What 136 owners told NHTSA about the 2022 Tesla Model S 75d

My vehicle was hit in the parking lot with my car being stationary/parked as I could not click the horn button as it is not in the center of the steering wheel. Per CEO comments: [XXX] Replying to @[XXX] All cars made since November also have push center for horn – just waiting on firmware update. If you mash right side of yoke with your palm, horn will trigger. 7:13 PM · Mar 1, 2022 on Twitter INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI 11504409

The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while her husband was driving approximately 70 MPH, the vehicle experienced "phantom braking" approximately 8-times in total. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact called the local dealer and made them aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 2,000.

NHTSA ODI 11503174

Malfunctioning system: AUTOPILOT, Self Driving. The vehicle is available for inspection. We were put at RISK following having several 'NEAR MISS' incidents. None of which resulted in an accident. The 2022 Model S PLAID with less than 2,929 current miles as of this entry, while being driven in daylight & evening hours on major freeways and interstate roads in Central & Southern California while using the "AUTOPILOT" FULL SELF DRIVING (FSD) has multiple times for NO APPARENT REASON & WITHOUT WARNING suddenly 'PANIC' BRAKED the vehicle from freeway speeds to less than 30 MPH. In one instance this caused the late model vehicle following us to take immediate evasive action and swerve into the adjacent lane without warning and then the vehicle HONKED continuously at us while passing us to our left. On each of the occasions I have had to OVERRIDE the Autopilot by pressing on the accelerator pedal as soon as I realized what was happening! On other occasions when in 'AUTOPILOT' self-driving mode, the vehicle has attempted to change lanes to exit the highway without awareness of how close the vehicle was to the end of the exit lane. Again I had to OVERRIDE the Autopilot by turning the yoke back into the lane to avoid running into barriers. I had believed that because this is a 'BETA' version that these conditions were being worked on and would be corrected with a software update. I have had numerous software updates installed. The current Version is 2022.44.30.10. For this reason, I have not reported these incidents to the manufacturer or made an appointment with the Local Tesla Service Center. The problems continue even with the current software update. Until recently, I was unaware of others having these same issues or that significant injury, death, damage, have occurred. However, since being made aware of this problem, I chose to report my experiences. I will follow-up and make an appointment with the manufacturer to have the vehicle inspected.

NHTSA ODI 11503070

When slightly pressing the accelerator while at speeds between approximately 35-70 MPH, there appears to be a vibration felt in the front of the car. It can be felt in the yoke and the pedal. It could affect the driver's ability to break or turn the wheel in emergency. It appears more than 60% of the owner of the same model and year has detected a similar shaking in the yoke and pedal, yet the manufacture delays to resolve it. https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/poll-vibration-felt-when-slightly-accelerating-refresh-mode-s-plaid-or-lr.236933/

NHTSA ODI 11502303

Sudden braking while using Adaptive Cruise Control. Multiple “Phantom Braking “ incidents during a long road trip.

NHTSA ODI 11501779

During normal driving, I was unable to activate the horn on a regular basis. The yoke steering wheel does not have a horn activator in the traditional "center" part of the steering column, and the purported method of activating the horn by covering all of the buttons on the right side of the steering york never worked for me. It's dangerous and I found myself on multiple occasions not being able to activate the horn.

NHTSA ODI 11501630

1. When I was driving, the left rear door suddenly opened by itself. 2. It would cause car accident, injures and even death. 3. I haven't go to the service center yet, because it's very hard to make a timely appointment with Tesla. 4. No. 5. No.

NHTSA ODI 11501698

Yesterday while my car was supercharging. Loud Arcing and electrical sounds were heard. I was inside the car with my seatbelt on as I was only planning on supercharging for about 10 minutes. Approximately 2 minutes after charging started I heard loud electrical sounds similar like when a transfer explodes. I was getting ready to get out of the car and it stop. Within 30 seconds or so my HVAC stop working and "cabin climate control system requires service-Cabin heating/cooling limited or unavailable" caution message was displayed. The cabin heating stop working completely and it was about 29 degrees f in Chicago. I went a little deeper into settings and more than 10 faults were showing relating to high voltage condition detected. I call roadside assistance for a tow and I was told I could still drive the car home which I did. Car sat overnight and faults remained and did not cleared. I had to drive in below freezing temperatures this morning to work and I had to wipe my windshield clean and it resulted in me NOT BEING ABLE TO SEE OUTSIDE DUE TO BEING COMPLETLY FOG UP. It looks like my heat pump stop working completely which shutdown the HVAC in the car. This is a safety hazard due to visibility outside car getting possibly blocked due to no A/C.

NHTSA ODI 11500756

The gear shifter is unreliable without visually checking the gears on screen. It may or may not register the shift during selection. When merging from residential traffic to a main road turning right, the driver has to pull forward to check the incoming traffic. In ideal situation, if the other vehicles are approaching at speed, the driver would want shift in to reverse and backup from hanging over main road and back to the residential alley. However the inconsistencies of the gear selector make it dangerous during those occasions. The car could fail to register the shift, or cannot shift fast enough to reverse. It poses significant risks to the driver and other vehicles on the road. A front/rear cross traffic alert or a better mechanism to shift into reverse should be implemented. The mounted secondary gear selector in the center console does not light up during this cases, it it still require a visual check when defeat the purpose during emergency.

NHTSA ODI 11500234

The Traffic Aware Cruise Control disengaged suddenly and unexpectedly multiple times during highway driving and rapidly decelerated from 70 mph to 35 mph. This occurred several times on a clear freeway without any obstructions or any basis for disengagement and placed vehicles behind at risk due to the sudden deceleration.

NHTSA ODI 11498813

Rear tires have alarming wear on the inside, where the inside sidewall meets the tread. This is identical to the other complaints that are logged on NHTSA about Michelin Pilot Sport 4S rear tires on Tesla Model S Plaid cars. Tires are: Michelin Pilot Sport 4S 295/30 ZR21 102Y XL BSW. Specifically, the right rear tires loses pressure and needs to be reinflated. The left rear tire, according to inspection, actually looked worse, but is not yet losing pressure. This is impossible to see or know about without removing the tire or putting the car on a lift, since it is on the is inside sidewall/tread of the rear tire. There is high danger of a blowout because of some type of defect (camber/suspension or tire) which cannot be seen by the consumer. I would have never known about this if the tire technician had not alerted me, and probably would have had a high-speed blowout.

NHTSA ODI 11498087

Rear tires have alarming wear on the inside, where the inside sidewall meets the tread. This is identical to the other complaints that are logged on NHTSA about Michelin Pilot Sport 4S rear tires on Tesla Model S Plaid cars. Tires are: Michelin Pilot Sport 4S 295/30 ZR21 102Y XL BSW. Specifically, the right rear tires loses pressure and needs to be reinflated. The left rear tire, according to inspection, actually looked worse, but is not yet losing pressure. This is impossible to see or know about without removing the tire or putting the car on a lift, since it is on the is inside sidewall/tread of the rear tire. There is high danger of a blowout because of some type of defect (camber/suspension or tire) which cannot be seen by the consumer. I would have never known about this if the tire technician had not alerted me, and probably would have had a high-speed blowout.

NHTSA ODI 11498086

The navigation system keeps giving wrong directions due to an error in the GPS signal, I had to use my phone for route frequently. This is distracting and dangerous, and can lead to fatal accidents.

NHTSA ODI 11496006

The adaptive cruise control will erroneously do a hard stop for no reason. This could cause an accident if someone is following me. The owners manual has a disclaimer / warning and Tesla states this feature is beta. They (Tesla) need to step up and fix this issue.

NHTSA ODI 11495428

Recurring uncommanded FIRM phantom braking for no apparent reason. At risk of being hit from the rear. Driver & passengers frightened & panicked. It has occurred a number of times but cannot be reproduced at will. Vehicle inspection has not been performed. Dealer says it's a software issue. No warning lamps, messages or any other symptom prior to event. Event has recurred multiple times.

NHTSA ODI 11493857

Distortion within windshield. Appears to be manufactured this way. Employee within service center is a typical problem. Upon check-in the service writer even noticed it. I got a message from service later advising vehicle is ready to be picked up and the windshield is within Tesla specs. How can something that distracts a driver within the windshield be within specs and how is Tesla not liable if it causes driver distraction or even a collision and they refuse to fix?

NHTSA ODI 11493538

On November 1, I terminated my 3 year lease on a 2019 Tesla S for a new lease on a 2022 Tesla Model S. I was very happy with my original lease. During this week of driving I learned of the many changes that were made for this new model. So far most of them are only a matter of adjusting to these new/modified features. But some of them are definitely a safety hazard. This is the deletion of the left stalk on the steering wheel to indicate a planned change of direction and blink the appropriate turn signals. It is replaced by two “touch” buttons on the left side of the steering wheel, one for a left turn indicated by a left arrow and one below it for a right turn. Possibly one may memorize their location but until they are memorized the driver will have to take his/her eyes off the road for the few seconds to it takes to find the button. Neither of these buttons feel different by touch compared to the nearby surface. They can only be selected by looking at them. Of course if the steering wheel is not in its default position such as when the driver is making a turn, he/she has to take the eyes off the road for a few seconds. At 60 mph the car travels about 440 feet in 5 seconds. I looked up the Massachusetts Drivers Manual, on the web, about the use of the directional signals. I copied those sections below. After each section, if appropriate, I made a comment on how this affects the driving of the new Tesla https://www.mass.gov/doc/drivers-manual Commonwealth of Massachusetts Sharing the Road A User’s Manual for Public Ways p. 30 Signal properly before changing lanes p.98 Rotary Traffic Rules Traffic travels counter-clockwise in a rotary. Always yield the right-of-way to vehicles already in the rotary (unless told differently by signs or police officers) and to pedestrians. Use your turn signals in the same way as any other intersection. Travel through the rotary and, when you are ready to exit, use your right turn signal. (Comment) A few times a week I dri

NHTSA ODI 11493532

Distortion within windshield glass. Appears as if looking through magnifying glass. Causes driver distraction. Appears to be manufactured this way.

NHTSA ODI 11493164

Driving midday on interstate 90 at 78 mph. The car was in cruise control. Four passengers. No other cars in front of me. Luckily there were no cars directly behind me. The car violently slammed on the brakes. My passengers thought I had hit a dog. Very scary. I am glad no one was hurt. But it is dangerous. I think the car had a recent software update. I have heard that the phantom braking issue can be worse right after a software update.

NHTSA ODI 11493174

The car requires swiping the touchscreen to place it in drive or reverse. The touchscreen does not always register the intended change of direction, leading to unexpected, unsafe motion of the car. The area of the touchscreen that one must swipe is also often occluded by the steering yoke. This has happened multiple times, where the lack of strong enough feedback (or a mechanism that allows for less error-prone input) as to D vs R allows for an unsafe movement in the opposite direction of what was intended. In one case, there was traffic approaching, and the car ended up further in the path of that traffic. In another case The car should provide instantaneous tactile, visual, and/or audio output to clearly indicate that the car has shifted from D->R or R->D. A mechanical stalk or button, as was present in previous model years, would certainly be adequate.

NHTSA ODI 11492442

Inner tire tread only wears significantly to the point of failure. This may be a factory alignment issue or other but is noted in many forums. I was losing air quickly and based on research saw this was a common issue with these specific cars. The tread appears fine at 8000 miles but when removing the wheel from the car you can notice the inner surface only is worn to the point of failure with the inner belt showing is parts. I was able to remove the wheel and see the issue before experiencing a blowout while driving.

NHTSA ODI 11491103

We took our first major road trip in our new 2022 Tesla Model S on Friday 10/14, leaving at 10:00 am for a 9 hour trip. During the trip the car experienced multiple severe incidents of the car braking hard while at highway speeds and two of the incidents almost caused an accident. The car drops 10 to 15 mph instantly for no reason. We drove the car home on Monday 10/17 without AEB, Auto Steer, FSD Beta, Emergency Lane Departure Avoidance and Obstacle-Aware Acceleration and used TACC occasionally and still had the issue but wasn't as severe. Even on the day we purchased the car (Sept 30) and drove it home (a short drive on highway 95) we had a similar incident but it was so new we weren't sure if it was us or the car but now we know it is a fault of the car and creates a very dangerous driving situation which could result in an accident or death to a passenger in our car or in the car behind us when our car decides to slam on the brakes for no apparent reason. There were no warning lamps, messages or symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. We turned in a service request to Tesla and their response was to drive the car and have it happen again and create a Bug report. So basically Tesla is asking us to put our lives on the line to help them diagnose the problem because they don't want to take the time to review the diagnostic data that is readily available to them. In our opinion, this is a very serious and dangerous problem and the car needs to be taken off the road until Tesla resolves the problem.

NHTSA ODI 11490108

While ADAS is engaged, vehicle occasionally suddenly breaks and disengages while the road is clear and obstruction free. This happens frequently.

NHTSA ODI 11489894

The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model S equipped with Michelin tires, Tire Line: Pilot Sport 4S Tires, Tire Size: 295/30/ZR21, DOT Number: 4M5203DX4321. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, TPMS warning light was illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic where it was discovered that the tread inside both rear tires had severely worn to the extent that the wires inside both tires were exposed. The contact was informed that the failure could have led to a severe tire blowout. The mechanic also informed him that the failure was caused by a vehicle misalignment. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that a diagnostic test was needed to determine the cause of the failure. The tires were not replaced. The failure mileage was approximately 10,000.

NHTSA ODI 11489325

The OEM Michelin rear tire used on the 2021 and 2022+ Tesla Model S has a serious safety defect which results in extreme wear/tread separation at the inner sidewall/tread junction. Numerous defective tires are shown on this thread, among others: https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/plaid-21%E2%80%9Drear-tire-woes-factory-defect.269394/ Both Tesla and Michelin report the tires are nationwide backorder (likely due to the number of tire failures in the field). Thus far, Tesla and Michelin have taken NO action on proactive tire replacements, despite repeated requests. (Perhaps they are awaiting accidents with fatalities first?) Please take action to secure a recall as this defect is extremely difficult to note as the tire tread separation occurs most often at the inner sidewall of the rear tires, a nearly impossible area to inspect.

NHTSA ODI 11488756