general problems of the 2021 Tesla Model Y - part 1

I was entering the on-ramp to [xxx] , from [xxx] , to merge onto the freeway east bound towards [xxx] , when my Tesla suddenly lost all power, the brakes did not work and the power steering completely failed making it feel like it was locked up. I was traveling approximately 40-50 mph at the time nearing the gore point to merge onto the freeway. Fortunately I was in the inside lane and I rolled to a stop away from other vehicles. I could not steer at all. Had I been completely on the freeway, I could have been rear ended badly. I had my two young boys in the vehicle with me, both [xxx] and [xxx] . We were completely trapped in the vehicle with no power. My [xxx] old remembered to use the manual latch to get out. I opened my door manually and it broke my driver side glass window. Vehicles were passing us rapidly to enter the freeway. I called my husband who is a police officer and he came and picked us up. We called Tesla who said they could not get a read on our battery whatsoever. We called a tow company and had this vehicle towed to Tesla repair center in [xxx] , after reporting our traumatic event. They claim our warranty is expired, but our vehicle only has 37,638 miles and should be covered under the 8 year, 120,000 mile warranty that covers a major malfunction like this. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

When driving with cruise control engaged the car randomly brakes and shows a "curvature assist " indication. The car quickly slows from 55 to 35 with no warning. This primary happens on a straight road, not a curve. I am concerned about the traffic behind me.

Picked up car from Tesla service on 12/30/2025. On [xxx] at around [xxx] I had pressed the car break and suddenly accelerated and lead to crashing into the pole. I am concerned about the safety and if it is drivable. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

The car has a feature called "curvature assist" that takes control of braking and steering at times when using cruise control. The incidents are at times surprising as there is no curvature present but the braking is suddenly applied. This is a surprise for both the driver and any following traffic. The car would be safer if this feature could be disabled but that is not possible.

On October 2, my Model Y battery was replaced with a defective cell. Tesla service center replaced the battery. The vehicle could not charge or operate, making it unable to be driven. Today, November 2, while driving my car, my Tesla abs system and other battery components experienced total failure while driving. For a brief period of time, I was unable to brake completely and my vehicle felt like it was skidding. At the time this occurred, my 1 year old daughter and pregnant wife were in the vehicle. This could have been much worse.

I am reporting a safety issue involving my 2021 Tesla Model Y. The vehicle recently displayed a “parking brake function degraded” warning. The car has only 91,000 miles and is approximately four years old, which is far too soon for a failure of a critical safety component such as the electronic parking brake. Please investigate whether this issue is part of a wider defect affecting Tesla Model Y vehicles. This should not occur on a relatively new car with moderate mileage.

The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while driving at 10 mph, the contact depressed the brake pedal; however, the vehicle accelerated and failed to brake without warning. Due to the failure, the contact hit another vehicle as the air bags deployed. Despite the air bag deployment, the vehicle continued to accelerate and repeatedly hit the same vehicle. The brake pedal eventually responded and vehicle finally came to a stop. The contact did not sustain any injuries and did not seek medical treatment. The driver of the other vehicle did not report any injuries. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed from the scene to an independent tow yard. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was 39,264.

Alerts regarding vehicle steering, stability, emergency braking, lane control traction, received all at once and the Tesla ai advisor indicated others were reporting the same. No other vehicles in lanes around us showed up on the vehicle lcd screen as normally they do too. Car did not brake normally (foot off accelerator and no braking) and handling seemed different although we were very cautious. Tried to resolve with screen reboot and multiple drives as ai advisor suggested and it did not self resolve. Contacted Tesla service and they suggested hcu was faulty (hydronic control unit) and abs modulator. Also wanted to look at vehicle low voltage circuit. They scheduled me for a first available $1600 service on Feb 26th (in 9 days). See attached. Seems like a significant safety issue and defect and should be recalled before some gets hurt, especially if others are seeing this too.

Per the Tesla service team, there is a defect in the car computer which causes intermittent signal of the backup camera, failure of automatic emergency braking, and also autopilot unavailability in a 2021 Tesla Model Y with less than 40k miles on it. This issue only occurred after a software update and affects key safety features such as blind spot warning proximity warnings. The Tesla service team said the only way to solve it was to replace the entire car computer and charged us $2,583 for their own product defect. The car did issue alerts to us saying that autopilot and automatic emergency braking were unavailable, but did not detect issues with intermittent camera signal.

After a snowstorm, I shoveled my driveway in front of the car which was facing toward the road (the driveway is on an incline, not steep), cleared the snow off the car and then pulled the car forward/put it in park so that I could shovel the rest of the snow. It took me and my 15 year old son 10 or so minutes to clear the snow behind the car. Then I started to salt the driveway behind the car and a snowplow driving by started honking. I looked up and the car was sliding down the driveway towards the road. Luckily it slowed and stopped, only slightly into the road and did not hit the snowplow, or anything else and I was able to get in and move it. I have a video clip of it which I am unable to upload here - the front tires were rotating while the back tires were locked in place.

I was driving in the dark down a straight road traveling around 60mph when the car abruptly slammed on the breaks and came to an almost complete stop. I was not using self driving, I was in control of the car but when this occurred I did not release the gas. Out of instict I tried to get the car moving again and pressed the gas but the car did not respond so I pressed the brake and then the gas and the car started driving normally again. Thankfully there was nobody in the car with me and no cars behind me. The braking was abrupt enough that my neck hurts from the jerking forward of my body.

The issue appears to be an acceleration malfunction and brake failure in my 2021 Tesla Model Y. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. On [xxx] at [xxx], while waiting for the garage door to open, the car experienced an unknown unintended acceleration malfunction, surging forward uncontrollably. It didn't wait for the garage to open, crashed through the garage into the family room, causing significant structural damage to the framing and door. The city of eastvale declared the house unsafe, sealing it off. I am now homeless and staying with friends temporarily. During the crash, the airbags did not deploy, and the abs system failed, preventing an emergency stop. The car stopped 4-5 feet away from my wife, who was on the sofa, posing a critical life-threatening situation. Thankfully, [xxx] and I survived, but this incident caused severe mental trauma for my family. We have not reported the incident to Tesla. The dashcam footage appears deleted during the crash and the car seemed to have only recorded footage before the crash and after. This issue has not been reproduced or confirmed by any dealer or service center, but further investigation needs to be done. The vehicle has not been inspected by Tesla or any service center. However, the police and insurance representatives have been involved. We are coordinating further inspections to find the cause of the acceleration and brake failure. We aim to invoke the Tesla event data recorder (edr) tool to investigate what exactly went wrong with the car. There were no warning lamps, messages, or symptoms before the incident. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while driving 5 -10 mph and pressing the brakes with the intention to decelerate when the vehicle suddenly accelerated. The vehicle ended up rear-ending the vehicle in front. The air bags did not deploy. There were no injuries. No medical attention was needed. There was no police report. The vehicle was towed to a body shop which diagnosed that the air bag sensors for both the driver and passenger front end failed. The vehicle had not been repaired due to determining which party should be held accountable. The dealer had not been contacted. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 18,850.

Driving [xxx] enroute to houston from peoria, az, on cruise control, the auto braking activated aka ghost braking, causing the car to extremely brake. No other cars or trucks near us and no signs in area that might affect cruise control. I thought this was fixed! totally unsafe. Luckily no one was behind us. This happened a lot back in mid 2021 and to have it still happen is hazardous. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Car was summoned and turned a sharp right directly hitting the car parked next to it while pulling out. The location was the parking lot of [xxx] on [xxx] . I have a full video of this which shows the car pulling forward then taking a sharp right impacting the vehicle parked next to it. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Power was lost completely while car was on the road, breaks stop working and unable to stop. Driver had to go off road to prevent collision and road a accident. Towed to Tesla center. Diagnosis is “internal short” but did not elaborate. No explanation and answer why break did not work. External damage due to accident was not covered.

I was driving on PA turnpike in light rain . I never drive fast . Somehow my car start shifting from one side of the rd to another I slow down but I did not feel connection with sterling wheels car start spinning in circles and I crashed with 2 kids in the car.

1. Under certain circumstances, the vehicle is able to decelerate using its regenerative braking system without illuminating the brake lights. This occurs during "one pedal driving" where the operator is driving only using the throttle to both accelerate and decelerate the car, without the input of mechanical brakes. This is a programming issue, not a mechanical issue. The brake lights are "triggered" when the car decelerates at a threshold of -0. 1g or greater. At anything less than -0. 1g, the lights will not turn on. This drastically increases the risk of a rear-end collision. 2. Under the right conditions the operator could decelerate from a speed of 45 mph to 5 mph without the brake lights ever coming on, not until they reach a near-complete-stop. This poses a high risk to all drivers that are behind the vehicle, and fails to give warning to other drivers. It should never be possible for this to occur. 3. This problem has been in discussion on Tesla owner's forums; specifically "Tesla motors club". (see attached posts) Tesla has the highest accident rate, and no one has yet figured out why. A typical internal combustion vehicle equipped with an automatic transmission coast-down decelerates at an average rate of -0. 02g. The Tesla's regen brake light turn-on threshold of -0. 1g is 5x more than the deceleration of a typical coasting ice car (-0. 02g) . For slow-downs between -0. 02g and -0. 1g, where the Tesla's deceleration exceeds an ice car by up to 5x, there is no warning to other drivers, as the brake lights will not turn on. Any braking force above -0. 02g of deceleration exceeds that of an ice car, and should be made-known via the brake-lights. I hope that this is not overlooked; it is extremely important for this to be addressed to reduce rear-end collisions involving ev's. 99%+ of vehicles in the USA are ice, and do not coast-down at a rate of -0. 1g. The brake lights must indicate this above-normal reduction in speed.

Phantom braking. We were going at around 45 miles per hour on route 30 and the car suddenly engaged brakes without anybody in front of me. Apparently it's a known issue called phantom braking and I wanted to report it.

Car will, without warning brake aggressively while in cruise control, without pressure applied to brake. No other factors on road, except cars behind. This occurs frequently when car is driven in autopilot. Car will, without warning accelerate to a high speed without pressure applied to the accelerator. This acceleration is stopped with pressure being immediately applied to brake.

Driving from albuquerque nm to farmington nm, in approximately 1 1/2 hours of driving on hwy 550, 4 lane divided highway, encountered no less than 12 hard shadow breaking events. In all instances there were no vehicles, animals or debris in front of the vehicle. It was a cloudless day, starting around 9am, clear no fog, temperature in the 40's. High risk of being hit if a car was following close behind, incident has been reported to Tesla, no inspection. There was no waring prior to all hard shadow breaking events.

Findings from Tesla technician: verified customer concern for active low brake fluid level alerts. Technician performed a brake inspection and found the rear right brake hose is damaged due to incorrect hose routing. Found the hose is rubbing on the wheel arch liner. The brake calipers have been modified/painted. Technician recommends to replaced rear right brake hose and bleed entire brake system to remove air pockets. Removed and replaced right rear brake hose. Performed brake fluid flush. Performed brake pressure test and passed. Removed and replaced right rear wheel arch liner. Performed validation road test and verified repairs. Vehicle operations is normal at this time and no alerts are active. Further findings from Tesla technician: during brake fluid flush found left rear caliper mounting bolt is not installed. During brake fluid flush found left rear caliper mounting bolt is not installed. Installed new caliper bolt. Torqued both caliper bolts to factory specifications. Test drove vehicle. Verified repairs, operation is normal at this time and no alerts are present at this time.

To the national highway traffic safety administration (NHTSA), I am writing to formally file a complaint regarding a recent experience with my 2021 Tesla Model Y, which is still under warranty. While using the vehicle, I observed an abnormal sound when reversing. After seeking Tesla’s service, I was informed that the rotors on my car needed replacement. What greatly concerns me is that, despite the car being under warranty, Tesla charged me an amount of one thousand dollars for this repair. It is essential to note that this malfunction wasn’t due to any negligence or external factors on my part. I have video evidence that captures the sound the vehicle made while reversing, further emphasizing the unexpected nature of this issue. My understanding of the warranty terms led me to believe that such unforeseen defects should be covered without any additional charges. It is deeply unsettling to be presented with such a significant expense for a problem that, in my view, should have been resolved under the warranty’s purview. I am reaching out to the NHTSA to shed light on this matter, as it brings forth concerns about the potential for similar experiences faced by other Tesla Model Y owners. I request the NHTSA’s assistance in investigating this incident to ensure consumers like myself are not unduly burdened with unjustified costs. Your attention to this matter is highly appreciated. I am hopeful for a just resolution that aligns with the NHTSA’s dedication to safeguarding consumers and ensuring vehicular safety standards. Sincerely, anthony urdaneta.

Phantom braking. When there are refractions on the road seen in my lane in bright sunshine. Also in a 2-lane highway with oncoming vehicles that have lots of chrome also in bright sunshine. Never happens at night or when cruise control not enabled.

Driving down freeway at 70 mph when my car stopped immediately ! no one or nothing in front of me . 6 cars behind me and everyone swerved to avoid me or they would have hit me. I was terrified. I called Tesla and they said it was “phantom breaking”. It happens to model 3/y from 2021 and 2022. It happened 2x in an 8 hr period. July 22, 2023.

On, June 24th and July 15th my vehicle experienced multiple errors while driving. Indicator lights stated the following: stability control disabled, dash cam disabled, traction control disabled, regenerative braking disabled, emergency braking disabled. On July 15th the front motor was disabled, causing the vehicle to not have enough power to continue up the mountain. The vehicle stopped in the middle of the highway, and started rolling backwards. After I was able to turn the vehicle around, the brakes were grinding, and did not stop the vehicle. There as a smell of burnt rubber, and the brake pedal started “ popping” and moving back and forth on its’ own. The engine failure has occurred twice, and all of other errors have occurred 4 times since June 2023. I made an appointment with the Tesla service center and they cancelled my appointment, for no reason. After the July 15th incident, I took the vehicle into the service center myself. These issues are intermittent, which is very dangerous. The car will experience these errors, and then operate as normal. Tesla told me that they thought this entire thing was “ strange” and that they have never heard of this issue. All logs on the vehicle show these errors, and I have a witness. Tesla has not updated me with the status of my repair, or even a diagnosis. I am terrified to drive this vehicle.

Phantom braking in autopilot. Traveling at 75mph with traffic behind, fortunately the car behind was not following closely. No warning message beforehand, just happened very suddenly with no obstructions in sight. Weather was clear and sunny, no traffic in front. Two minutes later, the car completely ignored a deer standing on the hard shoulder!.

We have recently experienced a significant and concerning increase in incidents of phantom braking and have thus far been unable to receive an adequate response from Tesla. We have had at least six instances of this occurring today, 16-Jun-2023 in the first 6-7 hours of our cross-country drive, and I’ve shared these time stamps with Tesla service. This is because we experienced this same thing 2-3 times on another long drive in November of 2022, and Tesla service told us at the time they couldn’t do anything about it unless we had time stamps because otherwise, it’s too many pages of code to sort through and beyond that, you have to notify them within 12 days of the incident or they can’t look into it at all (which is what happened with me- although I had to chase them to even get a response). They also said it was a “known issue” but were unsure about a planned remedy. I took screenshots of that conversation with Tesla service and have attached to this submission in the event that’s helpful. We are still pending a response from Tesla service for the multiple incidents today. Interestingly, we had taken this car on multiple lengthy drives in all types of conditions prior to Nov 2022, but never experienced this issue previously. It certainly seems to be increasing in frequency and intensity (I know my n=1 for my sample size here makes this somewhat anecdotal, but it’s terrifying regardless) and it seems like only a matter of time until tragedy strikes.

While driving at speed (75-80 mph) on interstate 90 and 80 (different days) auto aggressively applied brakes. No other autos, trucks or obstructions were anywhere close to the car. There was no forewarning the problem was going occur. All occurred in daylight from morning until mid afternoon. I recognize this as phantom braking. Tesla refuses to look at the car because I did not have the exact time the problems occurred, messages from 6/2/23. I am of the opinion if this was elon's car they would look at it.

On a trip from spokane to seattle on 5/27/2023, while traveling at 72mph on I-90, we experienced “phantom braking”. This resulted in the vehicle rapidly decelerating based on its detection of something in front of the car to avoid a collision. This occurred 3 times on the trip, and in no case was there anything for the vehicle to avoid. Weather was clear and road conditions were dry. Our biggest concern is that there could have been someone following directly behind, and would have certainly caused an accident if this were the case. The Tesla was in “autopilot”, which is the only mode we have experienced this. We experienced this last year on the same stretch of I-90, just east of moses lake to just west of george washington.

The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving 65 mph, the vehicle independently accelerated at high speed. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact desperately depressed the brake pedal, and the vehicle came to a to stop. The dealer was contact, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 42,000.

I was driving down the highway. The weather was clear. Sunny. The road was dry. Middle of the afternoon. I was using the adaptive cruise control. I was driving the speed limit, 70 mph after driving for a couple of hours, the car had about three different times when it felt like the brake was tapped, the car slowed a bit and then regained speed. I stopped at my destination for about 4 hours and then returned home. Same roads conditions, sunny, dry road, etc. Same road, 70 mph, the car suddenly hit the brakes hard. Slammed might be too strong of a word because it's not like the car left skid marks on the road, but the brakes hit very, very hard. The car slowed to 25 or 30 mph. Fortunately there were no cars behind me or me and my wife could had been killed right then.

On the evening of April 18, 2023, I was driving on the southbound 101 in northern California using autopilot, and despite the surrounding area being clear of other vehicles, pedestrians or debris, without warning, the autopilot system forced the vehicle to suddenly and harshly brake. It was completely unwarranted and unexpected and really gave me and my passenger a scare, and this ain’t the first time it occurred. We purchased our vehicle in November 2022 and in December we were using autopilot on the 405 south in los angeles, traffic was moving at a steady 70mph when the vehicle abruptly braked, thinking it was a one-off we didn’t report it but after reviewing several complaints of similar issues by other Tesla owners, this is a real problem. I saved the event on my Tesla dashcam.

Vehicles continues to make random unwanted and dangerous sudden braking at highways speeds while the cruise control is engaged.

The car started to malfunction its ability for regenerative braking (regen. ) upon release of the accelerator. The car felt as if the regen feature was slipping - so instead of a constant brake and deceleration, the car could be felt moving forward as if accelerating. Then while driving on freeway at 65-70 mph, car lost its ability to brake when I pressed on the brake twice, instead of slowing it felt as if the car just continued at its current speed. Then the car cut its power and flashed an alert "power reduced - exiting and re-entering vehicle may restore operation" it then flashed an alert "pull over immediately - unable to drive". According to Tesla, they said it was the "lh body harness. Found that the harness was not creating an efficient connection" but they never directly addressed why it felt as if the car was accelerating when I pressed on the brake. Safety was critically comprised for myself and others who I could have hit in a vehicle collision since the brakes did not respond accordingly and felt as if it accelerated or continue to maintain its speed. The problem was confirmed by Tesla but they only addressed the car going into what they refer to as "limp mode". Car was inspected by Tesla and diagnosed the problem to a faulty/bad body harness that caused an improper signal. No warning lights or messages prior to the failure. Symptoms started the morning of the incident with the noted regen not fully engaged/working correctly. I did not have any feature setting which would have caused or replicated the lack of regen. I can provide the dealer invoice if needed.