Table 1 shows one common service brakes related problems of the 2021 Tesla Model 3.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Service Brakes problems |
I drove into my neighbor’s driveway to drop her off. As I slowed down and applied the brakes to stop, the car failed to respond. It continued forward, running over the flower and plant pots at the edge of the driveway, crossing the backyard, and finally colliding with the trees and bushes at the rear of the property. All airbags deployed, and the vehicle was damaged beyond repair.
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? - abs, automatic emergency braking, traction control, stability control failed while braking using the regenerative braking. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? - while coming to a stop using the regenerative braking, the regenerative braking immedietely ceased to work, and the driver had to immediately apply the hydraulic brakes to avoid a rear end collision has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? - no were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? - no, they appeared while braking. This issue is not new to this vehicle and has happened in the past, however the errors cleared themselves out.
On [Wednesday, 07/09/2025], I was driving my Tesla Model 3 in rainy conditions when the vehicle suddenly swerved and crashed into a sidewall. The road was wet but not flooded, and I was traveling at a moderate speed. As I lifted my foot off the accelerator to slow down, the car's regenerative braking system engaged abruptly, which I believe shifted weight forward and caused the rear tires to lose traction. This led to hydroplaning and complete loss of control. There were no warning lights or alerts prior to the incident. The road surface did not have visible hazards or standing water that would typically explain a spinout. The tires were moderately worn but within usable limits. As a result of the crash, the car was declared a total loss. The insurance company now has possession of the vehicle. Thankfully, no one was injured, but the crash was severe. After the incident, I researched similar cases and found multiple reports and articles (e. G. , autoevolution) linking Tesla’s regenerative braking to increased risk of hydroplaning or loss of control in wet or slippery conditions. The regen system eliminates coasting and applies braking force immediately upon throttle lift-off, which appears to be a safety risk in reduced-traction environments like rain, snow, or ice. I believe this issue deserves investigation, as it may affect the safety of other Tesla drivers in similar weather conditions.
Incident details: • date of incident: [xxx] • time: [xxx] • location: san antonio, TX • weather/road conditions: clear, dry highway; 90 f • speed: 60 mph; • description: while driving my 2021 Tesla Model 3 with full self-driving (fsd) software version 12. 6. 4 engaged, the vehicle unexpectedly changed lanes without my input, likely due to the auto lane change feature. Immediately after, it braked hard for and unrecognized slowing traffic ahead. This sudden jolt caused immediate pain in my upper back, neck, and chest, which persists. I believe fsd misjudged traffic patterns or road conditions, a known issue with v12. 6. 4 based on online reports. The incident occurred in heavy traffic and no crash occurred, but the abrupt braking posed a safety risk and caused injury. I’m unable to see a doctor today but plan to soon for a diagnosis. This is a serious safety concern, as fsd’s erratic behavior could cause collisions or further injuries. Injuries: yes, back, neck, and chest pain caused by sudden braking. No medical diagnosis yet; planning to see a doctor soon. Crash: no fire: no police report: no accident attachments: I have video information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).
On [xxx] at approximately [xxx] on [xxx] in oakland, CA, I was intending to park the car on the street at the curb. As I started to pull to the side of the road to park, the brake suddenly fully engaged, bringing the car to an immediate complete stop. My foot was not on the brake at the time. There were no obstructions of any kind in the road or in front of the vehicle. No warning sounds, messages or lights were activated before, during or after the incident. The incident caused no injuries, because of the low speed at the time, just a sudden jerk forward. However, if the event had occurred at a higher speed, some kind of injury would have been likely. I am also reporting the incident directly to Tesla. There has been no testing or inspection of the vehicle. The vehicle will be made available for inspection or testing if requested. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).
Vehicle constantly phantom brakes while driving. I have reported 100+ incidents thru my Tesla "report bug" feature. It will read the speed limit sign on the off ramp and slow the vehicle down 20mps abruptly, it will see a car on an onramp and slam the brakes on thinking there is a collision coming. It is every single day using cruise control.
Unknown.
Tesla adas detects non existent objects and issues collision alerts and phantom brakes randomly if there is no cars in front of the Tesla, braking abruptly and almost getting me into rear end accidents. Tesla adas freaks out when making lane changes randomly, shaking violently and giving the driver and its passengers a fishtailing simulation. Auto wiper triggers randomly while it's sunny, distracting the driver and forcing an interaction on the center console to stop it. Auto wiper cannot be turned off as it reengages upon using Tesla adas. The rear view camera lags. It stutters and shows me a delayed view. Compounded by the Model 3's very small rear view mirrors and side mirrors, this is incredibly dangerous as I have no way of gaining sufficient visibility of the back of the car. Tesla service told me this is all normal.
I was driving in the street at 10 miles, I turned to the right and I push the break but the car didn't break and I crashed with the car in front of me.
While driving north on hwy 84 in texas, the Tesla autopilot abruptly and forcibly applied the brakes while I was driving approximately 77 mph. I was almost rear ended by a semi truck due to this issue. This happened again about 20 miles down the road and I disengaged the cruise control and autopilot altogether at that point. This is a continuous problem that needs to be addressed.
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla model3. The contact stated that while attempting to drive to park at approximately 5 mph then pressing the brake to maneuver into a parking space, the vehicle suddenly accelerated. There were no warning lights. The vehicle ended up hitting two other vehicles nearby. The air bags did not deploy. The vehicle had front-end damage and one of the other vehicle's had slight damage to the body of the vehicle. There were no injuries or medical attention needed. A police report was filed. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and sent the vehicle to the dealer who were not able to diagnose the vehicle due to appointment availability. The vehicle was towed to the contact's home and had not been officially diagnosed or repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 33,000.
Major phantom braking at 70mph on interstate 5, 4 times the brakes slamed on as if yo had done an emergency stop from 70mph to 20mph fortunately we were not rear ended as I had my son and grandchildren in the car. The car was in cruise control on each occurrence I finally had to stop using it for fear of a major accident.
My Tesla Model 3 phantom brakes when using cruise control, particularly in the morning when the road is clear, no cars or obstacles in front or behind me. The NHTSA knows this is a problem and I have previously made this complaint. I contacted Tesla to no avail. They did nothing. Why hasn't the NHTSA done anything about this issue. This is dangerous as an accident is waiting to happen.
The vehicle was traveling in excess of 75 mph with only the autopilot system enabled. The vehicle brakes engaged by itself enough to squeal the tires and the rear end momentarily broke free from the pavement. I disengaged autopilot and drove for approximately 5 minutes. I reengaged autopilot and approximately 5 minutes later the brakes engaged again. I left autopilot disengaged for the remainder of the trip (~ 4 hrs) there were no other vehicles nearby but the breaking was severe enough that if another vehicle had been behind me, it could have caused a collision. The dealer acknowledges that this unintended breaking does occur on other vehicles. There was no warning that the vehicle would severely brake. The weather was clear with bright sun on route i25 south of denver.
“phantom braking”. Driving on the interstate approximately 75 mph using cruise control, auto steer, not auto pilot. Within a span of three hours today we experienced at least six episodes of the car emergency braking for apparently no reason. Immediately going from 75 to 40 mph. Thankfully no one was close behind us. We finally stopped using the cruise control. Now afraid to use it at all.
My car is braking hard while I'm on the highway. It's happened on this trip 7 times already. In one of braking, my wife almost got rear ended.
When vehicle is in cruise control or autopilot the car will suddenly brake without warning. It will do this numerous times and could cause an accident if a vehicle is following close behind.
When driving the Tesla Model 3 in cruise control, it will without warning apply the brakes. I have to then accelerate and then take it out of cruise control. The issue has happened about a dozen times and only happens while in cruise control. It happened most recently today but has happened in previous days.
1:brake fail when trying to stop the car after the accident. The car is available for inspection at arrow towing service oklahoma city. 2: after the car accident the car keep going can't stop got tee boned and my passenger broke his legs and ankles, elbow. 3: no, the problem has not be discussed with the dealer or manufacturer yet. 4: no one, including police, insurance have been inspect it. 5: no warning lamp or any kind of warning.
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at 70 - 75 mph on cruise control, the vehicle experienced "phantom braking". No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 31,043.
While on autopilot, the car suddenly phantom brakes when there is no risk of any collision ahead. This has happened multiple times on high speed highways. Within 1 hour, this happened 5 times and caused near-collisions with the car following my car.
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving approximately 25 mph as he was exiting a highway and slowing for a traffic signal at the bottom of he off ramp his brakes failed to engage. The contact stated the brake pedal was stiff and he had attempted to use full leg force to depress the brake pedal. The contact's vehicle ran the traffic signal and the contact stated he hit the right front end of a vehicle that was cross traffic to him. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the crash stopped his vehicle and the other vehicle. The contact said that the air bags had deployed and that the left front end of his vehicle was crushed into the left wheel well. The contact stated that the other vehicle received only light damage to right end of the bumper due to it being higher than his vehicle. The contact stated that the police were on scene and wrote a report. The other vehicle was able to drive away, the contact's vehicle was towed to an impound lot. The contact stated that his insurance provider declared the contact's vehicle a total loss. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that prior to the crash he had attempted to engage his cruise control while on the highway and it would not work. The contact stated that when he engaged the cruise control the windshield wipers would activate and he stopped attempting to use cruise control. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 18,000.
I was driving Tesla on the freeway using adaptive cruise control at 65 miles per hour and the car suddenly brake and the sped jumped from 65 to 20 in seconds. It was scary. There was no one in front of nothing in the road to cause that to happen. It did say on the screen something about visibility. I had to take control of the car after. It has happened several times before. When I spoke with Tesla they said it’s a safety feature and it only happens when you pass certain cities. I find that hardly true.
I was driving with the autopilot on, traveling about 65 mph on the freeway when the automatic emergency braking system kicked in for no reason. There was absolutely nothing in front of the car when it aggressively braked, very suddenly. I was very lucky no one was behind me. I have not reported this directly to Tesla, no one has inspected or confirmed this event.
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that they were experiencing the phantom at various speeds. The vehicle was on cruise control when the failure occurred. The failure occurred multiple times. The vehicle had not been taken to the dealer. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 14,169.
While using cruise control on a cross country drive, there have been numerous instances of phantom braking in my Tesla Model 3 sr+ (2021). This has been occurring during both day and night driving on the highway, at speeds of 65-75mph. It appears to happen most frequently when there’s a slight up-hill on the highway followed by a slight downhill and then phantom brake, but there have been instances on flat highway road at night with phantom braking taking place.
I have had the car for about 1. 5 years. In the last week it has started to have phantom braking where on a clear, flat road with no traffic, it suddenly has hard braking and slows from about 65 mph down to 40-50 mph. This has occurred when operating on autopilot with the cruise control and autosteer on. There is a risk of a rear collision with this sudden braking. There was no warning. I do not have full self driving.
Driving in empty highway, no cars in front of me for great distances, on cruise control, the car would all of sudden perform hard braking. It happened many times in the course of two 6 hour drives over a weekend and I couldn't figure out what scenarios were predisposing to this. I also tried out autosteer (not autopilot) and it did it in autosteer too. It was very hard braking, not just disengaging, and so I just drove without cruise control because it is too dangerous and risks getting rear-ended because I am braking without warning and for no reason.
Twice in October 2022 (18th and 20th), my vehicle decelerated suddenly during cruise control with no impediments in the road (I. E. , phantom breaking). The breaking on the 20th was akin to slamming on the breaks, and both occurred at freeway speeds. I did purchase Tesla's self-driving feature. The vehicle also on the 18th tried to steer around an object that did not exist in the road while I turned onto a freeway on-ramp. I reported all three incidents at that time to Tesla for servicing of the vehicle. It is unknown whether any "repair" was actually done to eliminate phantom breaking (I no longer use Tesla's cruise control in similar traffic conditions which were at the time crowded outside of the carpool lane I was using).
Since owning this car in January 2022, there have been issues of phantom braking during cruise control or autopilot. However, today 10/6/22 during an hour and a half time frame my car has had phantom braking episodes at least 5 times in the middle of the highway where it's speed suddenly drops by 20mph.
While using my Tesla's full self driving (fsd) feature (navigate on autopilot) on a recent road trip through west texas, the vehicle, on multiple occasions, would automatically brake while cruising at speeds of 80 mph (speed limit was 75 mph), which consequently dropped the vehicle's speed over 20 mph within seconds. The result was being forcibly slammed forward with such a jarring, unexpected force that would have easily slammed me as the driver and my front seat passenger into the wind shield if we were not wearing our seatbelts. This happened multiple times on the trip. The only way to recover was to depress the accelerator and forcefully hold on to the steering wheel until the braking system released and control was returned to the driver. If this had occurred on a crowded highway rather than on the open spaces of the west texas interstate system, I am convinced there would have been a rear impact collision. This "phantom breaking" as Tesla claims, is a serious issue that will no doubt lead to fatalities if not corrected. This issue manifested without warning and with no alerting. The issue can be easily reproduced and the component has yet to be inspected by any 3rd party. I fear people will die because of this issue until it is resolved. Thanks, sean merino.
My Tesla slowed from 70 to 50 on the freeway in under two seconds for no apparent reason while on autopilot. There was a concrete barrier a few feet away on the shoulder, which I had been driving next to for about a quarter mile before the incident. There was no other traffic within 50 yards of me.
This incident happened last summer, 2022 but I recently read that it is happening to many other people and thought I should report it. I was driving on hwy 71 south in the cincinnati area with the adas with the cruise control and auto steering in operation. All of a sudden the brakes slammed on with me not doing anything to cause it. There were no cars behind me and I touched and released the brake pedal and it went back to a normal driving mode. I don’t believe I hit a pothole or bump on the highway. I did not report it to Tesla.
While driving in highway, interstate or freeway with cruise control enabled with or without autopilot the car suddenly breaks for no reason. It is a clear phantom break. It happened many times in different occasions even on the i40 with no car around in the middle of the desert. In a couple of times a big truck was following and I was almost rear ended because this.
This "self driving" Model 3, with FL license plate pzyh35, attempted to merge onto i95 south from an on-ramp, and very nearly caused a major accident. The vehicle had a bumper sticker on the back that said something like "please be patient, I am a self driving vehicle. " the vehicle was merging from a left side on-ramp, at a very low speed, and crossed two lanes of interstate traffic, very erratically accelerating, then braking, then accelerating again, and then braking. My vehicle was directly in its path, and I had to brake hard, and take to the shoulder to avoid the collision. If this vehicle's trips are logged, it needs to be investigated. If it weren't for the humans paying attention, the actions of the Tesla car/driver would have caused a major accident, and most likely bodily injury or death.
Cruise control set to 75mph (speed limit) on lightly trafficked divided highway at ~5pm on June 26. Skies were overcast and temp was about 80 degrees. Car braked from 75 to about 62mph but did not disengage adaptive cruise control and neither did I by applying the brakes. There was light traffic and it did not happen while approaching an overpass which has triggered this before on two occasions. After rapid deceleration to 72, car increases speed but fluctuated in high 60s and low 70s before returning to the programmed 75. Incident lasted about five seconds in total. Once car returned to 75, I disabled cruise control for remainder of journey. This was a 45 mile journey and the issue did not surface until about 35 miles in to the journey. Because this has happened before, I was mentally prepared for it this time and wanted to see if the car would eventually stabilize back to the 75mph programmed speed. In two prior incidents in late 2021, the braking was severe and without warning so in those instances I immediately deactivated system by pressing brake pedal. The incident I report now also had no warning, good weather, no cars within about 100 yards, and no sun glare at all. Road surface was very good as it had been recently improved in 2021 so lane markers were excellent as well.
When driving on the highway in adaptive cruise control, our vehicle all of a sudden breaked which slowed the car down dramatically. There was nothing around us that would have caused the car to automatically apply the breaks. This happened multiple times in a single drive on both autopilot and adapative cruise control. Luckily, no one was directly behind us when this happened so no collision was caused, but had someone been directly behind us we would have been hit. The vehicle has not been inspected by the manufacturer, insurance or police. The breaking was very random, and we had to tap the brakes to take control and hit the gas to get the car back to highway speeds. We have stopped using cruise control and autopilot after seeing this is a known issue and an investigation is ongoing. It is extremely concerning that this "phantom breaking" happens without warning and at random when there is nothing around the vehicle to cause it to apply the automatic breaking system. This is a safety issue on the road.
I had 2 phantom braking incidents one one trip today. The situation was similar- a car broken down on the shoulder. In both cases I slowed down and moved a bit left to give them room. I had cruise control on but as I braked, it came off. In both cases, once I passed the cars, the Tesla brakes hard. In one case I was almost rear ended by the guy behind me. In both cases, I was in full control of the car and was slowing down and giving way. The phantom braking occurred as I was abreast or past the hazard - in other words, too unnecessary and too late to help anyway. It scared the heck out of me - twice. The car is unsafe at any speed.
While driving at 70 mph with adaptive cruise control engaged I experienced several instances of "phantom braking. " the car braked hard all by itself with no driver input. This happened several times on June 2, 2022 and again on June 6, 2022.
When on autopilot (traffic-aware cruise control), the vehicle will brake suddenly and severely when cresting a hill that the cameras in the car cannot see over, if there is no other traffic in front of the car for the autopilot cameras to reference against. This is most notable and disturbing on inter-city freeways in the western u. S. Such as eastern oregon or nevada, where the freeways are rolling. This behavior (braking when cresting a hill with no vehicles visible in front of the car) is quite repeatable. The vehicle is a 2021 Tesla Model 3 with "Tesla vision," I. E. Cameras only with no radar. It is not possible to turn off the "traffic aware" element of Tesla's cruise control. If the Tesla interface had a toggle to turn off "traffic aware" so that it had conventional cruise control (I. E. The vehicle will simply hold the chosen speed regardless of surroundings), that would be helpful and in many ways safer. Ideally, though, they would reprogram the traffic aware cruise control so that it can handle cresting a hill.
On a trip to northern California, I used the "traffic-aware cruise control", and there were several episodes of sudden hard braking for no reason. With no vehicle ahead for 20 car-lengths, no curves, no vehicles moving into our lane from the side, we had no clue to why this jarring experience occurred. I thought it might have been caused by gentle inclines in the road ahead, but there were plenty of these that did not cause this violent slam of the brakes. So, I dismissed that explanation. The final time it occurred, there was no incline, no impediments of any kind. Just a clear, flat lane ahead and no vehicle to the right, plus an unusually wide shoulder to the left. Not even a center divider wall or k-rail. The car is now scheduled to be taken to Tesla on June 29, but having obtained the appointment through the app, I have no way of knowing if I must leave the car overnight, if I can get a loaner, or even if they'll call me when it's done, assuming they can fix it.
Vehicle will engage breaks when there is no obstacle or while on a straight road when placed in cruise control.
Since purchasing my vehicle a year ago, it had has occasionally engaged the emergency braking system in situations where other cars have not been a threat or directly in front of me. This week, the system engaged when I was driving up an incline on the highway with no vehicles around me. Very disconcerting and dangerous. As a result I deactivated the system. This is a flaw.
My 2021 Tesla Model 3 has various issues with the auto pilot feature. When engaged the car makes sudden and abrupt stops while driving. This has happened various times while driving on the freeway when there were no obstructions present. The autopilot feature also prompts to change to the right lane, when dismissed the prompt appears again repeatedly. This is repeated throughout the drive and poses a major distraction. There was supposed to be an “over-the-air” correction but my vehicle has never received the software update.
I’ve experienced the “phantom braking” most recently on may 29th, on highway. No cars around or anything that should have trigged it. I was in autosteer mode when it happened both times.
On at least 4 occasions, I have been driving at freeway speeds of 70mph with cruise control engaged - typically while driving on I-35 between duluth and minneapolis in minnesota - and the vehicle has applied the brakes very hard for no known reason, without human input to the brake pedal. The most recent occurrence was on may 27th, 2022.
The car, when using its "traffic aware cruise control" exhibits extreme sudden breaking for no reason (phantom braking). On Thursday, I was on a major interstate in the middle of the day, perfectly marked lanes, no gradient changes, no weather or visibility issues, with absolutely nothing in front of me. The car would suddenly brake aggressively for no reason, sometimes hard enough to hurt my neck. If another car had been following me, I would have been immediately rear ended. Too add insult to injury, Tesla charges for the full self driving function which fully navigates the car on highways, and even though it is so dysfunctional that it is dangerous, they will not refund it after I reported this behavior. Tesla fsd and traffic aware cruise control, in it's current state, is a danger to the public.
When car was engaged in autopilot the barking system was activated without warning or cause. The vehicle slowed rapidly and sudden. Had to disengage autopilot to get vehicle back to safe driving speed. No others vehicles where in front or behind me and no obstructions were in the path of vehicle.
The Tesla autopilot system in my Model 3 repeatedly malfunctions by way of "phantom braking". The latest incident I was luckily able to capture on camera. In this incident, my vehicle is driving down a nevada highway in the heat, with no oncoming vehicles and a vehicle in my lane well over a mile away and increasing (they had just passed me a few minutes prior). With the speed set to 74mph (driving 73 at the time) the vehicle proceeds to apply heavy brakes, and slows to 56mph for no reason (no vehicles behind, thankfully). My safety and the safety of other motorists is put at risk with these events as the unexpected braking not only whips around the passengers of my vehicle, but also puts at risk any vehicles that may be behind me, expecting me to maintain my current velocity. The problem has not been reproduced by a dealer as far as I am aware, but the service department of my local Tesla dealer has confirmed the issue is caused by the "Tesla vision" camera-only system. They (service team) claim that there is no issue with the system, and that it is behaving as expected. They do not view this as a malfunction, and merely view it as the system being extra cautious, which is simply lazy. This component has not yet been inspected by any entity mentioned above. There were no symptoms of this issue prior to it occurring, however this did occur repeatedly over the course of my trip to/from las vegas.
When passing below an overpass the car will rapidly brake from 80-60 mph or 65-45 mph without warning. I have to take over and speed up to avoid someone hitting me from behind. I believe the issue happens because the car for a second thinks you are driving on the overpass which has a much slower speed (25-40 mph). Therefore, it brakes hard to match the speed of the overpass. When it is enough of a distance away, it goes back to the normal highway speed. This issue has happened many times since I bought the car and has not been resolved after many updates.
It has happened before, but on a 4 hour highway trip yesterday, the vehicle engaged in 3 incidents of sudden phantom braking. Twice the road was completely empty with no other vehicles around me. The third time the shadow of a truck in another lane may have triggered the event. Each time we were traveling over 65 miles per hour. For the last hour+ of the trip, I disengaged the autopilot (adaptive cruise control) feature and drove completely manually.
While driving on highway, I have autopilot on, and out of nowhere the vehicle will engage emergency braking.
Car brakes heavily and suddenly for no reason while using cruise control. Seems to be on 2 way roads when semi-truck is passing by in opposite lane. Has happened multiple times on different days under different conditions. Concerned about being rear-ended. I have not had this inspected and no crash has occurred. I stopped using cruise control on this vehicle due to safety concerns.
While driving, typically on two lane roads with oncoming traffic, the vehicle will suddenly break hard for no visible reason. Often it is the case that the vehicle breaks so hard that things in the car fly forward and the seatbelts lock up causing people to grunt at the force and scream. This happens while using full self driving or just regular cruise control. There is no warning and people behind my vehicle have a high likelihood a rear ending me since there is no visible or obvious cars for my breaking. Also it would appear that I am brake checking the person behind me, causing them to become angry with me through no fault of my own, but it is understandable based on the reaction of my vehicle. When this happens I typically report the issue directly to Tesla using their voice feature to report issues. The command is typically “bug report phantom braking. ”.
During a recent road trip to another state, auto pilot was engaged and the emergency braking system forced the car quickly to a stop on many occasions. To the human eye, there should have been no reason for the brakes to engage. Luckily no one collided with us, but the auto pilot system is not to be trusted. The incidents mostly occurred on two-lane roads, however, noticeable hesitation was evident many times during freeway cruising. Tesla repair will not review my case because I don’t have a specific time(s) of incident and they will not tell me how to properly log this information into the car’s software when an incident does occur. I feel helpless and am very nervous to take this car on a trip.
Was driving and automatic braking system engaged when there was no impeding incident.
I was driving on interstate 8 from tucson to san diego. In a matter of 2 hours my Tesla activated the brakes on its own 5 times, sometimes in a rapid series of 2 to 3 times, causing me to lurch while going 75 mph so I immediately disengaged the adaptive cruise control. I was on a 2 lane divided highway with no cars in front of me, see picture attached. Since taking possession of my new 2021 Model 3 in November 2021, it has happened about 11 times. I just had my wife research it. I will not be using this feature. A semi truck behind me almost swerved off the road because of my braking. This is unacceptable that elon musk is not recalling vehicles. His arrogance is going to kill people for this clear safety issue. Please take over and do the recall. They sold me this car knowing this was an hazard since June 2021.
Phantom braking occurs often when using traffic aware cruise control. I have not been able to determine a pattern, as the malfunction is not consistent. It can occur on a 2-lane road (with lines) as well as on a 6-line divided highway. I can tell the difference between phantom braking and the vehicle adjusting speed for an upcoming curve, as normal adjustment occurs in the same spot each time. Phantom braking is unpredictable, and may not occur in a location that it previously had. There are days it never happens, or sometimes once a day, or has occurred 5 times in an approx 6 mile trip. During a phantom braking event, the car unexpectedly applies the brakes hard. I react by pressing the accelerator, which usually results in a speed greater than the speed limit. I use the bug report feature each time it occurs, so Tesla would be able to view each event. As I'm sure you can tell from the VIN, this is a camera-only Tesla system. I do not have full self driving.
Referred to as "phantom braking," the vehicle decelerates dramatically when in "autopilot" mode. This happens at seemingly random times and locations. It happens in the day or night, open or populated roads, multi-lane highways or single lane. The deceleration is so sudden that passengers in the car are thrown forward. One instance the car decelerated from about 75 mph to 45 mph in a matter of about 2 seconds. Thankfully no one was behind me. Others worry that if someone is following too closely, they could rear-end the Tesla. . . I don't think a vehicle would have to follow all that closely for this to cause an accident.
We were traveling at about 75 mph on intestate 94 in wisconsin (same speed as the other cars around us) using adaptive cruise control when our car suddenly hit the brakes, the display showed the speed limit sign of 70 mph, but the display where it would have shown the max speed we set, instead showed maximum speed of 40 mph. I used the accelerator pedal to return the speed to that of the surrounding traffic without problems. During other parts of the journey cars came up close behind us as they wanted to go faster and had this happened then we would have been the lead car in a severe rear end collision. This happened several other times during the same two day road trip, including once about a minute before the incident described above, but none were this severe, perhaps "lightly" tapping the brakes even though there would not have been a need to.
The car randomly and violently applies the brakes, this occurs when it is in cruise control. It may occur due to shadows, oncoming cars both on two and four lane highways. Also occurs if I pass a semi truck on a 4 lane highway. It occurs nearly every time I use the cruise control. I have had cars in back of me nearly hit me due to the sudden and unexpected braking at highway speeds.
When the cruise control is set at a speed or the line centering cruise control is used the car will slam on it's brakes and go from the set 75 to between 50-60mph then back to the set speed. This happens almost every time I drive the car on the highway and a few times in town(35mph) it happens so often I stopped using cruise control because I am afraid of getting rear ended. I have been looking online and others are calling this phantom braking.
Brakes were automatically engaged and speed dramatically reduced on an otherwise deserted, two-line highway. Speed was reduced from 68mph to 30mph in a few seconds multiple times in the span of two hours. Adaptive cruise control was active at the time. This would put myself and any vehicles behind me in danger, so I disabled the feature for the remainder of the drive. The behavior has been reproduced multiple times since then, in various conditions. No warning lamps or other messages appeared at the time. I reported the problem to the manufacturer and schedule a service appointment. The manufacturer canceled this appointment, stating, "our technicians will be unable to change this behavior. ".
This vehicle phantom brakes during our last 2k miles trip. Happens while passing under pass, bridges, on coming vehicles on 2 way lanes, and just randomly when I was the only car on the highway.
On several occasions (probably around 10 times) since I purchased the car in November of 2021 I have experienced phantom braking while using adaptive cruise control. Most have been minor with a couple instances of severe braking that could definitely have caused a rear end accident if there were cars behind me. These have occurred on busy city streets while traveling 40-50 mph. None have occurred on freeways. I have not notified Tesla but see that others are having problems too. Software appears up to date.
Tesla Model 3 phantom braking while on cruise control. This car is a daily driver mostly expressway miles and cruise control is used every day for the majority of the drive. While driving on cruise control at 70 miles an hour the car will randomly brake hard enough for all items on the car seats to be sent to the floor. This happens in wide open situations with no other cars around in broad daylight. This has been occurring about twice a month since purchase. I am worried someday I may be rear ended or the car may brake hard into a slide. This has been mentioned to Tesla multiple times at service calls and they say they are working on it.
I have owned this car for almost 4 months. In that time we have experienced 4 incidents of the car deciding that for no reason it needed to slam on the brakes so hard we were thrown forward in our seats and went from speeds of 50-60mph on relatively fast highways to about 20mph. 3 of the 4 times we were in cruise control. But this latest event happened not in cruise control and there was literally nothing anywhere in front of us. However there was a car behind us that had to swerve into a different lane to avoid a collision. This last time was terrifying and we have scheduled an appointment with the dealer. But recently we have come to find out this has happened to other owners as well.
Phantom braking.
Was driving on clear roads, there was a driver ahead of me but they were over 100 yards away, the vehicle behind me swerved to make sure they didn't get hit by my car's auto-braking safety feature. The vehicle was on autopilot using adaptive cruise control and just randomly used the safety feature without any warning or indication that there was any object on the freeway. The incident had occurred in the morning on the 405s freeway.
Three times so far in a week, the car has had extreme hard breaking on the freeway. These were done in full self drive mode. Absolutely terrifying and so unsafe for my family to have this happen.
The car will brake seemingly for no reason while on autopilot. The environment does not change at all, yet the car will randomly brake very hard as if someone was in front of me and slammed the brakes. It also happens very commonly, more common than tolerable. No warning beeps or chimes or any indication of anything event. I'm not sure if this is inspectable, I have brought the car to service a few times under warranty for unrelated issues. This problem is pretty much widespread across Tesla's autopilot system. This has happened many times, but the most dangerous one by far was on I-75 and slammed the brakes from 85 to 45-35 in a matter of seconds.
While driving on the highway without any cars in front of ours, three times the vehicle slammed on the emergency braking system and attempted to stop the car causing cars behind us to slam on their brakes to avoid hitting ours.
With the autopilot engaged on the freeway I have had several of these phantom braking experiences but last night I was lucky to avoid a accident with the car following me. . This happened at 74 miles per hour with the autopilot engaged the brakes slow me down to 60 miles per hour before I could disengage the autopilot.
On 2/17/22 at appx. 8:08am with adaptive cruise control engaged the collision warning alarm chimed and the car beaked quickly for 50mph to 30 mph. There was an SUV in the oncoming traffic lane. This has happened several times. The system sometimes does not recognize that approaching vehicles are in a correct lane. This happens with larger approaching vehicles such as large suvs and trucks. Additionally we have been getting many (dozens) of dashboard error warnings that one or more of the cameras are blocked or blinded. As Tesla has chosen to delete lidar and depend solely on cameras as safety system detectors this affects adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, blind spot warning, forward collision warning, lane departure warning, lane keeping assistance, and cross traffic alert.
While autopilot was engaged at a speed of around 75 mph, the emergency brakes automatically engaged thought there were no impediments on the roadway. The closest car to the front was too far ahead for it to register on the screen. In another instance the same action occurred but as the car was going under an overpass. It was a sunny day so I assumed the shadows created by the overpass triggered the emergency braking. My spouse also reported two instances that this occurred to her while she was driving alone.
While driving on autopilot on the highway at about 65mph the car applied the brakes for no reason. The car descends in speed aggressively and can easily cause a rear end collision. This has happened randomly before as well.
Car suddenly brakes, also known as phantom braking, when in cruise control. It does it mostly on 2 lane roads, but it has done it driving on wide open freeways too. It's bad. Makes me feel very unsafe.
Several times per week, my vehicle brakes automatically for no apparent reason.
On several occasions since June 2021, my Tesla Model 3 has suddenly braked hard on its own while the autopilot cruise control function was engaged (phantom braking). There has been no apparent reason for the sudden braking incidents, and they have happened at highway speeds. When I reported these incidents to my Tesla dealer, I was told that Tesla was aware of this problem with Tesla Model 3 vehicles, and that Tesla was working on finding a solution. Yet the problem has continued, and occurred again as recently as yesterday.
While using adaptive cruise control on freeway my suddenly reduces speed significantly quickly as if it’s trying to stop. I always fear car behind me is going to bump into my car. Also it hurts passengers into the car when it happens.
I was driving 72 mph on CA state hwy 99 in the #2 lane. The closest car to me (front) was about 100 yards away in the fast lane #3. I had cruse control on when the vehicle applied its emergency braking bring me down to 54 mph in about a second. This caused the truck behind me to almost hit me. He then went around my vehicle and slammed on his breaks thinking I did it on purpose.
On several occasions while driving in the highway with autopilot engaged for adaptive cruise control, the car has suddenly applied the brakes very hard when there were no hazards in my lane. This has occurred on curves in the road when oncoming traffic was detected in the other lane and also when there has been a vehicle stopped on the shoulder.
My Tesla 3 accelerated out of control when parking at my place of work which is a daycare center. I could have killed children, others and myself. My foot was fully pressed on the brake. Tesla is claiming it is driver error. That is false my foot was pressed fully on the brake. Scared to go back in the car. I don’t want that car on the road. I hit the curb went airborne missing a car, sign, brick wall, trees onto an embankment. I have a wittiness too.
When traveling on a two-lane highway, oncoming traffic - especially larger vehicles such as semi trucks - cause the car to think it is going to hit the oncoming traffic and engages the brakes and sounds the forward collision warning. If the driver is not quick, there is danger of being rear-ended due to the sudden and unexpected braking.
The automatic braking system performs pretty well on interstate highways. However, on two lane highways and secondary roads, heavy braking occurs for no apparent reason and with no warning resulting in several near misses for rear end collisions. I can solve the problem by not using cruise control; but, cruise control prevents me from unintentionally speeding. Either this unintentional heavy braking needs to be technologically resolved and/or I need to be provided with the option to switch to conventional cruise control in which I set the speed and determine when the cruise control is deactivated. This issue has ocurred dozens of times during my 5 months and ~10,000 mile ownership.
During use of the autopilot system on my trip from wilmington DE to GA and vice versa, at nurmeous times the car would automatic hard break dropping the speed by 20mph+ stating there are emergency vehicles while there wasn't any or any vehicle in front on the highway, and at various other time during the drive it would auto slow down 1-2 mph for no reason both causing unsafe driving conditions. Each day this happened over 10+ times.
While driving up sr95 in az at 65mph, the car suddenly provided an audio alert and then slammed on the brakes. It felt as the anti-lock may have engaged. When control was regained, I glanced at the screen and it appeared that it believed a person was in front of the car. There was nothing in front of the car at the time except the road and its common tar-snakes. All safety features were manually turned off to resume the drive. Though within seconds of turning on cruise control, it would start braking and being erratic forcing me to not use the basic cruise control. This was not while autopilot was engaged. At the time of the main incident, cruise control wasn't even engaged. I was in full control of the vehicle and the throttle. But I could not override the braking. Thankfully the person behind was far enough not to be a major risk, but that was luck. Had anyone been following at your average distance, it would have been a rear end collision. This system is not safe and I will be looking at replacing the vehicle on this incident alone. I had experienced phantom braking often in the past, but never like this one where it panicked and slammed on the brakes so hard as to cause pain in my wife's shoulder due to the belt.
Phantom braking for no apparent reason. Worst occurrence was this morning driving home from work on cruise control, max speed cruise 73mph, suddenly my car braked on its own down to 59mph in 2 seconds. Very scary. My wrist hurts from that incident & my forehead almost hit the steering. Nothing in front & thank god no tailgating car behind me. This is not safe. It happens to me all the time but this was the scariest of all.
Our 2021tesla Model 3, delivered in September 2021, has ongoing, repeated problems with sudden, unexpected braking, whenever cruise control or auto-steer is engaged. This happens regularly while driving on two lane highways, usually when a large sized vehicle is approaching in the opposing lane, but it also occasionally happens when there is no oncoming vehicle. Typically, an alarm also sounds and a warning light flashes in the car, warning of imminent collision risk. This happens every time we have used cruise control or auto-steer sometimes with nearly every large oncoming vehicle. This is unsafe because of the risk of a rear-end collision. The car dramatically slows. It also risks injury to the car occupants from being thrown forward unexpectedly. Along with the alarm and flashing signal, the braking is so dangerous and unnerving that it makes cruise control and auto-steer unusable. We have complained to Tesla of this problem. Tesla recently shipped the car to inspect more fully at its facility in honolulu, but so far has reported that it is operating within "normal parameters. " the rep suggested that the cruise control is not designed to work on a two lane highway such as we have on the big island of hi, although she says that it does not happen with every Tesla here. It occurs even on straight, level sections of wide, two lane highways with clearly marked lanes and wide shoulders. Tesla still has our car. When we read the washington post article explaining that many others are experiencing this problem, we felt we should report as well. We have advised Tesla that the cruise control and auto-steer functions in our car are unsafe and unusable in their current condition. We do not use cruise control or auto-steer except to test whether the problem has been fixed. We do not have full self-driving.
Driving on an open 2 lane highway between lecanto and gainesville, car slammed on the brakes while in autopilot. There were no obstructions or other reason to stop.
When the car is in assisted autopilot, the vehicle will brake very hard when not necessary.
When driving at low speeds (below35) we have had 2 instances of the car braking with no obstacles.
While driving in cruise control at set at 75mph, the car suddenly started to slow down. (note, the nearest car ahead of me was at least 15 car lengths away and was not braking, so it should not have affected my speed) when I tried to accelerate, the car continued to DE-accelerate. I looked at the screen and it indicated that cruise control was set at 50. When the car reached 50 mph, it stopped DE-accelerating and I was able to increase my speed. I tapped the brake to get out of cruise control and continued my trip.
Hello, driving on a snowy road around 20 mph. Attempted to slow down in a straight line, used the brakes to try and slow vehicle to go into a driveway. Vehicle would not respond to any inputs. The brake pedal seemed frozen, coming off and back on the brake pedal did not change anything. There sounded like an abs pulsing but it was not working. Post accident pictures showed it looked like the car was dragging one axle like it was locked in the snow. Car ending up grazing a mailbox post and afterword said 'take control'. I believe the car tried to do an automated braking maneuver which did not work. The road was covered in 1-2" of snow and the mailbox would have been a reference point in the distance. When turning the steering wheel away from the object that was hit, the car continued to go straight like the wheels were not attached. The car never veered left or right during this whole event even though I tried to turn.
When the vehicle is in cruise control mode, the brakes will engage for no apparent reason. It has happened three times. The brakes will engage then release causing the car to quickly decelerate and disengage the cruise control. It has only happened on the freeway when driving, no other cars are in front or braking in front of the car. There is no apparent reason for the braking other then cruise control mistake.
1. Vehicle brakes for no reason while on traffic aware cruise control 2. At night on come head lights appear to cause braking while on traffic aware cruise control. 3. Vehicle brakes for no reason when on traffic aware cruise control when on two lane road (one lane each direction) when on coming large vehicle approaching. 4. Vehicle brakes for no apparent reason while on traffic aware cruise control when light conditions cause high contrast shadows on the road.
While using the autopilot feature on my Tesla, there have been several instances where the car will brake suddenly for no apparent reason. This has happened at high speeds and at slow speeds under various conditions. The braking is so severe that if a car was following behind they would have to react quickly to avoid an accident. Multiple instances over the last year.
I was driving north on wisconsin route 14 at about 60 mph in my Tesla Model 3 using the cruise control. . When a large transportation truck came from the opposite direction, my Tesla suddenly braked sharply. A Ford model f150 truck was following behind me and almost crashed into the back of my car. Fortunately the driver was alert and by sharply apply his brakes on driving into the ditch he avoided colliding with me. This could have been (and nearly was) a lethal accident. I would urge that you put a recall on a Tesla vehicles until this problem is corrected. I have contacted other Tesla owners and they have experienced similar problems. I contacted my local Tesla service station and they seemed unconcerned about the problem. I urge you to issue a recall before someone is seriously hurt or killed.
When car is driving on autopilot on highway, it slams on the brakes on its own. This has happened 2-3 times.
While driving on the highway or freeway, the vehicle suddenly slowed dramatically as if the brakes had been heavily applied. It did this three times over the course of two days, always while the car was set on cruise control (not auto pilot).
While driving in cruise control the car will break suddenly for no reason. I had a close call to where I was worried that the car behind me would hit me. The sudden breaking has happened many times. It's terrifying. I had to quit using auto pilot and cruise control when someone is following me for that reason. When I contacted Tesla about the concern they replied saying that they completed a hardware diagnostic on the vehicle and determined that there is no hardware failure. I provided them with the timestamps for the dashcam for several incidents. This is a huge safety concern. The cruise control system is dangerous.
While driving on the highway and using auto pilot it has had multiple instances of phantom brakes doing highway speeds it will slow cars down rapidly and for no apparent reason. Really needs to get corrected.
Multiple random automatic braking occurred during freeway cruising.
I have experienced several incidents of “phantom braking. ” the brakes automatically apply, slowing the car abruptly, when there is no discernible reason.
While driving with cruise control engaged the vehicle will suddenly brake without reason. I have almost been rear-ended multiple times. My wife had things thrown off of seats and onto the floorboard. When I wrote to Tesla they said this can be normal and gave me excuses including lighting problems and semis too close. Frequently this happens with no one around with no lighting problems.
While driving in cruise control, my Tesla 3 braked for no reason. No accident occurred because no one was behind me. It has happened about 10 times. It has not been confirmed by a dealer because I do not live near a dealer. It has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police or insurance representatives. No warning lights or messages appeared to warn me.
- yes - the cruise control portion of autopilot has some dangerous bugs in it ('21 Model 3 long range). At freeway speeds, the phantom braking is scary asf!!! potentially, getting someone killed. While on my road trip between los angeles and denver then back. I experience at least 20 to 30 phantom braking events from mild to dam near scaring the f$$k out of me. Most of these events were during the day at speeds that would have caused a serious accident if someone was following me too close!! during the night time the events were all mild in comparison to the day time events. -yes -no -no.
Driving normally, with cruise control (not auto steering) engaged vehicle will spontaneously and dangerously apply emergency breaking. This happens regularly to the point I won’t use it. It’s going to cause accidents, especially when slippery conditions exist.
My new Tesla 3 deployed automatic emergency braking seven (7) times in a 5 hour period. The Tesla autopilot was turned off due to reports of phantom braking like this from many other drivers in a Tesla online forum. Regardless, the car slammed on the brakes when there were no obstructions or cars in front of me. I almost suffered a rear end collision during one of these phantom emergency braking events, where the car suddenly braked from 70mph to less than 40mph. The malfunctioning component is likely the Tesla software that works with the forward-facing cameras which are installed as part of the full self driving feature. While I did not pay the $10,000 for fsd, this system still operates for automated braking and lane departure. I have requested Tesla inspect the car, which has 482 miles on it, but am filing with you anyway due to the similarity between this experience today and the dozens of other complaints I have read about on the Tesla owners forum called too.
While using cruise control on a highway, the car suddenly braked for no reason that I could detect. This has happened 3 or 4 times and I have stopped using cruise control for fear it will reoccur. I reported this to Tesla but was told I would need to take the car to santa barbara. I live 90 miles north and traveling to santa barbara is not feasible right now. You ask for dates below and I don’t know the dates other than that the incidents occurred between October and December 2021.
Starting in June 2021, Tesla removed the radar sensing on their vehicles and switched to a vision-only (camera) system for adaptive cruise control and "auto pilot" operation. On my 2021 Model 3 performance, I can not use either system without constant "phantom braking" events. Sometimes it will only gently pulse the brake pedal, but often it is very hard braking along with a beep and message on-screen saying I need to take immediate control of the car. This happens daily and is not hard to reproduce. If there is a car behind you, it can be quite dangerous. Even if they don't rear end you, often it will cause them to think you're doing a "brake check" and can lead to road rage incidents. My previous car (a 2018 Model 3 rwd) had a radar sensor and experienced mild (not hard) phantom braking roughly 2~3 times over an 18 month period. I still have access to that car and recently tested it for comparison. Even on the same software revisions, the old car drove flawlessly on acc and autopilot modes.
On a recent trip, we started experiencing extreme issues with our car's cruise control and autopilot features. Specifically, when in cruise control or auto pilot, the car would randomly disengage the cruise control or auto pilot and start braking. Taking the car out of cruise control or auto pilot, restarting the car, etc did not fix the problem. We noticed the problem was much worse at night and when we were traveling on a two lane highway. We would be in cruise control/auto pilot and often when another vehicle would approach us from the opposite direction the vehicle would suddenly brake. While this happened more often at night, it continued to happen at any point during the day and when we were on many different roads/interstates. This seems extremely unsafe to have our vehicle hard braking randomly when we are traveling at high speeds (60mph+). We scheduled a service appointment with Tesla and were told that this is a software issue and we would have to wait for an update.
Whenever tacc (cruise control) is engaged and the car is on a two lane highway with no divider, it will aggressively brake and trigger the collision warning system when a semi-truck passes going the opposite direction.
Vehicle slams brakes on with on coming traffic when cruise control activated. Have attempted to contacted Tesla several times. Tesla actually canceled a mobile service stating they did an update to fix the issue. It did not. In fact it made the problem worse. The are not answering my emails or texts, calling the service line does no good the say they can’t see the issue in their data.
Break backing plate screw loosened and go into the break disk. It create noise when driving and breaking. The loosened screw might the damage the break rotor. The screw was removed from the break disk and tighten again by independent service center the manufacturer have inspected no warning lamps but it create noise. So it is not hard to detect this issue. It first appear on 19 oct and I have the service center fix it right the way.
Sudden/phantom braking of Tesla Model 3 with no apparent obstacles in sight while on adaptive cruise control both with and without auto steering. First noticed on a trip from sf bay area to san diego in August 2021 at mileage about 2,000 miles. On a longer trip from the bay area to colorado in October 2021 with mileage about 5000 miles, we further tested it on desolate stretches of highways with speed limits from 65 to 85 mph. Over the course of the trip, the problem occurred over 20 times. We turned off all the automatic driving functions and have not used them since October. We prepared a detailed spreadsheet of all the incidents. See attached. In November, we reported the sudden braking problem to Tesla, along with the spreadsheet. They could not use the data I provided and asked me for more recent timestamp of the braking problem. I refused to test the car on busy bay area freeways because it was simply too dangerous. After much back and forth, they decided to test drive for themselves. I informed them that the problem was sporadic and would need to test drive for at least 2 to3 hours. On the first service appointment, they drove for about 15 miles and determined that they could not replicate the problem but would recalibrate the cameras. On the second appointment, instead of recalibrating the cameras as promised, they did another test drive. Again, they only drove for 15 miles and determined that they could not replicate the problem and asked that I contact them if the problem occurred again. I believe this problem is extremely dangerous and have not turned on the autopilot features since October. During my interactions with Tesla service employees, they seem to act as though this is the first time they heard of the problem. I don’t believe Tesla is treating this problem seriously enough to take immediate action and needs the attention of NHTSA.
In the process of slowing down for traffic, the brake pedal floored by itself and the brakes locked. There was no longer any contact between the foot and brake pedal. If not for the brake locking, the car would have been able to stop in time and avoid a rear end collision.
While driving with cruise and steering control, car will emergency brake like something is in front of the car. Many call it "phantom" braking. One time on a 2 lane highway the car braked hard for no reason, it happened on the way to vegas and a large group of bikers were behind us. Very scary at highway speeds. We let the bikers pass.
I noticed you have a recall for some Teslas about a glitch with the auto braking after latest beta fsd rollout. My Tesla has had this since day one, and I don't have or use fsd. I do use the adaptive cruise control, and that is when I have problems with my car slamming on the brakes for no reason. I have been lucky, 3 times I have almost, been rear-ended. I have had it in the shop a couple times for the issue, and they tell me to read the manual and the car is fine. I have talked with 5 other Tesla owners, and they have all had the problem of their car slamming on the brakes for no real reason. I think the glitch is a bigger problem than Tesla is willing to admit, and applies to most Tesla cars. There are even website forums about, "phantom braking", which is lingo for the same thing.
I am slowly coming into the driveway. All of a sudden the car accelrated while I was applying brake. The air bags didn't come on either. It hit the car in front which then got pushed into the garage.
1) when using autosteer and/or adaptive cruise control the vehicle randomly brakes and very rapidly decelerates. This has occurred on at least a dozen drives, beginning on my first long road trip after owning the car for 2 months. 2) if another vehicle is following my car, we could very easily get into a rear-end accident. This happens at high speeds going from 75mph to 55mph in seconds, so the chance of a collision is high. I also become very scared when this happens which temporarily takes my attention away from driving. 3) no the problem has not been reproduced by a dealer. I live 150 miles from the nearest Tesla dealership. 4) no the vehicle has not been inspected. 5) no warning signs which is why this "phantom braking" is so terrifying.
I was pulling up next to a curb inside a neighborhood to park my car. I released my foot on the accelerator pedal to slow and stop my car. I slowly stepped on the brake pedal to switch the gear into reverse and my vehicle sped up very fast and hit the parked car in front of me and ran over the curb, my steering wheel also shifted to the right as if it was trying to Dodge an obstacle on the road. It happpend so fast that I could not avoid the impact. I could have ran into a pedestrian and put their life at risk, or injured the person in the car that was parked, and even hurt myself badly. I've been getting neck pain and headaches. This incident was very terrifying and traumatizing. I tried to reach out to Tesla service center, but my Tesla app was not working after the incident. The Tesla app was frozen for 10-15 mins after the incident. I kept trying to reach out to Tesla service center and kept getting an automated response to utilize the Tesla app. Finally, the app started working again, I left them a message regarding the accident and photos, and they responded two days after, but did not address the issue about unintended acceleration until I kept asking why are they ignoring my concerns about the uninteded accerlation, and then I received a phone call from a technician. He said that I do not have to bring my car for inspection, instead they will just check the logs and could take up to 8 weeks to see what happened. Estimated cost for exterior damages according to geico insurance is 5344. 74. Tesla service center denied having the car inspected physcially for any sensor issues and malfunction issues, states that I don't have to bring my car in at all, they will submit a report for engineering team to review the driving logs at the time of the accident only. My car is currently towed to a 3rd party body shop that is Tesla certified. No warnings from my car screen alerts or anything prior to the accident.
When driving with the adaptive cruise control on, the car will for no reason, briefly slam on the brakes for no reason. I have almost been rear ended twice because of this. Check mark box above in this web page would not allow me to check the adaptive cruise control item.
Complaint: phantom braking -- my wife and I took ownership of our 2021 Tesla Model 3 at the beginning of July 2021. We experienced what is referred to as phantom braking (car initiating sudden braking while at highway speeds). We took it on a 3,000+ mile road trip to visit national parks in the western united states. Having owned electric vehicles since 2015, we found Tesla's charging network to be reliable and hassle-free to operate. On a few long stretches of road in nevada, wyoming, and utah we engaged Model 3's adaptive cruise control. Three times during that trip, between July 2nd and July 8th, 2021, the car braked hard, without warning, while traveling at highway speeds. From what we could determine, shadows cast on the road at the approaching side of gentle hills, with the sun in front of us, may have been interpreted by the car's camera's as an approaching or stationary object on the road. This was very unnerving and caused us to lose faith in the adaptive cruise control system. This was both disappointing and a bother since it meant that we were driving a 50 thousand dollar car without cruise control, making driving a more tiresome experience. This past labor day weekend, 2022, we drove to las vegas on the same Tesla Model 3 and again activated the adaptive cruise control while driving in nevada. We thought that by now the periodic software updates would have fixed the problem. This time the phantom braking occurred more frequently and on seemingly level sections of road. After about four attempts at using the adaptive cruise control we stopped. This was, again, disappointing that we were driving a car whose adaptive cruise control failed to perform as it was designed to. We were disappointed because for what we paid for the car, this feature should be more mature than it is. Luckily we did not have other cars close behind us at the times the car's computer together with the sensors and / or cameras decided it needed to apply the brakes.
On February 28, 2021 at 4:08 pm. . The approximate time of my arrival at workplace which is also displayed in my navigation. As soon as I'm doing a reverse to park my Tesla for some reason and it did happen so quickly accidentally press the accelerator harder and as a result I cause an accident that my rear bumper hit the car behind me that was parked. The damaged was huge that it knock off the parked car front bumper, it broke the right headlight and buckled the engine hood. It really boggles me as to how it happened, I re-create the scenario at home it turns out and I truly believed that I got confused with the current driving mode as I switch the car to reverse while I stop to check my proximity, but the display changes to 'hold brake' font. Not knowing that it still in reverse mode, although the top left vertically displayed drive mode indicator still showing but it is too small/ minimal that it's hard to distinguish which one is active. For an owner that's new to this electric car it is confusing and specially you have other ice car you currently driving at home. Tesla should consider an update to the display on the driving mode indicator. The default as you switch the stalk to d, p, n or r, that large font only display momentarily and it changes to your speed and then changes to ' hold- brake font icon'. Those display font p-d- r- n on the top left corner is too minimal and even lightly obstructed with the steering wheel. Even the font color is hardly distinguishable, the current drive mode is only bold in the same color. This is really a safety issue and should be addressed ASAP. Tesla Model 3 display should be updated, the drive mode should be visible enough and permanent on the display. Look at the model s. . It has a very visible/ easy to distinguish your current driving mode. ( p-d- n-r ) [xxx] contact: [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).
When I test drove the Tesla Model 3, there was an option to turn regenerative braking to low. This allowed the car to have more of a coasting effect when one lifts the foot off of the accelerator. When I received delivery of the car, the ability to reduce the regenerative braking effect was not available. The removal of this feature is being discussed at length in online forums. The latest version of the owners' manual states that regenerative braking in the standard setting could cause the care to lose traction in winter conditions and that drivers should select the low setting. By removing this ability, Tesla, by its own admission, has decreased the car's safety in winter conditions. A rapid deceleration of a car on slippery roads is almost guaranteed to induce a skid and make the car difficult or impossible to control. I find this extremely concerning. Tesla needs to bring the feature back, or publicize other compensations that may have been made unbeknownst to owners. I took delivery of the car on 12/24/20, but according to online forums this seems to have happened starting in October of 2020. A side complaint would be that Tesla does not update the owners manual in a timely manner to coincide with the many software updates. The above example is jjust one of many, since the current manual makes a recommendation that is not possible to do in the 2021 Model 3 refresh.