What 748 owners told NHTSA about the 2022 Tesla Model 3

When using cruise control (TACC) with or without using lane centering (Autosteer), my vehicle will often brake suddenly (and harshly) for no reason at all. It's worse on undivided highways (with no median). I've noticed the phantom braking occurs most often when an oncoming tall vehicle (18-wheeler, RV/motor home) approaches, or I approach an underpass, or I approach a large shadow on the road (from a building or large tree). During a 90-mile trip last weekend, my car phantom braked almost a dozen times, sometimes severely. Fortunately, no one was following close to me. I feel this is a safety hazard and should be fixed.

NHTSA ODI 11450145

Traffic aware cruise control is dangerous to use. Automatically slams on brakes on 2 lane roads with large vehicles in oncoming lane. Brakes at the top of any sort of hill, brakes for shadows of overpasses on the highway. System is dangerous and has caused several situations where I would have been rear ended on 2 lane roads and larger highways. Recent road trip had almost a dozen phantom braking events on a one hour drive on a straight 2 lane road during the day.

NHTSA ODI 11450172

The TACC (traffic aware cruise control) applies sudden, hard braking especially on two lane roads and almost always when meeting a large truck (semi-tractor trailer). This is commonly referred to as “Phantom Braking“. Drivers should be allowed to disable automatic braking while using cruise control on two lane roads. It is very dangerous in that it may cause a rear end collision. The cruise control as currently implemented in Teslas is unusable and without a doubt a safety hazard. I have experienced phantom braking events every time I have used cruise control on a two lane road. It will hard brake 9 out of 10 times it meets a large truck and sometimes when meeting small cars.

NHTSA ODI 11450229

On February 2, 2022 at approximately 8:00 a.m., MST, I was driving north at 50 mph on a stretch of two-lane highway with moderate traffic. Adaptive cruise control was engaged. A large truck was approaching, traveling in the opposite direction. Suddenly, and without warning, my vehicle’s brakes were applied, without my involvement, slowing my vehicle to approximately 20 mph and causing the driver of a vehicle traveling behind me to slam on its brakes to avoid a rear-end collision. No collision occurred and no one was injured. It could have been a lot worse, but this problem needs to be identified and fixed.

NHTSA ODI 11450231

Our Tesla is experiencing a Phantom Braking that appears to be a known issue. We drove the car from eastern KS to western CO and experienced multiple occurrences (more that 10) of unexpected braking while using either the adaptive cruise control or the auto pilot feature. The car would dramatically slow from 75 to perhaps 65 and then accelerate back to 75. My wife also takes the car to work on a 20 mile commute and she has also experienced this. I have not discussed this with Tesla Service yet, but have read many posts about this and that we should report. So....here it is!

NHTSA ODI 11450232

Vehicle applies 100% braking sporadically when traveling at highway speeds on cruise control, causing loss of control and risk to vehicles behind it. It seems that the vehicle’s forward sensors mistakenly interpret an imminent collision and apply full braking force, without any potential collision risk present. This happens in all scenarios, single to multiple lane highways, dense traffic to no traffic. This is commonly referred to as “phantom braking”.

NHTSA ODI 11450237

I received my 2022 Tesla Dec. 3, 2021. I have experienced approx. 100 phantom braking incidents in roughy 3,000 mi. Driving. The system causes a loud alert and extreme braking which is extremely concerning while driving. This has happened in all conditions (daytime sunny, cloudy, night, etc.). Several camera warnings though I have cleaned them and alerts still happen. It happens on 2-lane roads more often than multi-lane highway. Happens at residential and highway speeds. The extreme braking could easily cause rear end collisions if traffic were close. As a driver the abrupt alerts and braking could cause driver errors. This is a “safety” feature which is extremely disruptive to drivers is in fact a safety issue in my opinion. The data below is the most recent incident and it happened 3-5 times in a 300 mile drive. Tesla Service cancelled an appointment to look at my car. In a chat exchange they deflected it as environmental, driver error, dirty cameras, etc.

NHTSA ODI 11450259

Phantom braking is real. The car slams on brakes randomly while in cruise control. So much so that I will not use cruise control when another car is behind me.

NHTSA ODI 11450290

Issue is consistent on 2 way lane roads but sometimes occurs on Highway roads going in the same direction. Whenever I travel with autopilot or cruise control if there is a semi-truck on the opposite lane driving towards me the car will slam on the brakes for no reason. This has also happened a few times on the highway when passing a semi-truck on the same flow of traffic as myself. This has not only terrified myself but also my family and other passengers. It makes this feature almost unusable.

NHTSA ODI 11450310

While traveling on a two lane highway while using Traffic Assist Cruise Control I have had several collision alarms and emergency braking situations that were severe enough to cause my unprepared wife to say that she could have gotten whiplash. Luckily there was no one following us closely enough to cause a rear end collision. I have notified Tesla and they said that since it is actually in beta that the system is working properly. With the software capabilities that Tesla has I feel that they should provide a workable basic cruise control that can be used.

NHTSA ODI 11450319

When driving with cruise control on the car will suddenly apply brakes if it detects a car coming at me from the opposite lane. This is a safety hazard as the cars behind me would have no idea I would be stopping and poses a serious rear end threat.

NHTSA ODI 11449879

On a recent road trip while driving on highway 70 in CO and UT at speeds of around 70mph with Autopilot or Cruise Control engaged, the car phantom braked multiple times in response to nonexistent hazards on the road. Fortunately there were no cars nearby in both instances, as I am positive we would have gotten rear-ended in both situations (the car braked to around 40mph). These were both really scary scenarios and undermined my trust in those systems in the car, I have been hesitant to use them since

NHTSA ODI 11449888

Autopilot and Traffic Aware Cruise Control systems are basically unusable on two lane highways. Almost every vehicle that passes on the opposite side of the road triggers an alarm, disengages Autopilot/TACC, and results in an abrupt, jarring deceleration. This occurred 10 times in a 160 mile trip, but would have happened many more times if I had not given up trying to use either system. Holding my foot on the accelerator for such a long drive was inconvenient, and the repeated sudden slow downs resulted in a strained, tired neck. It seems unethical for a $60,000 vehicle to lack basic cruise control capabilities.

NHTSA ODI 11449913

The autopilot feature which keeps the car in it's lane and speeds up or brakes the vehicle based on its surroundings is not functioning properly. It slams on the brakes whenever a semi-truck or large vehicle is driving in the opposite lane on a two-lane road. Especially if there is a bend in the road. It thinks that a forward collision is going to take place.

NHTSA ODI 11449930

Every once in a while (once per 100-200 miles) I experience "phantom braking" when using Adaptive Cruise Control with Autosteering (not sure if Autosteering matters – I always use ACC with Autosteering together, so hard to tell). That is when ACC decides to quickly reduce speed significantly for no apparent reason (no cars or other obstacles in front). It could be dangerous as it could lead the car behind me to crash into me.

NHTSA ODI 11449935

Phantom braking, almost caused a car to rear end me. This was on a straight two lane road a tractor trailer was coming the other way. This has also happened on a right hand curve with smaller auto where the software thinks I'm going to run into the car even though I'm turning right into the curve. Very dangerous. Same thing happens with the forward collision warning.

NHTSA ODI 11449936

When the ADAS is active, during normal driving on a two-lane highway, where there is never any question of an obstruction in front of the car, the car unexpectedly and violently brakes; often the collision warning alarm sounds. This usually happens when the car meets traffic in the oncoming lane, but sometimes there's nothing else at all on the road. This is a new car (since January) and it has happened ever since I first used the ADAS. For example, last night, on a trip of about 50 miles it happened at least thirty times, nearly every time I met an oncoming vehicle of any size. Service personnel tell me this is normal behavior and they cannot do anything about it! The system is supposed to have switches to turn off the collision warming and braking so that it can be used as a normal cruise control, but setting the switches to off has no effect. This behavior is not only extremely annoying but also distracting for the driver and potentially hazardous when an inattentive driver is following closely.

NHTSA ODI 11449945

The car brakes SEVERELY on two lane highways when passing another car. Mainly occurs when passing semi trucks. It is going to get someone rear ended if this is not fixed. The cruise control is not usable.

NHTSA ODI 11449950

When i drive on highway, it out blue slam brake several time i am not sure what trigger it. it was out blue from 70 mph to 50-60mph. i don't see anything around car to trigger phantom braking or brake. also on one lane highway, when semi truck or some car/trucks pass by me it slam really hard few time from 60 mph to 30 mph instant, some car almost hit my rear because of instant slam brake. I had to brake quick to undo it. it happen on cruise control only, also happen during auto pilot. the road was fine, other vechile wasn't going toward me.

NHTSA ODI 11449972

Sunday, January 2nd, on the way back from Vegas back to Sacramento, on the highway with Lane assist driving, the car suddenly braked going from 70+ miles to almost a complete halt. I was able to steer it into the oncoming lane to avoid the pick up truck from hitting us from behind. The braking system again slowed the car down significantly a few more times on this trip and wee have not used this feature since. Car was bought on December 26th and we are fairly new owners of a Tesla.

NHTSA ODI 11449975

My vehicle brakes suddenly when auto pilot is actuated for no reason. Often times, this is a very abrupt brake. This happens many times every time driven

NHTSA ODI 11450024

While driving on an undivided highway at night using either traffic aware cruise control or autosteer, about every minute the car would aggressively decelerate up to 15mph. Every time a car would pass in the other direction, the deceleration would be abrupt and would slow to ~10mph below the speed limit. This occurred at least 3 times within a ~7 minute window. The road was straight, unlit, with a 50mph speed limit, and was sufficiently wide to safely pass oncoming cars. Random deceleration with no oncoming cars would be less severe but frequent. I contacted Tesla about this and they confirmed these occurrences but stated it was in response to a curve in the road or a vehicle being detected. They claimed the system performed appropriately. Despite being alert, these decelerations are startling in the absence of visible explanation to the driver. If I was being tailgated, a rear end collision would have been highly probable. I owned a 2018 Tesla Model 3 and have driven the same road at night and never experienced this.

NHTSA ODI 11450054

The vehicle is having a very serious problem with phantom braking whenever the cruise control is engaged. The problem occurs randomly regardless of road conditions or traffic conditions. While driving at any speed with cruise control engaged the car with randomly brake hard and sound an alert. The road has always been clear of obstructions and debris. It will also engage braking abruptly when a large truck or bus is coming towards me in the opposite lane on a two lane road. At first I thought it was an anomaly. But now after 3400 miles of ownership I fear for my safety while driving because of the conduction. To the point that I have stopped using the cruise control and auto pilot because of the issue. Considering that autopilot was one of the main reasons for me to purchase the vehicle, it seems like I have been missled and sold a vehicle that is unsafe for public roads.

NHTSA ODI 11450057

On multiple occasions, my car has slammed on the brakes while using adaptive cruise control when nothing is in front of my car. It’s concerning because drivers behind me have almost rear-ended me and have gotten road rage at me because they think that I am brake checking them.

NHTSA ODI 11450076

The car on a day basis exhibits random braking incidents when utilizing traffic aware cruise control (TACC). These have happened since the car was new (now has over 2,500mi) and can range from mild to severe. All of them happen without an obstacle ahead. Some times it seems the vehicle reacts to shadows from trees or larger structures, other times there's no obvious reason behind the reaction. The braking happens both on interstate highways as well as county two and four lane roads, and isn't related to elevation change or curves (happens straight and level). Several of these instances have been close to causing accidents due to traffic behind me getting caught off guard, which is usually followed by some sort of road-rage-like reaction. I no longer use the system when there's any traffic behind me due to the fear of getting rear-ended. I have recalibrated the cameras 3 times to no avail.

NHTSA ODI 11449825