general problems of the 2018 Tesla Model 3 - part 2

Periodically the driver side front brake will emit a squeal when travelling at low speeds. Reported to Tesla and they attributed the lack of braking as a contributory fault. They bevelled the brake pad and explained that this was normal behavior. However this did not fix the problem and it periodically reoccurs.

Phantom braking!!! ever since purchasing the car in March 2018 and right up to the present, when using autopilot or more recently full self driving (fsd), especially at highway speeds, the car will suddenly start significantly braking and slow down for no justifiable reason. This is dangerous enough that if the vehicle behind me is not paying attention, they could rear-end me. It’s totally unpredictable when this will occur, but it does happen frequently at highway speeds. This is a very well-known problem, but even after dozens of software update releases, Tesla has been unable to eliminate or even reduce the frequency of phantom braking.

Our Model 3 was purchased with Tesla’s “full self driving (fsd)” software installed in 2018. Throughout our entire ownership period, whenever fsd is active, there are specific locations known to us - mostly at certain points on freeways - where the car will “phantom brake,” in other words suddenly decelerate the vehicle very rapidly and require *immediate* driver intervention. For instance, there is a freeway interchange ramp that passes under a bridge and doglegs to the left. The car will always phantom brake about 200 feet before it reaches the bridge. This has been happening for years, and we’ve reported this defect and this specific location to Tesla many times. There are other locations known to us as consistent phantom brake triggers, but there are of course times where this occurs when we are not expecting it as well, and that’s when it’s most dangerous. We believe it may have something to do with the car’s sensors when they sense certain shapes or objects while the road is also curving slightly, as this is the most common phantom brake scenario for us. Again, this has been happening since we purchased the car in 2018. It occurs randomly at least a few times a month, and it *always* occurs in certain locations.

The automatic emergency braking system activated when there was no collision imminent. (7:13am, 5/22/22) neither cruise control nor autopilot was engaged at the time of incident. I was nearly hit from behind by a driver who did not expect me to stop as there was no hazard or other vehicle. Tesla inspected the vehicle and found no fault and claimed that I needed driver education. Also on a subsequent interstate trip with cruise control engaged, the automatic emergency braking system activated unnecessarily. It appears to be related to shadows on the road or pavement changes.

Phantom braking, I. E. Apparent engagement of brakes on car for no apparent reason during routine driving.

Stopped in left turn lane. On green light car in front and I began our left turn. I was some distance behind the car when suddenly my brakes applied automatically and I came to complete stop. Luckily car behind did not rear end me. Also, my car started beeping and a warning said something to effect: automatic emergency brake activated.

Sudden unintended acceleration: while pulling forward onto our driveway (with incline) at a very slow speed, the car suddenly accelerated and brake was not working. Automatic emergency braking also failed.

My Model 3 regularly brakes at highway speeds for no reason it does this in daylight but more frequently at night also - it appears more common in the rain - where reflections off the wet pavement seems to appear as solid objects to the cruise control I have stopped using the cruise control now - it is frightening to have the car suddenly slam on the brakes at highway speeds.

Everyday while I am driving on the highway, when the car is in cruise control, multiple times it decreases the speed drastically for no reason.

I received access to Tesla’s full self-driving system in late 2021. In the lead-up to that access, Tesla used a series of driver scoring metrics to select which users would get access first. Consistently, my metrics for forward collision warnings would show as alarmingly high, despite never coming within remote striking distance of another vehicle. On more than one occasion, a vehicle passing in other lane or turning left but in the other lane tripped the warning. At the time this registered as a red flag but more a bug of the evaluation system than the car’s recognition software. As time with the fsd suite has gone on, and subsequently with every new update, the phantom braking problem a number of users have described has plagued my experiences. Numerous times I’ve been driving with fsd engaged on two lane roads with no cars, shadows, animals or distractions of any kind around only for the car to suddenly and rapidly decelerate. Additionally I’ve received warnings repeatedly, without explanation, that the emergency braking system is disabling itself, then the warning will clear without any indication it’s either become reactive or is still disabled. Further, I’ve noticed through the new blind spot camera feature Tesla has released that my left rear-facing repeater camera can be blinded by the flashing of the embedded turn signal in the housing - but only the left signal, the right is not. This has led to, on more than one occasion, fsd disabling itself while active with little or no warning. I’ve listed the approximate date the first phantom braking occurred, but all of these problems have been an ongoing issues for months.

Regularly experience phantom breaking and unwarranted early collision warnings.

Phantom braking- was driving at 65mph and car hard braked and decreased to 55mph in 1 or 2 seconds.

Car constantly phantom braking seemingly because of oncoming traffic safely in their own lane.

As others have reported, please add my 2018 Model 3 to the list of reports of the vehicle having constant phantom breaking issues that telsa needs to address. I'm glad you are conducting this investigation. Most times phantom breaking occurs I submit a "bug report" using the voice button in the car that sends car logs directly to Tesla so they will have records of these phantom breaking issues at the exact time and location my car experienced it. While it is random it also is very predicable at certain spots on highways I drive in the bay area. Namely 680 south in the hov lane right before the mission blvd. Exit. At least 90% of the time even I'm the only car in that stretch of road the car breaks hard for no reason. It is occurs so often in that section that I typically disconnect the advanced cruise control in sections as well as other section of the bay area where phantom breaking consistently occurs. Two of my neighbors also have m3's and we have compared notes and we all typically see phantom breaking occur in similar areas in the bay area.

While traveling from san diego, CA to louisiana on the self-drive mode the car abruptly stopped in traffic 3 times (while this was at night there was no concern for an accident). On the return trip back home it did it 1 more time in the daylight hours, but this time there was an 18 wheeler behind me. We were doing the speed limit at the time, which was 75mph and it slammed on the brakes making me go from 75 mph to 60 in seconds. I was able to take control of the vehicle and get it back to highway speed before there was an accident.

While using autopilot adaptive cruise control at speeds of 50-70 mph, the car suddenly applies the brakes even though there is no car or other hazard anywhere near the car. This phantom braking has been happening since I bought the car in 2018. I imagine it's a software problem. I read recently that NHTSA is investigating a similar problem on 2021 and 2022 Tesla Model 3s, so wanted to let you know that this problem is also affecting my 2018 model. Also I read that there's speculation that the problem was as a result of a software update over the past year, but in my vehicle the phantom braking has occurred since 2018. The problem most recently happened last week.

The car breaks automatically when neighboring cars drive by during autopilot. I have a family of 4. This appears to happen when using autopilot almost every single time. It has gotten worse over the years. This car is becoming dangerous.

After purchasing the autopilot feature on February 9th, 2022, on our first trip next day (Feb 10th), we experienced phantom braking with adaptive cruise control turned on, barely avoiding a hit from the rear by a truck in toledo, OH. Later, during same trip, we experienced phantom braking with both acc and autopilot features turned on, and stopped using them out of safety concerns. After a new occurrence, while on cruise control on June 4th, I informed Tesla service in clarkston, mi, but no repair, deletion of autopilot and reimbursement was possible as I requested. We never had similar issues form November 2nd 2018 to February 9th 2022 (44. 159 miles) , before purchasing and installing autopilot.

When driving on autopilot on highways phantom breaking occurs for no reason. There are no warnings, the car just slams on the brakes. Elon musk has state they were removing radars from cars to eliminate this issue and disabling it in cars with that hardware, but since my car have gone to all vision it is much worse. While following vehicles should always follow at a safe distance to prevent collisions, the reality is most drivers follow too closely and this could very easily result in a rear end collision. It could also trigger road rage from following drivers assuming the driver is doing a brake check on them. This has occurred numerous times over various software versions, but its much worse with the pure vision version of autopilot. Current software is 2021. 44. 30. 5.

I drive twice a week from washington DC to charlottesville, va, a distance of 117 miles each way. 35 miles are on an interstate and 82 miles are on a divided 4-lane state road. Since I restarted this commute in September 2021 after covid shutdowns and summer break, I have experienced recurring, frequent problems with the car's vehicle warning system, adaptive cruise control, and forward collision notification system. When I drive on the interstate (where there is currently a great deal of construction), the adaptive cruise control keeps automatically adjusting my speed when there is no speed limit change. So I might be traveling at 65 mph when my speed is suddenly lowered to 30 mph. There are no warnings, either visual or audio. The speed just changes. This is incredibly dangerous and requires me to be hyper-vigilant to avoid a rear end collision, or to turn off the cruise control system. When I travel on the state road, I receive frequent visual notifications of a collision risk ahead of me. I received four of them yesterday, and there was nothing in front of me at all. But sometimes, all automated systems disengage, a visual warning appears on my vehicle screen, and a loud klaxon sounds. This happened twice yesterday. It often occurs when I'm driving on a hilly stretch of road, when I'm ascending towards a crest in the roadway. It happens more at night than in daylight, but it happens without warning under a variety of conditions. The car also has an automatic lane change feature, which used to work reliably, but now seems more capricious, for no apparent reason. I engage the system, the screen shows it's safe to change lanes, the vehicle initiates the lane change, and then the car suddenly lurches back into the lane I'm leaving, saying the function isn't available. This has happened in all traffic conditions, from an empty highway to one with moderate traffic. I don't use the system when there's a lot of traffic.

I have been plagued with Tesla’s phantom braking for *years*. For all that they do, this seems like a problem they are not willing to invest enough resources to combat the problem. Some releases have been better than others but for last batch of releases, it has gotten far worse than ever before. The car is afraid of bridges and slows down unreasonably. The car is afraid of overhead signs (carpool ones especially) the car is afraid of cars riding on or near the lines of an adjacent lane. The car is afraid of oncoming traffic on the left while driving. What is ironic is these events of aggressive braking is all for nothing. 90% of the time,. The car brakes and does drama without actually having enough time or space if what it was afraid of actually happened. The car has a rear facing camera - why can’t it adjust behavior based on tail gating? would the car rather have a rear end collision or be afraid of a bridge? it is straight dangerous. The fact there aren’t a lot more accidents is auto pilot/fsd drivers be a large majority pay attention. But, I have had close calls and *many* angry drivers around me get frustrated when it happens. It’s been happening for 4 years…. I realize navigating a complex intersection is a tough problem to solve. They have prioritized this over the fundamentals of driving in a sane way on the freeway in a straight line. It’s ridiculous and I for one am very tired of this problem lasting so long. What chides me is that, “car, why are you braking when a car right in front of you magically went through the bridge you are afraid of?” it is basic logic and simple/obvious clues to help avoid this. They choose not to use it. Also - being in technology myself, I have to rake elon over the coals. No one Smart chooses to not use available data. Elon calling ultrasonic data to be ‘noise’ to turn to vision only is a sign of great hubris over being pragmatic. His ego regarding lidar is a problem.

I drive along the highway and all of a sudden while I'm in adaptive cruise control my car brakes suddenly for no reason.

Was on highway using full self-driving feature when my car suddenly braked hard and in other instances I received a forward collision warning to take immediate action. These incidences (1/17/2022 & 2/6/2022) occurred when no cars were in front of me. I do not feel safe using this feature.

Car rear ended, brakes froze after reacting to a car in front of me. Behavior unexpected and Tesla should not have frozen break maybe abs kicked in.

While using Tesla autopilot on surface streets, the car will randomly brake. Additionally, it frequently thinks that green lights are red and will stop the car at an intersection which can cause an accident as other cars will not be stopping.

When the vehicle is in autopilot, it sometimes (once every couple of months or so) will suddenly engage automatic braking as though there is an obstacle detected in front of the vehicle. In nearly every instance, this has happened at one particular location on an interstate where an overpass casts a shadow on the interstate on which the vehicle is located. The problem seems to be that the vehicle senses an object in front of it and the collision avoidance system is engaged; however, that "object" is only a shadow. This has happened in a few other locations (not simply this where this one overpass is).

1. Phantom breaking when on adaptive cruise control. 2. Many times , unexpectedly there will sudden application of brakes, or slowing down of car when on highway and with speed in range of 55-65 mph. 3. Mostly this happens when big truck comes in front or passing thru a bridge. 4. Many times I am not able make any reason of this sudden brakes. 5. Many times due to sudden deacceleration , I have a car following in back, came very close , and honking.

The car tart to have sudden unintended acceleration at low speed after fully charge. The car will stop at the road suddenly. Leave car and back. The ac run for 1 min and shut down. I heard a sound which is from battery switch. 9/21, 11:15 am it happened again. I hear a sound and the car show alert. “”pull over safely” — the autopilot system will slow down a lot passing a bride, even there is no car in the road.

Car was totaled after uncontrollable acceleration. Air bags were deployed.

On several occasions while driving with autopilot on the car has suddenly and inexplicably braked hard while at highway speed. Each time there was nothing in the road, no car, no obstruction, no anything, but it was as if the car saw something that wasn't there and jammed on the brakes. I quickly took back over and returned to highway speed. Luckily we were not in heavy traffic or I would have been concerned about being rear-ended by another vehicle. I don't do a lot of road trips with the car and have used autopilot less as a result, but I would guess it has happened 4-6 times since I have owned the vehicle. I just thought it was a glitch that they would work out but just saw reports of others still experiencing this issue so thought I should report it so you were aware of the breadth of the problem. The date below is a total guess as to the last occurrence.

While driving on a highway Tesla suddenly hard braked out of nowhere. My speed dropped from 70 to 30 in a couple of seconds. There was an 18 wheeler behind me and it could have been a deadly collision if I hadn't intervened. This is a known Tesla but that someday would kill someone.

Unintended acceleration resulting in a crash with a tree. My car was total. The car was was statioanary waiting to put air in my tire.

Car was on driveway going5mph. Applied brake brake pedal was locked in position car continued going 5mph. Went through garage door. Continued at 5mph hit wall. Put hole in wall car stopped. We weren't injured. Car never slowed or speeded up. Reported to Tesla the next day. They said the car has a data recorder. I asked for the data. After numerous requests 7 weeks later they have failed to contact us.

My Tesla when on autopilot on a freeway running less than 5 mph due to traffic was right behind a big truck and the car never stopped and bumped into the truck. An attempt to brake manually was done but the autopilot wouldnt deactivate and give us back the control to stop the car. I have a video from my front cam with the incident. I was lucky my car was not driving at a higher speed if the same incdent could happen as like may others who got killed.

On 11/28/19 at around 5:30-6:00am, while driving on the 5 south freeway near the atlantic Ave off ramp, the car swerved to the right on its own. I could not control the car'it had a mind of its own. The brakes and steering wheel did not respond to me. I don't know what happened. I don't know if the side camera thought the SUV was veering into my lane because the rain distorted its view or what but it was very scary. It was as if the car was driving itself even though autopilot was not on. I could not right the car after the initial swerve, it kept on going, heading towards the exit but ended up going over an embankment, heading straight for a tree before turning and sideswiping it and coming to a stop. Thank goodness no one was hurt. It was still dark and it was raining but not pouring. The freeway was empty. I was in the 3rd lane and there was a black SUV right next to me in the lane #2. I did not see it veer into me; we were both going about 70mph in our own lanes. I had both hands on the wheel, no music was playing and autopilot was not on'though navigation on autopilot was activated. I contacted Tesla right away and they texted that the incident team and engineering team were looking into it, downloading the data (I did not have a usb so I don't have any recording of anything). So far, I have not heard back from these Tesla teams and my car still has collision damage as the Tesla rep I spoke with advised me to wait on the findings and not to contact my insurance company in case they find Tesla's at fault. Tesla service center did check out my car on 12/2/19 and released it to me, deeming that it was safe to drive. I have not driven the car in the rain while it's dark since. I've just recently realized that your department investigates these types of incidents and thought I should reach out.