Assist problems of the 2021 Tesla Model S

Four problems related to assist have been reported for the 2021 Tesla Model S. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2021 Tesla Model S based on all problems reported for the 2021 Model S.

1 Assist problem

Failure Date: 07/13/2023

There was a trash can on the edge of the road and my vehicle was in autopilot/fsd mode and for some reason it swerved over too close to the edge of the road. I intervened in time to avoid hitting the trash can head-on but it still struck the passenger side mirror and scraped across the passenger rear fender. The mirror got slammed into the passenger side door causing damage to the door and trim at the bottom of the passenger side window.

2 Assist problem

Failure Date: 07/10/2023

On 10jul2023, approximately 1:00pm, while traveling southbound on hwy 69, south of toll road 49 in lindale, texas, while driving in the right lane and speed set at 75mph, when all of a sudden the car activates the right blinker and - without slowing - pulls into a fairly short, dedicated right turn lane that turns into a business. At the end of the turn lane is a drainage culvert. The route of travel did not include a turn and the car should have been continuing straight down the highway. The car enters the turn lane and never slows from 75mph. I immediately hit the turn signal button to use the camera to get a look to my left to see if a car is there and also look over my left shoulder when there was no response (no camera) to activating the left turn signal. This all occurs as my hand is grabbing the yoke and my foot moving to the brake. I see the blue "path indicating line" wavering left and right and then lock into a right turn into the business parking lot at the end of this dedicated turn lane. Again, there is a culvert at the end of the turn lane also. As soon as I see over my shoulder that the lane to my left is clear the car attempts to make a 90 degree right turn at 75mph. At that exact moment I am able to yank the yoke left and tap the brake to disengage the full self driving beta as the car is starting the right hand turn. The rear end of the car breaks loose and slides as I get the yoke steered into the right hand lane of the highway. I allow the speed to bleed off to get the rear tires behind me and continue on. My dog has been thrown around the back of the car, my wife banged her head on the passenger side window. This whole event occurred in mere seconds.

3 Assist problem

Failure Date: 11/18/2021

Beta autopilot was engaged, driver had hand on steering wheel, vehicle was traveling less than 35mph (speed limit) and coming around a corner when it misjudged the road curve. The road curved to the left and as the car took the turn it took too wide of a turn and veered slightly off the road. Unfort the front right side of car went up and over the begining of a rock incline. The front right tire blew out and only the side airbags deployed (both sides). The car traveled about 500 yards along the road and then turned itself off. I could not get the horn to work, nor put it in neutral. There were no warning signs before incident. In fact the I belong to a beta driving scoring rating and for that day Tesla rated me a 91/100. I called Tesla roadside assistance and they said they would not provide any help as it was viewed as an accident and not a self-driving issue. It was reported to Tesla and I have called several times to try and understand why the car didn't stay in the lane and why only the side airbags deployed. I reported this to Tesla customer support and was now told they would not provide any information based upon their analysis, although initially I was told that it would take 5 weeks for engineering to review and get back to me. Vehicle is at repair facility and was told damage to car will be almost $28-30k. Car previously had issues with forward collision warning system going off, although I was not aware there was a recall regarding this exact problem, back in October 2021.

4 Assist problem

Failure Date: 11/14/2021

On Nov 14 at 09:01 am while driving on the freeway with clear weather and autopilot is on for at least 15 min and and I am fully attentive and no traffic the Tesla auto pilot decided to turn left and hit the cement barrier of the freeway damaging my left rear wheel then it tried to correct it fault by turning right to the right lane abruptly luckily there was no traffic coming on my right side too otherwise it would have been fatal I have the incident recorded by the sentry mode cameras and exact time and sec and the logs of the car black box proves that the Tesla auto pilot was engaged at that time when it hit the cement barrier I reported this to Tesla so they would take responsibility of their risky autopilot software but they dont care and told me I can report it to NHTSA it doesnt matter to them even with all the documented proof I have.


Other Lane Departure related problems of the 2021 Tesla Model S



Safety Ratings of Model S Cars
Fuel Economy of Model S Vehicles
Model S Service Bulletins
Model S Defect Investigations