What 1,087 owners told NHTSA about the 2023 Tesla Model Y

Tesla Model Y Emergency Braking applied on a freeway while driving with Enhanced Auto Pilot putting me and my family at high risk when there was no emergency whatsoever. My lane and the lanes either side of me were free and there was no traffic.

NHTSA ODI 11545141

The incident occurred because the car in front of me made a sudden stop (there was a 3-car accident ahead of the car in front of me). In response to the sudden stop I hit the brakes hard on my car but my car failed to completely; it kept moving forward until I hit the car in front of me. I was not tailgating the car in front of me and had plenty of room to stop as I braked. Video recording from the Tesla showed the sufficient distance between my car and the car in front of me. I re-recorded using my phone, I can upload it for your review but the size is about 30MB and in .mov format

NHTSA ODI 11543636

Our Tesla seems to be experiencing regular phantom braking events. We just had an event today while traveling on the freeway. Our Tesla unexpectedly applied the brakes without warning as if it was trying to avoid a collision. No objects were in sight. Our cruise control was active and we don’t have autopilot.

NHTSA ODI 11543107

The car was going at the speed limit or maybe 5-9 miles over speed limit when brakes were pumped to stop car as there was stop and go traffic on a bridge in bay area (CA). The car had quite a distance from the car in front of it. Despite brakes being applied, the car seemed to accelerate and brakes had to be applied hard. However, the car did not stop until it hit the honda in front of it. As the driver of the Telsa at the time of the accident, it seems as though car was accelerating despite brakes being applied. A huge sound was heard by me the driver and then the driver eat belt became malfunctioned and the car would not restart. After a few minutes, the car restarted but now the dash board states service needed and I could no longer fasten the seat belt. The front of the car appeared to have minimal bumper damage but the seat has not worked since the accident.

NHTSA ODI 11542284

This is a report of a RECURRING problem commonly known as "phantom braking." When I take long trips in this vehicle at legal freeway speeds and with the Adaptive Cruise Control and Auto Steer (lane keeping) functions engaged, the vehicle will occasionally reduce speed suddenly and violently (emergency braking) even if there are no vehicles ahead and no visible hazards whatsoever. This occurs without warning and for no reason when cruising on open, straight interstate highways. In a typical 5-8 hour driving day on long trips, this will occur 1-2 times daily. If other vehicles were to be following closely behind, this would certainly cause a serious rear end collision or pile up. The vehicle gives no advance warning and no alarms sound. The car just brakes suddenly and violently scaring the bejesus out of my spouse. I have learned to step hard on the accelerator the moment this occurs which will partially offset the severe braking action so that any vehicles behind do not need to brake suddenly. I do wonder what the heck any drivers behind think when they see the Tesla suddenly brake hard then accelerate immediately back to speed. I worries me too that some aggressive driver behind might think I am doing this intentionally and get into a road rage incident with me. People have been shot and killed for less. I don't understand why this has not yet been addressed seriously by Tesla or NHTSA. This is a SERIOUS and dangerous defect! Thank you.

NHTSA ODI 11541672

When placing foot on brake to shift into gear, vehicle goes into multiple faults and disables all safety features. Also mid drive vehicle loses power steering and cause unsafe driving conditions. Brakes also start to behave erratically when this occurs.

NHTSA ODI 11539976

1. Wireless charging extremely slow., connected charging is also slow. 2. Safety Issue (Camera): driving side left camera and blind spot monitoring camera specially sometimes stopped working automatically during driving in the highway or city, it’s pretty dangerous Specially in the highway driving. During my long drive over July 4th weekend between 3-7 July happened several times, it caused auto steer mode forced disengage 3 times. occurrence 8/8 between 12-3 am it happened about 6 times. It happens on and off almost everyday in some part of drive. 3. Safety Issue Phantom Braking, in Auto steer, brakes are suddenly getting applied when even are no objects in the front of car for no reason. Aug 4, it happened about 4 times between 7-9 am.(around 7:30-7:40)Due to this big accident in the highway could have happened with Truck, as Truck was in normal speed 65 mph and due to sudden brake, vehicle speed came down to 35-40 mph, took control and move car out of road avoiding accident. This happened earlier instances as well during driving in the highways. But this time, I avoided death but got injuries. I need this car fixed for good OR a Replacement new car (preferably)OR a refund. Enough, I’m scared of driving this car afterwards, as I’m concerned about security and life risk all the time. Aug 12 braking issues happened on around 6:40 and 7:30 PST. Aug 15 braking issue happened on the highway around 7:45 and 8:15 am pst Hard to get a hold of customer service. they try to avoid Physical Service by Service Center by telling I need to provide exact timestamp and other nonsense remote debug and worst experience with the servicing. I asked for refund, no customer support no way to reach to discuss. 4. Range: Promised range for model Y is 330 m, get only 150-200 max, numbers are bloated and wrong. They tells it’s based on driving pattern and this range is based on 60-65 m/hr drive on a Flat surface, which was not told or advertised in website or during purchas.

NHTSA ODI 11538870

While day driving on a 4 lane divided highway during light traffic, we experienced phantom braking several times. We were at the posted 70 mph speed limit while autopilot was engaged. Phantom braking also occurred when cruise control was only engaged. No problem occurred with surrounding traffic. Our car has yet to have a Tesla service center look at our car. No car warnings occurred during these events. These events occurred on July 16th and 24th, 2023 and earlier since we’ve owned this car. Thanks.

NHTSA ODI 11538775

While using adaptive cruise control on 2023 Tesla Model Y we experienced multiple instances of emergency braking (rapid deceleration w/o touching brakes, accelerator steering column, etc.) without any warning during multiple scenarios - dusk, daylight, sunny and cloudy weather. Occurred on both straight and curved sections of highway with no other vehicles in front of vehicle.

NHTSA ODI 11537657

Hi, I was on cruise control (not autosteer) on highway and I just applied turn signal and my Model Y suddenly applied brakes and speed was reduced to around 50MPh from 70MPh. We might get into some serious accident if there was a car behind us. Need someone to look into issue please.

NHTSA ODI 11536741

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? On July 17, 2023, while driving on a highway in the state of Texas, my Tesla suddenly and unexpectedly engaged in a hard braking maneuver for several seconds while I was under Full self-Driving activated, despite there being no vehicle directly in front of me. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? As a result of this abrupt action, the two cars behind me were forced to swerve abruptly to the right to avoid a collision. I cannot stress enough how dangerous this situation was, and I am immensely thankful that no one was injured. This incident has shaken my confidence in the safety and reliability of the vehicle. As a responsible driver, my utmost priority is the safety of myself, my passengers, and others sharing the road. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? I have raised a formal complaint with tesla by email on July 17th and Also, raised a formal complaint by sending a letter on the initial date of July 18,2023 and by sending the evidence of vedio.. And, called them 2 times - But, I haven't received any proper response from tesla. ups tracking no: 1Z8880yw0346327053 Address i sent the mail: Tesla Motors, Inc. 3500 Deer Creek Road Palo Alto, California 94304 Attention: Vehicle Service 1-877-77-TESLA(1-877-778-3752) Email Address i sent complaint: CustomerSupport@tesla.com Ticket Number Created on Tesla Side: CI00B981EA Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? Tesla told someone reach me by Aug 3, 2023. But, no one reached to me. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? NO Please reach out to me for additional evidence of vedio. And, I was unable to upload here since the upload limit (10 MB) is limited. Thanks, Surya Madhurakavi

NHTSA ODI 11536579

On 8/1/2023, driving between Mojave, California and Inyokern, California on highway 14, a newly paved and striped highway being followed by a Mercedes Van, I was doing 70 in a 65 zone. No traffic in front of us. No road signs. No turn outs. No side roads. No bridges, overpasses or underpasses when suddenly the car braked from 70mph to 48mph before I pressed down on the accellerator to keep the Mercedes from hitting us. the front end of the Mercedes dipped as he hit the brakes hard and he honked his horn which is what I would have done under similar circumstances. In the next half hour we experienced the phantom braking phenomenon five more times before my wife found complaints about "phantom braking", a phenomenon we'd never heard of or had been warned about. We turned off the Automatic Emergency Braking and experienced no more events until after stopping in Lone Pine for charging. When we reentered the highway we experienced one more event before turning off the Automatic Emergency Braking system, once again. Hours before we'd been in Southern California driving on Highways 5, 101 and 405 cruising along at 70 with traffic close in front and behind us. If the phantom braking had occured there, we might not be here today. Calling the Tesla dealership in Reno the salesman was non-plussed about our experience and informed us we should be ready to hit the accellerator at all times. This is not an acceptable response to what could easily have been a major accident.

NHTSA ODI 11536046

The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while pulling into the driveway, the vehicle accelerated at high-speed causing the vehicle to strike a wall at the contact resident. The contact stated the brake assist did not activate. The vehicle had major front-end damages. The contact's resident wall was damaged. Both the contact's wife who was driving and the passenger suffered concussion and whiplash. The contact's wife suffered neck injuries but neither the driver nor the passenger sought medical attention. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was towed to a repair center. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the vehicle data. The failure mileage was 3,746.

NHTSA ODI 11535713

Two phantom braking incidents on road trip from CA to UT Both on cruise control - NOT autopilot - No road obstacles or other vehicles present in both incidents 1st incident had road go from gray, older asphalt go to black new asphalt, which triggered a strong abrupt braking , jolting passengers 2nd incident - absolutely no obstacles or vehicles - random strong abrupt braking of vehicle stopped using cruise control after those two events - no more incidents

NHTSA ODI 11535516

Location: car wash tunnel Symptom: ghost braking/shifting While in car wash mode and neutral, Tesla shifted inexplicably from neutral to park, causing Tesla to be rear-ended by the car behind in the car wash tunnel. My passengers and I could have been injured. Tesla engineers completed a technical review of the safety incident but refused to provide the full report instead directed me to consult lawyers. On the day of the service appointment, they did not even inspect my vehicle but instead told me to request vehicle data online. It turned out to be a waste of time to download vehicle recorded data that only Tesla engineers understand. The service invoice says, “Verified proper operation of the vehicle.” That is false. They did not even admit my car into the service entrance. This crash is preventable, but Tesla is not taking this defect seriously and refuses to share the full report of technical review.

NHTSA ODI 11535230

Vehicle suddenly break hard without any reason at any speed when you activate the cruise control. Can cause a serious accident. I can experience this any time numerous times during my daily driving.

NHTSA ODI 11535254

Car decelerates while on auto pilot 4-5 times while driving from Chicago to Alberta,CA vice versa.

NHTSA ODI 11534954

I was traveling on the 8 freeway in Az going around 80 passing a tractor trailer. I had the cruise control on. Then the car breaks for no reason dropping me to 50 mph. It happened maybe 3 other times on that trip. Maybe 10 times since I purchased the car 5 months ago

NHTSA ODI 11534937

Approximately half a dozen times this year on highway journeys between California and Las Vegas, when the vehicle is on cruise control at approx. 70-75 mph, I have experienced brief instances of unnecessary, automated braking. Each time apparently in response to large black patches in front of the car, either a mismatched repair of the highway or a dark mirage type reflection of the sun on the highway. It appears to me that the vehicle cameras are occasionally mistaking these dark patches as an obstacle. Presumably lidar sensors would not react because the radar would not bounce back off anything, but I believe my car does not have lidar sensors. In each case there was an approximate 10 to 15 mph reduction in speed and then the vehicle quickly recovered. Fortunately, no other vehicle was tailgating me at the time but if one had been, I believe there is a realistic risk of being rear ended. Alternatively, the driver behind would, presumably, apply the brakes, which may cause a chain reaction when the highway is in fact, clear ahead. I have not contacted Tesla. Based on other reports online, it appears to be a waste of time.

NHTSA ODI 11534065

on a recent 800 mile road trip, there were no less than 7 incidents of the vehicle suddenly braking on its own while on cruise control with no vehicles in front of us. one incident occurred with a semi truck behind us that almost caused an accident. the car went from 80 mph to 45 mph before I had time to react and press the gas pedal.

NHTSA ODI 11533705

Phantom braking occurs in cruise control for no reason and with no warning. The car is available for inspection. Many other Tesla drivers have described the same situation. On a recent cross country trip phantom braking happened frequently. We made sure there was no one behind us when we engaged cruise to avoid being rear ended. We were in NV when it happened again- this time a big rig had safe distance behind us when the brakes engaged ( we were driving 75). The rig driver swerved into another lane to avoid us. We have not taken car to service center yet. Social media is full of these accounts. This is still happening. There is no warning whatsoever. It’s hard to describe how terrifying this is.

NHTSA ODI 11532453

The adaptive cruise control malfunctioned while engaged on the highway/interstate. On a recent trip of approx. 1,000 miles, the vehicle experienced "phantom braking" (aggressive emergency braking for no reason) on three occasions while the adaptive cruise control was engaged on the highway/interstate at approx. 65-75 mph, with no obstruction/vehicle in front and the weather was clear sunny skies. No warnings or messages were prompt by the vehicle. This abrupt phantom breaking could have caused serious injury from a rear-end collision or cause vehicles behind to take unnecessary unsafe emergency maneuvers/braking.

NHTSA ODI 11532018

Hard braking on its own while using cruise control. Nearly rear-ended multiple times.

NHTSA ODI 11531237

Have experienced 2 major “phantom braking” incidents almost causing 2 accidents. There has also been several other incidents but not as severe as the 2 almost causing accident. Called Tesla and they said it is a known problem, service person said he has had his car for 5 years and still having issues. Evidently he said it was software related. He reported there is nothing they can do as solution has not been found.

NHTSA ODI 11531317

I had a very dangerous phantom breaking event while driving on the interstate. The car slammed on the brakes for no reason and I nearly had a rear end collision. There was nobody in front of me, sun was not a factor, road was flat and straight, weather was clear. Car was on cruise control only. I was driving Interstate speed, about 70 mph, and without warning the Tesla Model Y slammed on the brakes and the only reason we didn’t get rear ended was because I quickly hit the accelerator to get out of the braking action. My dogs also went flying forward in the back seat and my passenger was wretched forward and scared b/c it came out of nowhere. There was no indication from the car before, during our after that there was a problem. I have notified Tesla of the incident, but don’t expect they will do anything. This happened Thursday June 29, 2023 at 4pm CT.

NHTSA ODI 11530719