general problems of the 2022 Tesla Model 3 - part 2

During a head-on collision on [xxx] in georgia, the electrical system in my 2022 Tesla Model 3 lost power and the electric door releases stopped functioning. The vehicle interior caught fire and I was trapped inside. I was unaware of the location of the hidden mechanical emergency door release because it is not visibly labeled, not explained upon delivery, and not intuitive in an emergency. I was forced to climb to the back seat and break the rear passenger window with my legs to escape while the interior was burning. I suffered a broken hip, broken arm, and later required a full hip replacement. The mechanical emergency door release was concealed and unlabeled, resulting in entrapment during a fire, which is a violation of fmvss 206 and presents a continuing and life-threatening safety hazard to all drivers and passengers. Tesla has not provided warnings, recall guidance, labeling, or owner education regarding how to exit the vehicle during a power-loss emergency. This defect can result in deaths. I am requesting a formal investigation. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Submitted under 49 cfr §552. 3 request for defect investigation & safety recall Tesla Model 3 / model y: interior high-voltage heater fire hazard, missing firewall, and entrapment due to electronic door failures. My 2022 Tesla Model 3 experienced an interior flash fire caused by a design defect. Tesla placed the high-voltage ptc cabin heater and hv wiring inside the dashboard with no firewall. After a crash, I saw a straight “strip flame” shoot out of the hvac dash vent, exactly like a gas heater. The fire began inside the dash/hvac ducting within seconds of impact, not from the battery. This shows an arc-flash failure of the hv heater or wiring inside the cabin. The flame entered the cabin instantly because there is no firewall separating hv components from occupants. During the fire, all electronic door releases failed. Tesla hides the manual front releases and provides no rear mechanical releases. I was trapped inside a burning cabin and suffered major injuries trying to escape by kicking the rear passenger window before bystander helped me brake out the rear passenger window to get me out. Most people cannot escape this design. This is a dangerous combination of defects: (1) hv heater and wiring located inside the cabin with no firewall; (2) hvac ducting becomes a flame pathway; (3) electronic door releases fail during fire/crash; (4) no labeled manual rear-door exits; (5) no backup 12-v actuator power to open doors. Tesla must: relocate the hv heater outside the cabin (frunk), add a real firewall, add fire-retardant hvac materials, add labeled manual releases on all doors, and include a 12-v backup to door actuators. Please open a defect investigation. This design nearly killed me and will kill others.

The window is opening alone.

Received a recall notice in Nov. 2022. In Dec. I was putting something in the back seat, when I closed the door my fingernail was clipped by the window as it retracted to close. The back and front windows retract whenever the doors are open. For no apparent reason that I can figure out. They close when the doors are shut but if your finger is in the way it's going to get caught as my fingernail did. I was lucky it was only the nail as the windows retract with a bit of force.

Recall is not being corrected in a timely manner. Window has pinched my finger before retracting.

The car slammed on the brakes while we were using auto pilot on the freeway, even though there was no one braking in front of us. This was the 2nd time this has happened. The ac and radio shut off for the rest of the ride and the ac has been working intermittently since. We have a baby and she was not in the car but she is in the car with us often. We have submitted a service request for this week.

My brand new Model 3 stopped in the far left lane of the highway in camp pendleton this October 7th. There was 139 miles in range left (40% battery), and it clearly was not out of charge. It was towed to Tesla santa monica service center, and the battery slowly drained in the 5 days before it was looked at. Once the Tesla service center looked at the car for the first time on the night of October 11th, the battery had dropped to 5%, and the service center tried to give it back to me after a simple charge. They would not listen to me when I told them it was charged when it stopped on the highway, and something else was wrong. They closed the case and told me to pick up the car. I refused to pick up the car and left it in their service lot. I made a few social media videos on October 13th about this. Tesla saw the videos, and re-looked at my car and found the rear drive unit had to be replaced. If I had not made this video, Tesla never would have found the faulty rear drive unit, and I would have been forced to take back my lemon car. In summary, Tesla tried to give me back an unsafe car after accusing me of causing the breakdown by not charging it. But the rear drive inverter needed to be replaced.

Vehicle stated it was in turtle mode and completely shut off in the middle of the road and was not able to drive. Park, reverse, neutral, and drive was not available.

Got in vehicle in driveway and upon turning on there was a large thump in rear of vehicle, proceeded by a message to pull over safety indicating rear drive unit failure. Tesla replaced the rear inverter unit. Vehicle only had 3k miles. . Read more...

Driving like normal, using autopilot on the highway when I got an alert ‘automatic emergency braking is disabled’, and the autopilot stopped working. Made a service appointment with Tesla, but it’s scheduled for June 20, so thought this might help….

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? - touchscreen goes black while driving. It can be inspected, but Tesla has not fixed the issue in the last 2 months. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? - can't tell what speed I am going and can't hear turn signal active sound since screen is black and I have to wait 2-5 minutes after doing the steering wheel reset to see what speed I am going and if turn signals are on/off. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? - had two appointments so far for the issue and the issue is confirmed by me but cannot be reproduced by the service center after two separate appointments even with detailed accounts of when the issue appeared. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? - yes, the result was that a software update is required and after two updates the issue keeps happening more frequently. This is with the active recall fix update and one more update after that. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? - only warning sign that sometimes happens is when playing music through the bluetooth audio, there would be 1-5 second period of a "buzzing" sound before the screen would shut off. Other than that, the screen would shut off randomly with no warning at all.

When my wife was driving the vehicle this morning by herself, she heard a noise behind her. It was the driver's side rear door unlocked itself and popped opened. The vehicle immediately made a warning sound that a door was opened while the vehicle was in motion. She pulled over and noticed that the driver's side rear door can be opened without touching the door handle. The door was opened, not locked or partially locked. It would be extremely dangerous if there was a passenger next to the door.

While I generally love the car during the 6 weeks I’ve owned it, I am concerned about the fact that occasionally, while traveling at freeway speeds with cruise control engaged, the car will slow dramatically as if I had jammed on the brakes. The rapid deceleration has occurred at least once a week during my time with the car. This week, while traveling from north carolina to new jersey, the car “braked” from 70mph to about 40mph four times. This happens suddenly, no warning. As frustrating and annoying as this is, it is also dangerous given the high number of brain-dead tailgaters that populate the highways.

The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated there was wiring that was loosened from the ground unit. The camera was making an abnormal crackling sound when it was hot. The contact stated that the screen was pink or blank at times. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer six times, where it was diagnosed that the wiring was loosened. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 500.

Power steering and full power to the vehicle failed - these failures can be seen upon requested inspection. Power steering failed during operation - meaning that while I was driving the vehicle I was not able to change the direction of travel at a high rate of speed. Then the vehicle came to a sudden stop, stranding the driver/passengers in the middle of the road which has a high speed limit. Since full power failed quickly afterward, hazard lights or other warning lights (brake lights) could not be activated. Emergency manual exits had to be used to exit the vehicle this problem has been reproduced in both Model 3 and model y and has been confirmed by a dealer service repair center. The vehicle has been inspected by the manufacturer and the problem has been confirmed - a full steering console replacement is required due to electrical and hydraulic issues in the steering system and battery system. There was no message prior to the vehicle failure, the error is sudden and unexpected which makes it even more dangerous.

The contact leased a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that the passenger’s and driver’s side windows failed to close completely. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds with the window rolled down and his hand outside the vehicle, the window inadvertently rolled up. There were no warning lights illuminated. The local dealer arrived at the residence, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but provided no additional assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 25,015.