What 748 owners told NHTSA about the 2022 Tesla Model 3 Bev

I used Autopilot on my Model 3 for the first and only time a few weeks ago, and had a terrifying experience with "phantom braking" that could have killed my entire family while going ~75mph on the I-5 near Bakersfield, CA. The I-5 here is split with 2 lanes in each direction, and is straight with no bends. I was driving in the right northbound lane, with Autopilot engaged (adaptive speed control only, no automatic lane-steering). My right foot was off both pedals and two hands were on the wheel. There were no other cars in sight except for a single car driving northbound behind me in the left lane. This car began to pass me on the left, and when its front bumper was aligned with the mid-point of my car (I could just barely see the front bumper through the corner of my eye), my Tesla suddenly automatically slammed on the brakes with absolutely no warning! I immediately clenched the wheel as hard as I could, and had to quickly respond to prevent the wheel from automatically veering to the left. While fighting the wheel to try to keep the vehicle straight, and my family hanging on for their lives, we screeched to a grinding halt at a 45 degree angle facing the left lane. We were extremely lucky to not hit the passing car and fortunately there were no vehicles behind us. I disengaged Autopilot and quickly got out of there so we weren't vulnerable. I speculate that the camera on the left panel between the driver and rear door saw the passing car, and wrongly invoked automatic evasive braking and steering maneuvers in response to a falsely anticipated head-on collision. That's the only reasonable explanation I can come up with. I will not use Autopilot again until "phantom braking" is eliminated. This is a known issue that I've since found mentioned all over the Internet by other Tesla owners. This needs to be fixed hastily before people are killed! We're damn lucky I had both hands on the wheel, otherwise we'd likely be dead! Note: Same report has been sent to Tesla.

NHTSA ODI 11511287

The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while her husband was driving 80 MPH with the cruise control activated, the vehicle jerked forward and decelerated to 52 MPH. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The driver deactivated the cruise control and continued driving to his destination. The contact stated she also experienced the failure on February 27, 2023. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 1,000.

NHTSA ODI 11509715

The "traffic aware" cruise control automatically slows the car when entering a portion of highway with a reduced speed limit. Sounds good in theory and Tesla says this is intentional and cannot be modified in settings. However, suddenly slowing down from 65 mph to 45 mph when all traffic PERSISTS at 65 mph could lead to rear end collisions or loss of control.

NHTSA ODI 11507644

Constant Phantom Breaking at interstate speeds. Tesla insists this is not a problem.

NHTSA ODI 11507283

Cruise control thinks it detects a pending collision and abruptly brakes. Following cars almost rear ended us. This happens every time at exactly the same bridge overpasses on the NJ Garden State Parkway south.

NHTSA ODI 11505645

The contact owned a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving at approximately 65 MPH with the "auto-pilot" engaged, the vehicle approached another vehicle in traffic from behind and had gotten too close. The contact stated that she depressed the brake pedal to slow down when the vehicle inadvertently accelerated at high speed. The contact steered to the left to avoid rear-end crash with the vehicle directly in front. Additionally, the contact stated that the steering wheel had become hard to turn and the vehicle crashed into the highway divider. The vehicle's front end had crashed into the divider wall and the vehicle ricocheted across four lanes of traffic and ran off the roadway onto the right shoulder and was stopped by having crashed with small trees and bushes. The contact stated she did not notice any warning lights. The contact stated that she had been transported by ambulance to a trauma center. The contact stated that she had compression fractures of her spine, suffered soft tissue damage to her neck, and right wrist soft tissue damage, and rib fractures on the left side. The vehicle had been towed to an impound lot, and the police were on the scene and filed a report. The contact stated that her insurance provider had declared the vehicle a total loss. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 4,400.

NHTSA ODI 11500296

During cruise control on straight highways with no other cars nearby, the car would brake for no reason. Very scary.

NHTSA ODI 11495695

Phantom braking. Driving down 395 going the speed limit, no other cars or any obstacles in the road whatsoever, the car would slam on the brakes hard to the point I almost lost control of the vehicle. This happened 3 times in a row before I turned off adaptive cruise control. This is the most glaring obvious example of a vehicle safety hazard that should be recalled that I’ve ever seen on a new car. If someone was driving behind my car I have no doubt this would have caused a rear and accident.

NHTSA ODI 11494353

Regardless of which cruise control function you are operating in the system will suddenly brake for no reason, sometimes slowing down by only a few miles an hour and sometimes by as much as 30 or 40 miles per hour. This can potentially lead to a rear end accident. System has far fewer failures at night than during the day and far fewer if there is traffic in front of the car than if there is an open road in front. This cruise control is almost unusable during the day on an open road. This has happened within 45 miles of owning the car to present 5000 miles + and has happened at every speed we have used it at This has been an on-going issue since the day we bought it and not something the Dealership tells you about in advance

NHTSA ODI 11492586

My car is brand new. When in Autopilot mode (not full FSD), the vehicle does u expected braking apparently randomly. There are no road obstructions or potential road obstructions visible at all to me as driver. Yet, the vehicle will brake suddenly. It does this so frequently that I no longer use Autopilot unless I know the road has no other vehicle driving behind me and is very clear ahead of me. I never, ever use it on the highway. In one incident, I was using my Autopilot and a motorcycle was traveling at a much too close distance behind me on a curve on a busy roadway, with a large RV driving in the lane next to me. As all three of our vehicles approached the curve in this cluster, my vehicle suddenly braked and the motorcycle behind me almost crashed into my vehicle’s rear end. It was terrifying. After that incident, I severely limited my use of Autopilot and take pains to ensure my foot is resting on the accelerator in case I need to apply a little pressure to counteract the unexpected braking while in Autopilot mode.

NHTSA ODI 11491089

Multiple times traveling on Interstate 70 at 75 mph the car would brake itself without warning while the “Autopilot” (driver assist) was engaged. This probably happened 4 times over the course of 1 hour. I recalibrated the cameras after the 3rd event, but it did not help. This was very dangerous and unsettling. I verified no-one was close behind when engaging the autopilot in case the system “decided” to brake unexpectedly. If someone was behind me traveling at interstate speeds, they would have hit me.

NHTSA ODI 11491180

Several times, while using the cruise control, the car automatically braked at highway speed. The car is available for inspection. My safety and my wife's safety were put at risk by the car suddenly slowing down on the interstate without my control. The problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or service center - I have not had the car serviced. It has not been inspected. There were no warning lamps or messages.

NHTSA ODI 11490612

The adaptive cruise control. is subject to sudden phantom braking. On several occasions when the cruise control is engaged the vehicle will brake for no reason. On one occasion the sudden braking caused a semi-truck behind me to swerve just barely avoiding an accident. On another occasion the vehicle braked so hard that we skidded. There is no warning when the phantom braking will occur. The adaptive cruise control is useless on two lane highways and streets, because it sees cars in the oncoming lane and brakes. I have called the company to have the vehicle check on at least two occasions. Every time I schedule a service the company calls back and tells me they know about the problem and that they are working on the issue. I asked if they could do an update to turn off the adaptive cruise control and revert back the standard cruise control that does not brake or slow down. They said that is not an option. This is a real safety concern, and I will not use the adaptive cruise control except in stop and go traffic. It has been my experience that there has been no phantom braking in stop and go traffic.

NHTSA ODI 11489889

Cruise control set @70 to 74mph on open highway with no vehicles in front or behind. Midday, sunny, clear, and dry. The vehicle suddenly applies brakes. This could have easily lead to being rear-ended if another vehicle were following too closely. This happened numerous time this last weekend. Contacted the manufacturer and they stated this is normal and no hardware faults were detected in the vehicle when diagnosed remotely.

NHTSA ODI 11488081

We just went on a longish trip, covering a total of about 2,500 miles. While driving on interstate highways and using cruise control, the car would occasionally brake for no reason. The first several times it happened, the car braked mildly and we tried to explain it away. ("It must have seen the guardrail/traffic cone/butterfly," etc.) However, the last time it happened, with absolutely nothing anywhere near us to the sides or front, the car braked FREAKING HARD. I was driving, and it scared the $hit out of me. If the 18-wheeler behind us had been a little closer, we would have been toast. After that, we disabled the automatic emergency braking every time we started the car, and we'll continue to do that.

NHTSA ODI 11486219

We have an ongoing issue with our Model 3 stopping for no reason at speed when using cruise-control or auto-pilot. We have had the car in for service at Kearney Mesa and the “manager” observed it happen. But nobody gets back to us and nobody knows anything. The car suddenly brakes for no reason. This happened multiple times. Including once with the “service manager” in the car. Answers below are for that occurrence. No other warnings on the display. If a car had been behind us, we would have been rear-ended. We are being “stonewalled “ by the attitude “I know nothing” or “someone will get back to you”. I cannot get through to anyone at Tesla HQ and the local service center is completely unhelpful. Please advise.

NHTSA ODI 11484879

I am renting this Tesla Model 3 on monthly basis Rental from Hertz. ON SEP 5TH, 2022 I was at a stop sign fully stopped and all of a sudden the car started accelarating by itself. I try to call Tesla about it and their answer was as I am not the owner they won't even talk to me. I tried to call Hertz but their Customer Service no available just in a circle of press this and press that for hours..Today Sep 16, around 10:58 am , I was Stopped at an intersection on a Red light waiting for the signal to turn Green , Then all of a sudden the Car Accelerated and Luckily no Cross Traffic and I proceeded through the Intersection. This is a Serious Issue.This car does not have Self Driving Feature, and twice in 10 Days this speed issue occur. Also on three different occasions while I was driving on a freeway other Cars from left and right swerved into my Lane and extremely close to my Car and the side Sensors didn't Beep.

NHTSA ODI 11484903

I rented a Tesla model three and have driven 5000 miles on it since I got it three weeks ago. In that time this car has done some very dangerous things that concern me about my safety. I stopped using the auto pilot function after one time when it tried to pull me off the road at highway speeds into the emergency lane. I have also started experiencing the phantom braking issue that you read about online. For some reason this car can’t go more than 10 or 15 miles without slamming on the brakes even though there are no cars anywhere close to me or any objects on the road that might trigger the automatic braking. I am afraid that this car is going to slam on the brakes when there is somebody behind me and cause an accident.

NHTSA ODI 11484831

On Wednesday, 8/24/2022 around 1:30pm, when I tried to park my Tesla Model 3 on a residential street, suddenly and without any warning the steering wheel lost control, accelerated, made a right and then a left turn, hit an electric box and landed on the neighbor's driveway. No one else was injured, only myself with severe back pain and I could not move. Several neighbors came out of their house and checked on me and called the Homeowners Association Office and called 911, the homeowners experienced power outage. An ambulance came & took me to the Irvine Hoag Hospital Emergency Center. The medical staff took X-Ray for me and gave me Tylenol pills and ice pack on my back. I was diagnosed with compression fracture of T12 vertebra, per doctor's exam: It will take two-to-six-month to heal my back. A police report #[XXX] was filed on 8/31/2022. CA resident since 1976 very healthy, enjoy working, and helping school and do community services. Do not take drag, no alcohol with over 46+ year's careful driving skill, and a safe driver with good driving record.

NHTSA ODI 11484636

During recent drive from the Kansas City area to downtown Denver over the period of September 11-12, I experienced what's known as "phantom braking" no fewer than five times along I-70. At least one of these instances was so aggressive that it slowed the car down from 77mph to 60mph. This is an extremely dangerous situation that must be addressed by Tesla ASAP. Someone is going to die.

NHTSA ODI 11484379

Phantom braking aggressively appearing during a family road trip. Violent braking leading to a 20-30 mph drop in speed.

NHTSA ODI 11482939

The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at 5 MPH to park at her residence, the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration and inadvertently veered to the right. The vehicle then crashed into a transformer box in a residential yard and came to a complete stop. The contact had a broken backbone and received medical attention. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a body shop where it remained unrepaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that it was a human error, mistaking the accelerator pedal for the brake pedal and that they would review the computer log. The failure mileage was 1,062. The VIN was unavailable.

NHTSA ODI 11482271

The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while at a stop light with the brake pedal depressed, the vehicle accelerated and crashed into a Dodge Ram. There were no warning lights illuminated. There was no reported injuries, fire or air bag deployment. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow lot and then to a collision center. The local dealer was contacted but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 135

NHTSA ODI 11481824

Driving with cruise control on two lane or interstate car will automatically just slam on breaks. Dropping cars speed 10+ mph. There is no warning it breaks hard enough to skid tires and lock seatbelt. I have several times it has break checked car that are behind me cause them to switch lanes abruptly. It will do it some times after you merge back into a lane after you pass some one. There is no warning at anytime it will do this. I reported this to them the day I purchased this car new. They canceled the service appointment and said car will update it self and there is a software issue they are working on. Car is getting worse as time goes on. It does it every time you drive it. I understand if it slowed down 1 to 3 mph but it will drop 20 mph in seconds. It violently brakes. You can hit accelerator pedal fast enough before it drops 10 mph.

NHTSA ODI 11480931

Multiple instances of hard phantom highway braking on clear sunny days with no other vehicles close while using adaptive cruise control. If another vehicle had been following closely it could have caused a rear end collision as there was no cause to slow down. This problem is recurring. Tesla says to just report the incident on their automated system but there has been no response from them.

NHTSA ODI 11480590