Cruise Control problems of the 2020 Tesla Model 3

The contact owns a 2020 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that on several occasions while driving with the cruise control feature activated at various speeds, the brakes applied inadvertently. The contact also stated that the cruise control feature failed to operate as intended after dark, after deactivating inadvertently. Additionally, the contact stated that the front and rear cameras displayed phantom images and failed to work as intended. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

I was driving straight on a highway using traffic aware cruise control when the car suddenly braked hard. If someone had been driving behind me too closely I would have been rear ended at a high speed. I've seen online that people refer to this as "phantom braking," and it seems to be a common issue with Tesla cars.

My wife and I live on a two-lane state route in the country. We were headed home from the farmers' market this morning around 10 a. M. , headed down a hill with three cars behind us. There was an 18-wheeler headed up the hill. I had the cruise control on and traveling 55 mph in a straight line with no curves in sight. When the 18-wheeler coming up the hill was 7 car lengths ahead of us in the opposite lane, my car automatically braked hard enough to bring our speed down to 35 mph before I could override and accelerate. My spouse said, "I hate this car. It's going to get us killed one day. We could have been rearended. " I have used conventional cruise control to drive for more than 20 years, even in town, to keep from inadvertinly speeding. Normal cruise control doesn't behave in this manner. This is my first report of a recurring problem.

I took delivery of my Tesla at the beginning of April 2020 - I have not been out much because of lockdown. On one of my early journeys the car spontaneously accelerated. I was shocked but thought I had inadvertently done something eg cruise control or heavy foot even though I believed it was totally unprompted yesterday I was driving at slow speed about 20- 25mph approaching a pedestrian crossing when the car spontaneously accelerated- it was undeniable ! I took my foot off the pedal but it didn't slow - I jammed on the brakes to halt the acceleration. When I arrived home I googled 'spontaneous acceleration ' to see what had caused it and was horrified to discover there is a lot of allegations to Tesla which have been denied. I rang Tesla and they said they'd send a mobile engineer within 4 days!!! I live in uk but am aware you are collecting data on the matter - I live in uk so filing the form didn't allow a uk phone number- +[xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

See attached for details. We have experienced at least two unexpected hard braking incidents in our 2020 Tesla Model 3 equipped with autopilot. In one incident, just as autopilot was engaged, the Tesla braked suddenly from 65 mph to 50 mph. Other drivers were forced to brake hard to avoid collision. On the same day, while in adaptive cruise control, the Tesla suddenly braked hard at a speed of 78 mph, down to 60 mph. Tesla has been notified by others who have had similar experiences, so they are aware of this hazardous problem. The issue has been reported by many on Tesla social media sites since at least 2018. It still has not been corrected. I plan to send a copy of this report to Tesla.

When I shift the car into drive and use the accelerator pedal to move the car forward and it works fine. When I release the accelerator pedal, the car accelerate and requires me to brake. This occurs at low speed. I have taken the car into Tesla and they said user error. The cruise control engages when I shift into drive. This has occurred several times since I have purchased the car.

On 1/17/2010, at 12:12pm, I departed my house in norwell. After 1. 65 miles, between 99 forest Ave and river street (approximately 50 feet from river street), I released my foot from the friction brake, and the car accelerated on its own toward river street. I put my foot back onto the friction brake, and it stopped. The car was not in auto-pilot mode. I am not aware of cruise control being on. In any case, if it was on, I did not put it on on purpose, and further, it should not have been on since I had my foot on the friction brake pedal just before the event. Enclosed is an image of my trip log showing that my drive started at 12:12pm. Also enclosed is a map showing that it was 1. 65 miles from the start of my drive. I do not have dash-cam footage of this since more than one hour has passed and I did not manually tag it when it occurred because I did not know of an investigation at that time.

When on cruise control or autopilot, car stops abruptly going from 65 mph on the highway to 38 mph before I can override and take control. There is no apparent reason. This happens on a clear open highway.

Driving in freeway fast lane in light traffic at 10:30 am on overcast morning with Tesla adaptive cruise control set for 70 mph and 4-car following distance. The car in front moved 1 lane to the right leaving no cars ahead. My car accelerated gently to 70 and then as I approached an overpass the car suddenly braked (or went to regeneration) and slowed instantly to about 40 mph when I was able to apply the accelerator and return to surrounding traffic speed and move right to the next lane and recovered from the shock and surprise of what other Tesla owners refer to as "phanton braking". I was fortunate that no other cars weren't following me or they likely would have crashed in the back of my car. I spoke with other Tesla owners who report the same random, surprise, powerful braking when approaching overpasses.