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

When I use the autopilot system. The car applied automatic emergency braking abruptly even there is nothing in the front. This could result in the rear end accident. I recorded a video since it kept applying AEB. But your system does not let me upload it.

NHTSA ODI 11519561

While driving down the freeway on 4/29/2023 my Tesla Model Y slammed the brakes on for seemingly no reason without warning. This incident occurred with auto pilot and auto steering engaged. The day was clear and road was clear.

NHTSA ODI 11519624

While driving down the road in traffic, several errors started appearing on the Tesla screen, and the vehicle lost power brakes and steering, rendering it impossible to drive safely. The complete set of car systems that were disabled all at once was: stability control disabled traction control disabled automatic vehicle hold disabled lane departure avoidance unavailable ABS disabled steering assist reduced (no power steering) regenerative braking features temporarily limited automatic emergency braking disabled The car is only weeks old. We had the car towed to a Tesla repair center, and they said due to a wiring issue, the wheel weight on the right rear wheel was rubbing against the wire connecting the wheel speed sensor, which led to this cascading series of errors. I'm concerned this is a systemic issue with newer Model Ys. There's a QA or manufacturing defect, and Tesla, along with the NHTSA, needs to investigate this dangerous safety issue.

NHTSA ODI 11519538

This is the problem know in Tesla world as "phantom braking." This happens to me frequently. I am driving on a clear road, no obstacles, and the car will brake hard for no clear reason. At best this is annoying. But there are times when it is extremely dangerous. This happens on highways and interstates at highway speeds. Drivers behind me are forced to brake hard to avoid a rear-end collision.

NHTSA ODI 11519064

New Tesla Model Y brake failed and accelerated resulted in a serious crash within 2 hrs of taking delivery. I believe it is acceleration functioning and brake due to auto pilot feature. Vehicle will be available for inspection after 4 weeks. After taking delivery of new Tesla Y, we drove to temple. While parking car accelerated and lost control of the vehicle as brakes were not working. It hit the temple wall and when we tried to backup to get the car out of the crashed wall, it got even worse. It reversed in lightning speed and hit another car, run over the bushes and huge palm tree across the street and finally stopped. This terrifying experience caused huge mental trauma, multiple property damage, and financial hardship that we are dealing with right now. Fortunately, there were no injuries. We lost all the trust and confidence in Tesla. We are NOT confident of driving due to huge safety concern. It is a very important safety issue considering the customers at large. Tesla service has not worked on the diagnosis. We tried reaching out Tesla service to investigate the failure. There is no response from them and they keep cancelling the service appointment. On top of it, there is no appointment available in body shop for a month. This incident was reported to police. One observation was made during the incident where Auto pilot beta was displaying on the dash board monitor without invoking any self driving options.

NHTSA ODI 11517320

We were driving at highway speeds in I-5 and had incidents of phantom braking on the car when it automatically slammed the brakes almost causing us to be rear ended.

NHTSA ODI 11517309

The incident happened on 4/9/2023 at 2:30 pm. I drove in I-10 from Phoenix to California with Cruise Control and Autosteer ON. The speed was set to the highway speed limit. There were three other passengers with me. This seems to be related to the known issue of "Phantom Breaking" in Teslas. I was driving on a 4-lane road with no traffic, then the car suddenly reduced its speed from 65 mph to almost 30 mph, causing a sudden jolt to everyone in the car. There was nothing in front or reason for the car to break. No incoming traffic. It does not seem to have detected a "ghost" obstacle as an emergency. As there was no beeping or emergency message on display. No warning of any type. Luckily, no car was following me; otherwise, it could have caused a rear-end collision.

NHTSA ODI 11516691

At highway speed, using the autopilot feature for speed control only, the car applies severe braking when there is nothing obstructing the road or requiring brakes. This has happened dozens of times over the first several thousand miles we have owned the new car. We filed a report with Tesla and they said this is not a problem and is expected behavior. We are concerned this will occur with a vehicle behind us resulting in being rear ended.

NHTSA ODI 11516128

Emergency bracking occured on multiple occasions during trip. When there was nothing to brake for, the brakes were automatically applied, sometimes severely. The car is available for inspection if requested. With unexpected hard braking, we could put someone following behind in danger of a rearend collision and possible injury to us and them. The problem has not been confirmed by a dealer or independent service center. The vehicle/components have not been inspected. There was no warning prior to this unexpected braking.

NHTSA ODI 11515899

on 30th MAR 2023, when my wife drove on to our drive way with gentle speed, car rammed into closed garage door and broke the door and rammed into living room wall with breaking room entry door . there is neither emergency breaking /stop nor collision warning . it damaged wall , garage door and more living room property damage with addition to damage to the car. i am really worried about the safety of the car..

NHTSA ODI 11515208

I have seen this happen on several occassions during my trip from Austin,TX to Lubbock, TX. I out the car on Cruise Control and the car has applied emergency brakes suddenly several times even when there is no cars or other obstacles around. Even after I tried disabling the "Automatic Emergency Braking" feature, I am still facing this issue on several occasions. I have taken 2 trips so far in the past 2 months from Austin to Lubbock (about 360 miles one way) and I ahve decided the car is not at all reliable for me. I am even considering trading-in the car for another brand. This is real safety hazard.

NHTSA ODI 11514136

Tesla model y 2023 phantom braked on the intestate. The emergency braking system and adaptive cruise are not correct. I almost got hit because my tesla auto pilot braked on the interstate for no reason.

NHTSA ODI 11512921

Car was purchased December 30, 2022. The first time I engaged auto pilot, an oncoming semi was in its lane and my car slammed the brakes on while on auto pilot. It happened the next time I used auto pilot with zero perceived “threat”. I was extremely hesitant to use it, henceforth. I tried auto pilot over and over with my foot, poised and ready to take over the throttle, and my hand poised to disengage auto pilot. 12 times it slammed the brakes on-every time I used the feature it randomly braked, there was absolutely nothing around. These incidences were on two lane highways, no oncoming traffic, nothing in the road. Phantom braking. I do not feel safe using this feature on my brand new car because if someone is traveling behind me, it will cause an accident. I took my car in for minor service (for adjustment and stern issue) shortly after purchasing and mentioned this to the Tesla service Center representative. She said to me, “oh yeah, it does that sometimes. You have to be ready to take over.” Even being poised and ready to take over, I fear my reflexes will not be fast enough if there were someone traveling behind me at 60 mph. and it certainly isn’t how cruise control should work. I have a second service appointment, and actually noted the phantom braking (I subsequently learned this is what it’s called after googling, “random, braking with no threat Tesla model Y 2023”) on my service request to ensure that it has been documented because it’s a problem. A dangerous, unacceptable problem that needs to be fixed. My service appointment is 3/28/2023. Thank you.

NHTSA ODI 11511127

The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while at a stop with the brake pedal depressed, the vehicle unintendedly accelerated. The contact stated that no warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that she rear-ended the vehicle in front as she turned the steering wheel to the left and landed in a ditch. No air bags deployed. The contact stated that she and her front-seat passenger sustained no injuries however the other vehicle driver was seen by the EMTs on the scene. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to an authorized Tesla Center and was awaiting diagnosis. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened. The contact stated that she was informed by the manufacturer that a diagnosis team was working on the diagnosis. The approximate failure mileage was 473.

NHTSA ODI 11510599

When using the cruise control function (not hands free) we have experienced multiple disconnects from the cruise control which puts the car into a sudden breaking condition slowing the car until the cruise control reconnects automatically. On a recent road trip we narrowly avoided a serious accident when this happened and we had a big rig truck behind us. We reported this to Tesla and their emailed reply said the cause was "map data, speed limit data, GPS position inaccuracies or predictive position inaccuracies." We drove over 2,500, mostly interstate highways, and in our opinion, none of their reasons for this condition apply to what happened to us. We set up an appointment with Tesla to look at the car but their email response seemed to indicate that as we drive the car more, the system will correct itself. In our opinion, this apparent software glitch is serious and can have fatal consequences. We have spoken with other Tesla owners and they are also aware of this chronic problem. We are reporting this matter in hopes that it will be investigated and promptly correctly before lives are lost.

NHTSA ODI 11509060

Driving on highway with cruise control activated. No traffic around. Experienced phantom braking taking me from about 80mph to 65mph before I was able to react. Had this happened in traffic there is a good chance i would have been rear ended. No notifications or emergency lights appeared on my dash.

NHTSA ODI 11508807

Car did phantom breaking when I was driving with my wife, 2 kids and Niece from NJ to Pittsburgh, PA. I was driving on autopilot and There was no car in front or on side and yet it suddenly applied break and car went doen to appx 40 mph. Luckily the car behind was at distance and they managed their breaking well. I see it as a big risk to me and my family while being on long rides on autopilot.

NHTSA ODI 11508053

When autopilot is engaged the car slows down without warning and there isn't anything in front of the car. We had close calls with cars behind us when the car applies the brakes for no reason. The wipers would come on for no reason and as long as the autopilot was on it couldn't be turn off. So we had to disengage the autopilot and turn off the wipers and drive another 300 miles without autopilot for our safety.

NHTSA ODI 11506894

When driving in Traffic aware cruise control in Highway where the speed was around 70 mph, vehicles system auto applied brake and significantly slowed down speed for a few seconds. Had there been a vehicle following us closely, there would have been an accident. There were no close objects or vehicle in front while this incident happened.

NHTSA ODI 11506745

While driving on the expressway, I had the cruise control set at about 72 mph. The car to my right went to change lanes but then saw me and rectified; my car automatically applied the brakes hard without me even touching anything. I was lucky that the car behind me was far enough that it didn’t hit me. However, this is a safety hazard for me and others as I couldn’t control the breaks at all. It also caught me by surprise since I did t know it was going to do that.

NHTSA ODI 11503745

Drove out of my driveway, drove maybe 50 feet and the car did a shake and stopped suddenly in the middle of of the road. The car wouldn’t let me put the car in park, drive, reverse or neutral. Many alerts appeared on the screen (pics attached). The right side of the car was making a whistling sound that wouldn’t stop even when I got to finally turn off the car. The car was reset, turned off and on but wouldn’t drive in any direction. It’s extremely dangerous that a brand new car, 2 days old with 118 miles on it would suddenly stop while driving with no danger near by, the car was going 7-10 MPH, no other cars near or around me for the car to stop in that manner. I had two elderly (mother and mother-in-law) passengers in the car that could have been hurt because of this sudden unnecessary stop.

NHTSA ODI 11499808

I Purchased a new 2023 Telsa Model Y, picked it up today and on the drive home I experienced a phantom braking event which caused the vehicle to immediately stop and become inoperable. Despite my attempts to restart or reset the car it would not move. I sat in the middle lane of a six lane roadway for 90 minutes waiting for a tow truck to take the vehicle to the nearest Tesla Service Center. There was no warning and the vehicle drove flawlessly prior to this event, although I had only driven about 125 miles. I was in heavy traffic and I responded quickly to stop the vehicle and avoid an accident.

NHTSA ODI 11497826

When my vehicle is on cruise control it suddenly brakes for no apparent reason. On a road trip, it has happened suddenly and many times during the trip. It’s quite scary and dangerous.

NHTSA ODI 11494322