What 592 owners told NHTSA about the 2019 Tesla Model 3 Bev

Loss of steering power while driving on the highway. Came out of nowhere

NHTSA ODI 11552958

Vehicle experienced phantom breaking previously documented for Teslas. The vehicle suddenly decelerated by 22mph from 75 to 58 mph in approximately 2 to 4 seconds while cresting a hill on an interstate and navigating on autopilot. There were no vehicles or objects ahead of the vehicle. There was one vehicle behind at an indeterminate distance at the start of the phantom breaking event. The driver had their hand on the wheel before the initiation of the phantom breaking and the autopilot system alarmed and prompted the driver to take control at the onset of the phantom breaking.

NHTSA ODI 11551889

The vehicle will randomly start emergency braking for no reason once so ever when using teslas full self driving. This is extremely dangerous as it can happen at any moment while the autopilot feature is in use. In my most recent instance autopilot was set to 70 mph, and with no vehicles are traffic control devices present what is known as “phantom braking” started to occur. Which requires me to quickly reassume control of the vehicle and bring it back up to speed.

NHTSA ODI 11551403

Manufacturer refuses to address outstanding FSD recall from February 2023 despite multiple service appointments and available remedies. This impedes ability to import vehicle to Canada.

NHTSA ODI 11550986

The car is plagued by "phantom braking." It occurs when I am on the freeway - the car suddenly brakes and/or decelerates. (Sometimes it is a sudden braking and sometimes the cruise control just turns off.) This is very unsafe - I am fortunate that it has occurred when there is no car close behind me. I feel it happen and put my foot on the accelerator as soon as I can. It's happened as many as 3-4 times during a long (@500 miles) drive, and other times only once. It occurs in various kinds of weather and I have never been able to figure out why it happens. It has happened when there are no cars in front of or next to my car. I believe this problem has been reported many times before. I do not know what system or part is responsible for this. I have had the car since 2019 and this has been happening as long as I can remember. I have never received any kind of a warning or signal that the car would brake. NOTE: B/c the problem is ongoing, I did not put in an approximate date below.

NHTSA ODI 11544976

I experience frequent "phantom" braking while driving north or south on highway I-75. Many times this happens near state route 70 traveling north, but I have had this phenomenon happening driving south or headed north on 275. Cruise control is on, autopilot may or may not be on (I have had it happen in both modes). It's a frightening and very dangerous problem. Speeds decelerate from 75 or so to about 35 or 40. It's sudden and scary and potentially life threatening. I have immediately hit the gas in the multiple times this has happened.

NHTSA ODI 11542469

Traveling west in I8 between Gila Bend and San Diego I experienced over 20 automatic hard braking events while using TACC. The road was clear, there were no vehicles in front of me within 400 yards. It appeared to be correlated with heat mirages on the road surface ahead though some may have been caused by differences in asphalt color in sections. The hard braking occurred at highway speeds of 70-75mph and dropped my speed rapidly, if a car or truck had been following me closely it could have result in an accident. The remedy is to press the accelerator to resume speed. Training drivers to hit the accelerator in response to phantom braking events is also dangerous as the automatic braking might be overridden automatically by a driver when there really is an event that calls for emergency braking. When the false positives out number to true positives by 100's to 1 it trains drivers to automatically respond to hard emergency braking by mashing the accelerator.

NHTSA ODI 11533355

I own this Tesla model 3 for approximately 4 years. I was driving this car on US interstate highway 10 east, on July 8, 2023. Cruise control and Navigation on Auto pilot was on. A very serious Phantom breaking took place at around 10:52 am, about couple of miles before exit number 400 on I-10. It was clear a day, there was no car in front of me or on my left lane. I was on right lane. auto pilot suddenly reduced my speed from 72 miles per hours to 39 miles per hour in about 2 to 3 seconds. Due to this, a 16-wheel truck behind my car has to swerve to avoid hitting my car from behind and running over me. My wife was in passenger seat. If the 16 wheeler driver would not have taken evasive action, we will have at least two potential deaths.

NHTSA ODI 11531176

Frequent phantom braking. If someone is following closely they may rear end us.

NHTSA ODI 11530244

My vehicle, a 2019 Tesla Model 3, which is equipped with Tesla's Full Self-Driving Beta software, often fails to detect pedestrians and other objects in its path and react appropriately to them. It is highly concerning that this software is being trialled on public roads and pedestrians put at risk. I recently saw a video showing pedestrians being put at risk by someone testing FSD, which even put children in harms way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9JGviyMkzM&feature=youtu.be This software is highly dangerous and needs to be banned and people experimenting on public roads should not be allowed.

NHTSA ODI 11527832

I recently updated my 2019 Tesla Model 3's software to version 2023.7.15. Ever since I did so I have been getting random, unexplained, and unnecessary decelerations in both adaptive cruise control mode and while driving using the vehicle's autopilot (not FSD). While this is annoying at least it is also unsafe as I could easily be rear-ended for no reason when this happens. It has happened every time I drive the vehicle and usually more than once per drive.

NHTSA ODI 11527595

Driving on a clear, sunny day in Arizona on interstate 8 at highway speed with the Tesla AutoPilot engaged. There were no vehicles in front of me and no obstructions in the road when the car did heavy braking (aka phantom braking) for no known reason. I immediately had to override the braking with pressing on the accelerator. This occurred multiple times on the same road. If a vehicle had been traveling behind me when this happened, it would be highly likely that a collision would occur because of the random nature of the extreme braking. I did not use the adaptive cruise feature the rest of the trip in fear that a collision would occur. No warning messages were/are present. The Model 3 I drive is equipped with sensors on the front bumper that (I believe) Tesla has deactivated to use vision-only instead. I drove for years using the non-vision (sensor) method without experiencing phantom braking, so this experience is new to me.

NHTSA ODI 11526340

At 2401-2499 AL-36, Hartselle, AL 35640, 34.447019, -86.811335, traveling West, the car suddenly slows to 25 mph from the normal 55-60 mph. This sudden slow down startles the driver, passengers, and following traffic which rapidly approaches the rear. The problem is reproducible. Yes, the vehicle has been reported to Tesla using their voice reporting system. There are no warnings prior to the failure. It has happened ever since the road work replacing a bridge completed two years ago. BTW, Google Map Pro still shows the construction barriers at that location.

NHTSA ODI 11526296

Unintended acceleration during public street and highway while approaching a stop to make a right turn on November of 2022 in Orange County California onto a highway I let go of the pedal ready to press the brake and while turning it made a unnecessary acceleration to speed up making steering difficult, another incident where I believe in February 2023 as I was driving in the right lane a truck made a sudden stop and the accident avoidance never deployed nor warn me and the acceleration maneuver my steering pedal as I felt it degrease on the brake and increase on the acceleration pedal this was very traumatic and scary knowing I might have bodily injuries or even death also while setting the speed limit I notice while using the regenerative braking the brake pedal would vibrate very aggressively also while using the back up cam and side views it would glitch a lot after a bug update I feel this is very concerning for me and my kids and a lot of reviews and even attorneys or aware of the situation most of all it's a safety issue for California

NHTSA ODI 11524965

On 10/17/2021 my son was killed along with his passenger in this Tesla. The car was thought to be going over 100 miles an hour on a city road Coconut Point Road in Estero Florida. The car was thought to have hit a tree with the rear tire and was sent flying through the air and hit another tree and split in half. My son knew this road well as it was close to his home and drove it on his way home from work. I feel strongly that this was an acceleration issue!! He has driven this car for 2 years, so knew the car well.

NHTSA ODI 11524321

There is one spot on HWY 29 near me in Lake County CA where the car while driving on autopilot always sees an obstacle ahead and warns of an immediate collision. There is however, nothing in the road it is just the road dips down (a bit like a helter skelter) and the car does not recognize it. It is replicable and happens every time that highway is driven.

NHTSA ODI 11523712

The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while utilizing the ADAS features including the Adaptive Cruise Control, the vehicle unexpectedly braked. The contact stated that on another occasion while the accelerator pedal was depressed, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. Due to the failure, the vehicle abruptly stopped and caused the contacts wife’s seat belt to retract very tight. The contact stated that he disengaged the features including the Adaptive Cruise Control to operate the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it remained. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.

NHTSA ODI 11523686

I live in a very rural area with very little traffic on two-lane country roads. When my cruise control is active, my Tesla sometimes brakes for no reason. A couple of days ago it violently braked from 70 mph to 50 mph for absolutely no reason. On that particular trip of 30 miles or so it "phantom braked" four times. I have had this car for almost 4 years and this problem appears to be getting worse.

NHTSA ODI 11521846

The right camera and coax cable have gone bad. The coax cable is corroded and have water inside the camera. This is affect the car to use cruise control and the auto steer function.

NHTSA ODI 11521558

While driving in Cruise Control at the Speed Limit at 65 mph with both hands on the wheel and my foot near the brake (on the 395 Freeway in CA on 5/5/23) and no vehicles in front of me, the car suddenly braked hard (the brake pedal fell to the floor under my foot without my foot making any contact with the pedal) and stopped, thus causing the driver/passenger and all contents to shift forward violently. Luckily, there was no one behind the car, no loss of control of the car, no collisions, and no injuries of the driver/passenger as we were both wearing our seat belts. There was a large 16-wheel truck approaching from about 100 feet away on the other side of the road that passed by without any adverse events. It was the second time that this phantom braking had happened on that same road this year. That other time was in Feb 2023.

NHTSA ODI 11521024

The car will not allow me to use the cruise control, or put the car into auto-steer. Tesla says it do to a coax cable that is damaged or gone bad. Additionally the day a camera repeater also needs to be replace. The car has only 62,000 miles and is 4 year old. Which is out of Warranty.

NHTSA ODI 11520730

False warning while passing a parked vehicle that I have video of

NHTSA ODI 11519809

The contact owns a 2019 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds with the Autonomous Self Driving or Adaptive Cruise Control feature activated, the vehicle experienced phantom braking, causing the vehicle to abruptly stop in the middle of the roadway. The contact stated that the failure had occurred on several occasions without any other vehicles or objects nearby. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were not yet notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 28,000.

NHTSA ODI 11518709

While driving, the AEB randomly and repeatedly activates while there are no obstacles in my path. It will slow on the interstate from 70 mph to 30 mph.

NHTSA ODI 11518440

In autopilot or cruise control, this vehicle will brake unexpectedly with no vehicle or obstacle in front of it. This has happened primarily on highways, and it has happened between 10 and 15 times, such that now the driver cannot trust either autopilot or cruise control because if someone is following close behind, it could cause a wreck. We reported it to the dealer in Wexford PA prior to a service appointment, and they have not been forthcoming with a solution. We do not believe they inspected the system. There was no warning that this failure was about to occur. Below I report the date of the last 3 occurrences.

NHTSA ODI 11516781