What 434 owners told NHTSA about the 2020 Tesla Model 3 Bev

While operating TACC with lane keeping assist, I experienced multiple iterations of phantom braking when the road and weather was clear ahead. This phantom braking could potentially cause other drivers to collide with the vehicle that unexpectedly braked in the middle of the highway. This problem has been a common issue with multiple people taking their cars to the service center to get checked out with no problem identified. There are no warning lights or indicators that the Tesla is going to phantom brake on the highway. Recommend having Tesla provide information regarding this phantom braking.

NHTSA ODI 11561858

At 11:47 AM Pacific time on December 23, 2023 my Tesla model three auto pilot system failed after a recent update mandated by the NHTSA. Ever since the update, the vehicle, cruise control and auto pilot systems no longer function properly, and while I was in, cruise control and auto pilot traffic stopped ahead and the auto pilot system disengaged while I was waiting while it was slowing down, which has never happened in four years of ownership and over 60,000 miles of driving. The new recall software update has made the vehicle unsafe and it should be retracted and corrected. What once was a safe feature is now unsafe. Please investigate this with Tesla to prevent possible injury or death resulting from this programming failure.

NHTSA ODI 11561638

During a month-long road trip in the US, I experienced frequent "phantom braking" incidents while using adaptive cruise control. In some cases, Autosteer was also active. By "phantom braking" I refer to sudden hard braking by the car itself in clear daylight conditions on interstate highways with no vehicles visible ahead of me for at least 1/2 mile. By "frequent" I mean that this behavior occurred multiple times per hour over multiple days. I decided to cease using cruise control for the remainder of the trip after the following episode occurred. With cruise control active on a four lane interstate, I was changing lanes to the right to allow a pickup truck to pass me on the left. I had just passed a semitrailer, who was in the right lane. I could see him in my rear-view mirror as I began the lane change. The road was empty and visible for at least a mile ahead on a sunny morning. We were all traveling about 75 mph in a 70 mph zone. While straddling the lanes, the car suddenly slammed on its brakes, requiring both vehicles behind me to take evasive action. I over-rode the car’s action by pressing the accelerator pedal swiftly and firmly. No accident occurred. I stopped using cruise control entirely for several months, and I have only rarely used it since then, and only when the road behind me is empty. In those few recent trials, I have not experienced any phantom braking. Finally, I speculate that the braking may have been triggered by "mirages" of what look like puddles on the road. We humans are familiar with this phenomenon, but the camera AI may have interpreted those as obstacles.

NHTSA ODI 11560404

Phantom breaking occurred twice while driving east on highway sr 152. Our car was traveling straight with no cars in front of us. I was using cruise control set at the speed limit when the car suddenly slammed on the brakes, the car slowed from 65 mph to 20 mph in a few seconds. This happened twice in a matter of 10 minutes. I no longer use cruise control. Apparently there is no fix. I have two relatives that have experienced same problem with their Teslas. I will suggest that they report to NHTSA.

NHTSA ODI 11559375

At lease several times in the past 3 months, when using AUTOPILOT and when passing semi-trucks on my right my Model 3 has automatically given a very loud, what I believe to be either a Forward Collision Warning or a Lane Departure Warning, then braked and seemingly veered to the left! This is scary beyond belief and has only happened when AUTOPILOT is engaged and large semi-trucks are to my right. I thought you should know about this issue. Thank you,

NHTSA ODI 11557035

While driving on the highway from philadelphia to allentown using I-476 north i was driving using cruise control and the car suddenly applied brakes ( phantom braking) there was no one either in front or sides or behind me. No accident happened

NHTSA ODI 11557036

Driving on the freeway with the adaptive cruise control set to 78 mph. Traveling in the #1 lane, medium traffic, no vehicles in front of us for a while (in our lane or the #2 lane next to us). Roadway was dry, sun was overhead at that time of the day. Weather said it was 72 outside, so not excessively hot. While nearly cresting the top of a slight incline, the car hard-braked, taking the speed from 78mph to 58mph for no obvious reason. (Thank heavens the car behind us was following at a safe distance and was able to brake, too.) There was no debris on the roadway or any other reason why the car would need to brake. Suffice to say that we deactivated the adaptive cruise control for the remainder of the journey.

NHTSA ODI 11555919

I've had the car since December 2019. The car will "phantom brake" when the autopilot adaptive cruise control is on. This happens intermittently, ~1 time per month on my normal commute. I will be going along, cruise set to 75 and out of nowhere it'll slam on the brakes and lose 10 MPH in a second before I can take over. This occurs with absolutely no traffic or reason, it'll be an empty highway and it does it. I drive with my foot over the accelerator so I can floor it to override the car. This is the exact opposite reaction I would think that someone should have to do with a safety feature. Tesla tells me the system is working fine, but random brake checks on the highway should never be normal. I don't understand how this system was approved to operated by the government.

NHTSA ODI 11553350

I was driving on the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey in the right hand lane. I was using basic auto pilot and needed to pass a pick up truck in front of me. I disabled auto pilot and went into the left lane. I re-engaged auto pilot and the vehicle took a hard right and hit the truck. I heard the audible chime once it made contact with the truck indicating that auto pilot disengaged. My car went back into the left lane and I took control. We moved to the shoulder and waited for state police to arrive. Luckily no one was injured. A police report was filed.

NHTSA ODI 11547462

On September 9, 2023, we were driving from Winter Park, CO to Omaha, NE. Three or four hours into our trip, we experienced what is described on the internet as "phantom breaking" four or five times in an hour. We were in a remote area on I-80 with no cars ahead of us or behind us and no debris in the road. We have occasionally experienced this hard automatic breaking for no obvious reason before in our almost four years of driving this Tesla, but we never thought much of it. This time since it happened so many times in such a short amount of time, we researched online if there was anything we could do. With that information we turned off the "Automatic Emergency Breaking", which seemed to do the trick. When we contacted the Tesla Service Center in Council Bluffs, IA for an appointment to see if they could fix the problem, they asked for more information. They said the following: "We performed a remote diagnosis on the Autopilot System in the vehicle and its affiliated hardware and all checks came back in good standing with no faults." They then suggested I read the Owners manual for factors that may cause the vehicle to brake when not required or expected. I read it and told them none of those conditions were present. They said that was all they could do and suggested if it happens again I should file a "bug report" (which was a new concept to me!). The phantom breaking happened, but Tesla either doesn't seem to believe me or does not have the ability to properly diagnose or fix the problem. I will try to remember to turn off the Automatic Emergency Breaking, but that raises other safety concerns . . . .

NHTSA ODI 11544521

On 9/3/23 we were traveling from Moab UT to Green River UT and the cruise control was engaged at highway speeds. We were not using the "Autopilot" functionality. Without warning, the car suddenly decelerated under what felt like hard braking. There was no warning immediately before the hard braking started and the car had no warning indicators of any kind either before or after the incidents. The hard deceleration happened at least four times. One of those times a raven flew up from the road, but the other times there was nothing in the road. At least three of the incidents occurred on highway 6 traveling north. The last time it occurred was on I-70 westbound after we stopped the cars and cleaned all the cameras and ensured there was no debris on the front bumper which could cause issues with the forward-looking radar. We lost confidence in the cruise control feature and did not enable it for the rest of the trip. This is a safety issue because the car does not just reduce speed, it feels like it is braking hard or perhaps full regeneration of the battery. Either way, on these 2-lane highways, there are often situations when other drivers are driving too close to the rear bumper and a sudden, inexplicable hard braking is very likely to cause collision. A collision at these speeds could push the car into oncoming traffic, leading to fatalities. We asked Tesla service to look into the issue, and said there is likely footage of at least one of the events (because I honked the horn to start recording). The Tesla service person gave several reasons why it deceleration may occur, but Tesla is neither reviewing the footage, nor taking action to remedy the issue. They said "Our remote diagnostics has confirmed the vehicle hardware is operating as expected and there are no repairs the service team can make in regards to this." With service unable to make a fix to the car, this problem remains unresolved and we have lost confidence in cruise control.

NHTSA ODI 11543938

I have had multiple incidents of sudden speed reduction on major hi ways. (us 287 and I 25). Usually these incidents occur when I am traveling north (increasing elevation and later in the day), but that is not always the case. The events appear to be totally random, but result in a speed reduction of 70mph to 40mph rapidly enough that loose items (including pets) fly. on occasion I have had to be very quick to accelerate to avoid being run over by a tailgater. I scheduled a service appointment, but was discouraged from doing so by Tesla Service people who said “the car is still learning”. The fault has not improved. If anything it happens more frequently. At this point, I would say we travel “on edge”.

NHTSA ODI 11540531

The contact owns a 2020 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that on three occasions while driving at various speeds, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. The contact continued driving. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 13,000.

NHTSA ODI 11538966

The car repeatedly rapidly decelerates when passing semi-trucks on the highway. This creates a problem for vehicles driving behind my vehicle as it creates sudden braking for them and it creates a bit of panic for the driver of my vehicle due to the suddenness of the braking. This problem occurs almost every time the vehicle is driving over 60mph on a freeway and is midway in passing a semi-truck trailer truck. The dealer has replaced the camera but the problem still occurs. Collision lights occur at the time of the error but no other warnings occur.

NHTSA ODI 11535724

Sudden hard "phantom" braking while in adaptive cruise control. This put myself and other drivers in danger of a collision. The problems been reported to Tesla, but as of yet not fixed or inspected.The problem seems to be completely random with no advanced warning of any kind.

NHTSA ODI 11535783

While driving on the freeway, my 2020 Model 3 “phantom braked” multiple times while using the cruise control. No autopilot for lane keeping assistance. There were no cars in front of me or any hazards. The pavement was pretty new. I was using this feature earlier in the trip with no issues then it started all the sudden with multiple incidents in a short amount of time.

NHTSA ODI 11535222

My car cameras and audio will randomly stop working. Come to find out I took a recording with a timestamp of 1151 pm where I am on the highway and driving. Have witnesses of me driving and the issue. My model 3 logs, as stated by service technician, say my vehicle is "Parked and not being operated". This means I am driving with potentially dangerous and absolutely unreliable software in my car. It shows the car isn't being operated as I am going 60~ on the highway in traffic. My car cameras will go completely black and the audio warnings will go out including the backup sounds which are a required feature. Have contacted Tesla since 2020 and no action except a blanket statement of "a future update"

NHTSA ODI 11534573

Phantom Braking occurred almost 40 times on our recent trip from Northern NV to California and return. We left on July 16 and returned on July 21. Our route was from Minden NV to Las Vegas on Highway 95 and then onto Temecula CA on Highway 15 and 215. The return trip was on Highway 15 to CA 138 to Highway 14 to Highway 395. All travel was during daylight hours. Sometimes phantom braking was so severe, the deceleration cause us to be thrown forward towards the dashboard. We wore seat belts to prevent hitting the dashboard. This also happened on a similar trip in 2022 and was reported to Tesla and were told that nothing could be done. The current software version is 2023.20.9

NHTSA ODI 11534075

Unexpected Phantom Braking was experienced in this vehicle on a sunny day at mid day on I-30 going East through Arlington. The car was operating on Traffic Aware Cruise Control. Travelling at approx 70mph the vehicle suddenly slowed very quickly below 50 mph before I interceded to resume control of the accelerator to resume my speed before I was rear ended. This occured as I was approaching an overpass in my middle lane.

NHTSA ODI 11532814

While driving on the freeway I5 in central California in the middle of the day there were no cars in front of me and the vehicle went into sudden PHANTOM BRAKING mode. I was driving at 75 MPH and it suddenly went into hard braking. Extremely dangerous. The vehicle behind me had to swerve around us. We could have been killed. I was using the cruise control but NOT the Enhanced Autopilot. This needs to be fixed. We escaped severe injury or death by sheer luck

NHTSA ODI 11530315

Had cruise control on and “phantom braking” occurred about 10 times on a 22hr trip from California to Oklahoma. Very scary. Car went from 80 to about 40mph in seconds. How is this even possible for Tesla to have these vehicles on the road? I’ve only had the car for 2 weeks.

NHTSA ODI 11529898

I was driving from indio,ca to Orinda,ca on interstate 10-210-5 north and the vehicle had at least 6 phantom braking events when the car was in cruise control and one event the auto pilot was on. There was clearly nothing front of me. This is so dangerous and there will be a bad accident if it isn’t fixed. Please have Tesla fix this.

NHTSA ODI 11529524

Recurrent phantom braking while using autopilot. Sudden deceleration that does not seem to correlate to any specific traffic or weather condition.

NHTSA ODI 11528447

When driving on a longer trip, I have repeated sudden deceleration and sometimes harsh braking when using cruise control. This has also happened in normal daytime hours with no traffic around me on rural interstates. On my last trip, I had to keep my foot on the accelerator to keep the car at a constant speed. It is unnerving to me and very scary for passengers. It has made it impossible to use cruise when I have passengers. Tesla has said there is no hardware issue and have declined to service the car.

NHTSA ODI 11528158

The automatic windshield wipers came on and would not shut off. The car was clean, the day was sunny, and the camera lenses were free of dust or anything else that could cover them. While driving along, the wipers started and would not shut off. I went into the main monitor/screen that has the wiper settings but I was not able to activate the wiper/off button, so the wipers kept working. Pressing on that button would not activate it. I was in autopilot at the time, i.e., cruise control + lane keep assistance. I have FSD/full self driving, but have never used it since it is still in beta testing. I’m using Tesla software # 2023.7.10 I checked the various Tesla websites, and you can turn off the wipers only if you disable the ADAS features. After I turned off the ADAS, I was able to activate the wiper/off button. But this is a terrible situation, the ADAS needs to be activated, but if I activate, it wipers will begin working whenever they feel like it, regardless of the weather outside. This is clearly a software problem with the Tesla ADASN needs to be corrected. I don’t want to be driving along with auto pilot on, and then the wipers will simply turn on. Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated to correct this dangerous situation. There are countless hundreds of complaints like this on the various Tesla websites about spontaneously functioning wipers when the weather is bright and sunny.

NHTSA ODI 11526530