What 650 owners told NHTSA about the 2021 Tesla Model 3 Bev

i am slowly coming into the driveway. All of a sudden the car accelrated while i was applying brake. the air bags didn't come on either. it hit the car in front which then got pushed into the garage

NHTSA ODI 11507658

This incident happened last summer, 2022 but I recently read that it is happening to many other people and thought I should report it. I was driving on Hwy 71 south in the Cincinnati area with the ADAS with the cruise control and auto steering in operation. All of a sudden the brakes slammed on with me not doing anything to cause it. There were no cars behind me and I touched and released the brake pedal and it went back to a normal driving mode. I don’t believe I hit a pothole or bump on the highway. I did not report it to Tesla.

NHTSA ODI 11506191

Twice in October 2022 (18th and 20th), my vehicle decelerated suddenly during cruise control with no impediments in the road (i.e., phantom breaking). The breaking on the 20th was akin to slamming on the breaks, and both occurred at freeway speeds. I did *not purchase Tesla's self-driving feature. The vehicle also on the 18th tried to steer around an object that did not exist in the road while I turned onto a freeway on-ramp. I reported all three incidents at that time to Tesla for servicing of the vehicle. It is unknown whether any "repair" was actually done to eliminate phantom breaking (I no longer use Tesla's cruise control in similar traffic conditions which were at the time crowded outside of the carpool lane I was using).

NHTSA ODI 11501970

While using cruise control on a cross country drive, there have been numerous instances of phantom braking in my Tesla Model 3 SR+ (2021). This has been occurring during both day and night driving on the highway, at speeds of 65-75mph. It appears to happen most frequently when there’s a slight up-hill on the highway followed by a slight downhill and then phantom brake, but there have been instances on flat highway road at night with phantom braking taking place.

NHTSA ODI 11494932

I have had the car for about 1.5 years. In the last week it has started to have phantom braking where on a clear, flat road with no traffic, it suddenly has hard braking and slows from about 65 mph down to 40-50 mph. This has occurred when operating on Autopilot with the cruise control and autosteer on. There is a risk of a rear collision with this sudden braking. There was no warning. I do not have Full Self Driving.

NHTSA ODI 11494261

Driving in empty highway, no cars in front of me for great distances, on cruise control, the car would all of sudden perform hard braking. It happened many times in the course of two 6 hour drives over a weekend and I couldn't figure out what scenarios were predisposing to this. I also tried out autosteer (not autopilot) and it did it in autosteer too. It was very hard braking, not just disengaging, and so I just drove without cruise control because it is too dangerous and risks getting rear-ended because I am braking without warning and for no reason.

NHTSA ODI 11493216

Since owning this car in January 2022, there have been issues of phantom braking during cruise control or autopilot. However, today 10/6/22 during an hour and a half time frame my car has had phantom braking episodes at least 5 times in the middle of the highway where it's speed suddenly drops by 20mph.

NHTSA ODI 11488278

Complaint: Phantom Braking -- My wife and I took ownership of our 2021 Tesla Model 3 at the beginning of July 2021. We experienced what is referred to as Phantom Braking (Car initiating sudden braking while at highway speeds). We took it on a 3,000+ mile road trip to visit national parks in the western United States. Having owned electric vehicles since 2015, we found Tesla's charging network to be reliable and hassle-free to operate. On a few long stretches of road in Nevada, Wyoming, and Utah we engaged model 3's adaptive cruise control. Three times during that trip, between July 2nd and July 8th, 2021, the car braked hard, without warning, while traveling at highway speeds. From what we could determine, shadows cast on the road at the approaching side of gentle hills, with the sun in front of us, may have been interpreted by the car's camera's as an approaching or stationary object on the road. This was very unnerving and caused us to lose faith in the adaptive cruise control system. This was both disappointing and a bother since it meant that we were driving a 50 thousand dollar car without cruise control, making driving a more tiresome experience. This past labor day weekend, 2022, we drove to Las Vegas on the same Tesla model 3 and again activated the adaptive cruise control while driving in Nevada. We thought that by now the periodic software updates would have fixed the problem. This time the Phantom Braking occurred more frequently and on seemingly level sections of road. After about four attempts at using the adaptive cruise control we stopped. This was, again, disappointing that we were driving a car whose adaptive cruise control failed to perform as it was designed to. We were disappointed because for what we paid for the car, this feature should be more mature than it is. Luckily we did not have other cars close behind us at the times the car's computer together with the sensors and / or cameras decided it needed to apply the brakes.

NHTSA ODI 11486306

While using my Tesla's Full Self Driving (FSD) feature (Navigate on Autopilot) on a recent road trip through West Texas, the vehicle, on multiple occasions, would automatically brake while cruising at speeds of 80 mph (speed limit was 75 mph), which consequently dropped the vehicle's speed over 20 mph within seconds. The result was being forcibly slammed forward with such a jarring, unexpected force that would have easily slammed me as the driver and my front seat passenger into the wind shield if we were not wearing our seatbelts. This happened multiple times on the trip. The only way to recover was to depress the accelerator and forcefully hold on to the steering wheel until the braking system released and control was returned to the driver. If this had occurred on a crowded highway rather than on the open spaces of the West Texas interstate system, I am convinced there would have been a rear impact collision. This "phantom breaking" as Tesla claims, is a serious issue that will no doubt lead to fatalities if not corrected. This issue manifested without warning and with no alerting. The issue can be easily reproduced and the component has yet to be inspected by any 3rd party. I fear people will die because of this issue until it is resolved. Thanks, Sean Merino

NHTSA ODI 11483204

When car was engaged in Autopilot the barking system was activated without warning or cause. The vehicle slowed rapidly and sudden. Had to disengage Autopilot to get vehicle back to safe driving speed. No others vehicles where in front or behind me and no obstructions were in the path of vehicle.

NHTSA ODI 11482070

My Tesla slowed from 70 to 50 on the freeway in under two seconds for no apparent reason while on autopilot. There was a concrete barrier a few feet away on the shoulder, which I had been driving next to for about a quarter mile before the incident. There was no other traffic within 50 yards of me.

NHTSA ODI 11474644

While driving in Highway, Interstate or Freeway with cruise control enabled with or without autopilot the car suddenly breaks for no reason. It is a clear phantom break. It happened many times in different occasions even on the I40 with no car around in the middle of the Desert. In a couple of times a big truck was following and I was almost rear ended because this.

NHTSA ODI 11473804

When driving on the highway in adaptive cruise control, our vehicle all of a sudden breaked which slowed the car down dramatically. There was nothing around us that would have caused the car to automatically apply the breaks. This happened multiple times in a single drive on both Autopilot and Adapative Cruise Control. Luckily, no one was directly behind us when this happened so no collision was caused, but had someone been directly behind us we would have been hit. The vehicle has not been inspected by the manufacturer, insurance or police. The breaking was very random, and we had to tap the brakes to take control and hit the gas to get the car back to highway speeds. We have stopped using cruise control and autopilot after seeing this is a known issue and an investigation is ongoing. It is extremely concerning that this "phantom breaking" happens without warning and at random when there is nothing around the vehicle to cause it to apply the automatic breaking system. This is a safety issue on the road.

NHTSA ODI 11472747

Cruise control set to 75mph (speed limit) on lightly trafficked divided highway at ~5pm on June 26. Skies were overcast and temp was about 80 degrees. Car braked from 75 to about 62mph but did not disengage adaptive cruise control and neither did I by applying the brakes. There was light traffic and it did not happen while approaching an overpass which has triggered this before on two occasions. After rapid deceleration to 72, car increases speed but fluctuated in high 60s and low 70s before returning to the programmed 75. Incident lasted about five seconds in total. Once car returned to 75, I disabled cruise control for remainder of journey. This was a 45 mile journey and the issue did not surface until about 35 miles in to the journey. Because this has happened before, I was mentally prepared for it this time and wanted to see if the car would eventually stabilize back to the 75mph programmed speed. In two prior incidents in late 2021, the braking was severe and without warning so in those instances I immediately deactivated system by pressing brake pedal. The incident I report now also had no warning, good weather, no cars within about 100 yards, and no sun glare at all. Road surface was very good as it had been recently improved in 2021 so lane markers were excellent as well.

NHTSA ODI 11472818

This "self driving" Model 3, with FL License Plate [XXX], attempted to merge onto I95 south from an on-ramp, and very nearly caused a major accident. The vehicle had a bumper sticker on the back that said something like "please be patient, I am a self driving vehicle." The vehicle was merging from a left side on-ramp, at a VERY LOW SPEED, and crossed two lanes of interstate traffic, very erratically accelerating, then braking, then accelerating again, and then braking. My vehicle was directly in its path, and I had to brake hard, and take to the shoulder to avoid the collision. If this vehicle's trips are logged, it needs to be investigated. If it weren't for the humans paying attention, the actions of the Tesla car/driver would have caused a major accident, and most likely bodily injury or death. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

NHTSA ODI 11472737

During a recent road trip to another state, Auto Pilot was engaged and the emergency braking system forced the car quickly to a stop on many occasions. To the human eye, there should have been no reason for the brakes to engage. Luckily no one collided with us, but the Auto Pilot system is not to be trusted. The incidents mostly occurred on two-lane roads, however, noticeable hesitation was evident many times during freeway cruising. Tesla repair will not review my case because I don’t have a specific time(s) of incident and they will not tell me how to properly log this information into the car’s software when an incident does occur. I feel helpless and am very nervous to take this car on a trip.

NHTSA ODI 11469391

I had 2 phantom braking incidents one one trip today. The situation was similar- a car broken down on the shoulder. In both cases i slowed down and moved a bit left to give them room. I had cruise control on but as I braked, it came off. In both cases, once I passed the cars, the Tesla brakes hard. In one case I was almost rear ended by the guy behind me. In both cases, i was in full control of the car and was slowing down and giving way. The phantom braking occurred as I was abreast or past the hazard - in other words, too unnecessary and too late to help anyway. It scared the heck out of me - twice. The car is unsafe at any speed

NHTSA ODI 11468788

On a trip to Northern California, I used the "traffic-aware cruise control", and there were several episodes of sudden hard braking for NO REASON. With no vehicle ahead for 20 car-lengths, no curves, no vehicles moving into our lane from the side, we had no clue to why this jarring experience occurred. I thought it might have been caused by gentle inclines in the road ahead, but there were plenty of these that did NOT cause this violent slam of the brakes. So, I dismissed that explanation. The final time it occurred, there was no incline, no impediments of any kind. Just a clear, flat lane ahead and no vehicle to the right, plus an unusually wide shoulder to the left. Not even a center divider wall or K-rail. The car is now scheduled to be taken to Tesla on June 29, but having obtained the appointment through the app, I have no way of knowing if I must leave the car overnight, if I can get a loaner, or even if they'll call me when it's done, assuming they can fix it.

NHTSA ODI 11468695

While driving at 70 mph with adaptive cruise control engaged I experienced several instances of "phantom braking." The car braked hard all by itself with no driver input. This happened several times on June 2, 2022 and again on June 6, 2022.

NHTSA ODI 11468321

When on Autopilot (Traffic-aware cruise control), the vehicle will brake suddenly and severely when cresting a hill that the cameras in the car cannot see over, if there is no other traffic in front of the car for the Autopilot cameras to reference against. This is most notable and disturbing on inter-city freeways in the western U.S. such as eastern Oregon or Nevada, where the freeways are rolling. This behavior (braking when cresting a hill with no vehicles visible in front of the car) is quite repeatable. The vehicle is a 2021 Tesla Model 3 with "Tesla Vision," i.e. cameras only with no radar. It is not possible to turn off the "traffic aware" element of Tesla's cruise control. If the Tesla interface had a toggle to turn off "traffic aware" so that it had conventional cruise control (i.e. the vehicle will simply hold the chosen speed regardless of surroundings), that would be helpful and in many ways safer. Ideally, though, they would reprogram the Traffic Aware Cruise Control so that it can handle cresting a hill.

NHTSA ODI 11467923

When passing below an overpass the car will rapidly brake from 80-60 MPH or 65-45 MPH without warning. I have to take over and speed up to avoid someone hitting me from behind. I believe the issue happens because the car for a second thinks you are driving on the overpass which has a much slower speed (25-40 MPH). Therefore, it brakes hard to match the speed of the overpass. When it is enough of a distance away, it goes back to the normal highway speed. This issue has happened many times since I bought the car and has not been resolved after many updates.

NHTSA ODI 11467718

On at least 4 occasions, I have been driving at freeway speeds of 70mph with cruise control engaged - typically while driving on I-35 between Duluth and Minneapolis in Minnesota - and the vehicle has applied the brakes very hard for no known reason, without human input to the brake pedal. The most recent occurrence was on May 27th, 2022.

NHTSA ODI 11467586

While driving on highway, I have autopilot on, and out of nowhere the vehicle will engage emergency braking.

NHTSA ODI 11467604

Since purchasing my vehicle a year ago, it had has occasionally engaged the emergency braking system in situations where other cars have not been a threat or directly in front of me. This week, the system engaged when I was driving up an incline on the highway with no vehicles around me. Very disconcerting and DANGEROUS. As a result I deactivated the system. This is a flaw.

NHTSA ODI 11467511

Car brakes heavily and suddenly for no reason while using cruise control. Seems to be on 2 way roads when semi-truck is passing by in opposite lane. Has happened multiple times on different days under different conditions. Concerned about being rear-ended. I have not had this inspected and no crash has occurred. I stopped using cruise control on this vehicle due to safety concerns.

NHTSA ODI 11467304