the cruise control disengaged. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that there was no other vehicle nearby. The vehicle was driven safely to the residence. The failure was intermittent. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that an unnamed software update needed to be performed. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

NHTSA ODI 11453845

I have experienced many times "phantom braking". When I reported that to a Tesla service center 2 years ago, they did not know of this problem. It is scary and dangerous especially for the cars following me It only happens to me on the freeway when in ADAS mode. There is a exact place on the 5 freeway SB near Disneyland, that each time I drive there, phantom braking happens. Further also random without noticing any reason for it.

NHTSA ODI 11453139

This incident happened some time ago but I read recently about complaints related to "phantom braking" which I also experienced. I was driving on the highway at speed with my cruise control activated. There was no traffic close in front of me, but a large semi was in the lane to my right. This vehicle triggered sharp braking of my car. It was very scary, but I immediately overroad the braking to avoid being hit by a vehicle behind me. I have never used my cruise control since that incident.

NHTSA ODI 11450584

MCU will not keep up with basic standard features. Map would not load mid trip causing autopilot to fail during a turn causing car to veer wide and almost crash into a wall. Advised Tesla service and they said the only fix is to spend $2000 to upgrade the MCU.

NHTSA ODI 11442507

I have been complaining since I got this Tesla in late 2017, that the car brakes unexpectedly on the Freeway. Tesla claim that nothing is wrong & this will happened if the sensor received a signal like light from another car, but I was driving on the Freeway during daytime? On 10/31/21 while driving autodrive on the freeway the car suddenly skid to the right twice, around 6.50 PM & 9.05 PM. My Grandson was in the car with me and witness the incident. Luckily I was able to straighten the car without any accident. Tesla made an appointment for a mobile visit on 11/5/21, but cancelled on 11/4/21 and reschedule one month later on 12/9/21 to a Service Ctr in Walnut. This is a Safety issue and Tesla is not seriously taking care of.

NHTSA ODI 11439631

ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS BOTH OF MY DASHBOARD SCREENS (DRIVER CLUSTER AND CENTER CONSOLE) WENT BLANK WHILE DRIVING AT A VARIETY OF SPEEDS. I WAS UNABLE TO SEE MY SPEEDOMETER, BACK-UP CAMERA, CONTROL HVAC, OR ANY AUDIO. I ALSO WAS UNABLE TO USE COLLISION ASSISTANCE, BLIND SPOT DETECTION, AUTOPILOT, OR, PRESUMABLY, EMERGENCY BRAKING. TO REGAIN CONTROL I HAD TO REBOOT THE VEHICLE WHILE DRIVING, WHICH WAS HAZARDOUS TO SAY THE LEAST. THERE DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE ANY SPECIFIC TRIGGER TO THIS OUTAGE OTHER THAN THE VEHICLE WAS IN GEAR AND MOVING FORWARD. IT HAPPENED DURING THE DAY AND AT NIGHT. I REPORTED THIS TO TESLA USING THEIR "REPORT BUG" FEATURE IN THE VEHICLE, BUT I NEVER HEARD ANYTHING BACK. THIS HAS OCCURRED AT LEAST 6 OR 7 TIMES OVER THE LAST YEAR. THE MOST RECENT INCIDENT OCCURRED LAST WEEK, 15-16 MARCH.

NHTSA ODI 11405008

WHILE DRIVING ON THE EXPRESSWAY, CRUISE CONTROL WAS ENGAGED AT 65-70 MPH FOR 3-5 MINUTES, UNTIL SUDDENLY, THE CAR SLOWED DOWN ALL BY ITSELF TO AROUND 50MPH WITH VIBRATION AND JERKING. THE BRAKE WAS NOT DEPRESSED AT ALL. NO OTHER CARS WERE IN FRONT OF ME OR AROUND ME AT THE TIME OF INCIDENT

NHTSA ODI 11377444