general problems of the 2021 Tesla Model Y - part 1

The adaptive cruse control would stop working off an on. Also it would give false land departure warnings causing driver to swerve thinking they were going to run into another care.

See attached document for complaint.

Several times on residential speed control the system does not recognize yellow flashing school speed reduction signs. Never slows or breaks. The speed of 25 mph does not register on the screed (other speed signs do). I told Tesla service center when other services were being done. They said they were aware. I have seen no improvement over the last several months.

My Tesla still has the phantom braking problem. It is repeatable and consistent. I can tell when it will occur on a route that I drive regularly. Day or night does not seem to alter the occurrence. There is no indication on the touch screen when this occurs. Traffic volume does not matter. It always occurs at the same places so it should be relatively easy to fix if someone would just monitor my computer when it occurs. I regard this as a dangerous problem on the freeway because my car suddenly slows and if the person behind me is not paying attention, I am going to be rear ended. Such a serious fault for a vehicle that performs so well otherwise. Since Tesla does not have a service center in my town no one has offered to look at the problem but since it has been reported so often, I'm not sure they would. I would be happy to demonstrate the problem to a technical person who might be able to diagnose it.

Tesla removed the ability to use only cruise control, with adaptive following distance, and have forced the only option to now use full self driving instead (with a recent soft-ware update). I do not feel safe using full self driving (even supervised) and believe Tesla is being unsafe forcing full self driving use. We used to be able to just use cruise control-with adaptive following distance-a driving option in all other recent cars!!! , but cannot do that now in Tesla? why would a company take away what I consider to be a safer option?? this is not an improvement (but a forced help-Tesla-improve-it’s-unsafe-full self-driving-software!).

The main screen on my Tesla Model Y flickers while driving, as well as charging. I have a video of it happening, if you slow the video down it completely shuts the screen down for a millisecond and then turns back on. I have sent this video to Tesla, as well as Tesla technicians has confirmed the issue happening when they had the vehicle. I have had the vehicle into Tesla 3 separate times for service, they don't know how to fix the issue and keep telling me to wait. I have been dealing with this issue since January 2024 and am tired of waiting and putting my safety at risk. I feel that I have been more than patient with them and now I feel that they are now blowing me off. They don't feel that it is a safety concern even considering that the display screen went out while driving 70 mph, for 13 miles and I couldn't get it to turn back on.  aditionally the side cameras on the vehicle intermittently go out. There is no warnings or symptoms prior to it happening it just happens. I have 29 times documented of it happening to me. I have requested a buyback which was denied as well as a loaner from Tesla until they can fix the issue, yet they denied that as well. It seems that Tesla does not care about the safety of me and I want this issue to be investigated. I have the video of the screen flickering reach out to me to get it since I cant post it in the place below.

Please look up my facebook post for public safety awareness. . Read more...

The vehicle's primary autopilot processor randomly and completely failed while in active use on February 10th, causing the vehicle to immediately change course towards a highway barrier at high speed. Since that moment, every time the autopilot das computer is reset, the primary processor refuses to transition from the init state to the nominal state and instead transitions to critical state. The vehicle had software update 2023. 44. 30. 8 for recall campaign #23v-838, recall number sb-23-00-008 applied 1 month ago, which was supposed to decrease the probable misuse of the das system. However, many individuals reported that the recall immediately and irreversibly damaged their das computer, so Tesla offered them a free replacement without hassle. However, I have been struggling to work with Tesla's carlsbad, California service center for over a week to get the das computer replaced at no cost, since the computer was damaged after an update caused the computer to become irreversibly damaged after their software update was installed -- a software update which was supposed to have made the autopilot system safer, but which has instead unfortunately irreversibly damaged the autopilot computer, and caused my vehicle to randomly and immediately weave towards a highway barrier at high speed. I am wrongfully being asked to pay in excess of $2500 for a replacement computer as a result of the update damaging the das computer. They claim the catch-all diagnosis of a "short circuit" internal to the das computer caused the damage which would be out of warranty, except the computer has never been opened by myself. They confirmed to me that they chose that diagnosis after a process of elimination without actually probing the electrical system within the computer. The carlsbad service center refuses to give me an accurate estimate for any further engineering analysis, claiming it could take multiple hrs/days at $245/hr. This is extremely unreasonable and presents unlimited risk.

When driving the car abruptly slows down. This also happened on the freeway. I get an error message that says “power limited” and a turtle symbol. This is the second time this issue has happened. Tesla service center has not been able to confidently diagnose this issue. They say it’s resolved and once I leave the service center and the problem comes back.

I was driving to work this morning, February 7th, 2024 driving at freeway speeds. My Tesla touchscreen dropped out and went completely dark. The reset process is to press and hold for about 30 seconds and another 30 seconds for the full restart. I attempted this twice and proceeded to pull off the highway. During this period, I could not see how fast I was driving, whether my brake lights, turn signals, or headlights worked at this time to safely transit through traffic to get off the road. I put my hazard lights on, but again did not know if these worked or not. The screen finally came back online and seemed fine until I could get to work, this was an extremely scary experience and a perfect example as to why all cars should have a cluster driver screen mandatory, I will be getting rid of this car as soon as possible.

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.

My car has had a problem with tacc since the day I bought it. Brakes aggressively in what should be a normal driving situation. For instance, when I pass a semi truck on the interstate with my own lane in front of me, the car will slam on the brakes when it is beside the truck. Highly likely to cause a rear end collision.

When travelling with adaptive speed control enabled the car will suddenly and violently decelerate 30 to 50 mph below the set speed. This happens frequently and does not appear to correlate with anything specific. Sometimes it happens when passing a large white truck. Sometimes there is no other traffic anywhere near me. At the very least I would like Tesla to give me the option of disabling the "safety" features so the car operates like every other car with adaptive cruse control. This is not just me. Search the internet for Tesla phantom braking and you will find many instances going back years. It seems to be getting worse with each software update.

While in cruise control, car will randomly suddenly brake without warning or visible obstacle. This has been an ongoing problem ever since buying the vehicle in 2021. Very dangerous as it has happened on the highway. Is startling and causes seat belt locking. I have reported the issue to Tesla and it's apparently a "limitation of software". We usually do not use cruise control in the Tesla because of the dangerous of this, but I decided to try again recently in hopes they had fixed it but to no avail.

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.

On Wednesday, our 2021 Tesla y - which we have loved driving for the last 3 years - took off on its own while I was sitting in traffic - where traffic was at a standstill, and the max speed was probably 4 mph. Construction ahead had closed a lane, so there was a massive back-up and cars were creeping along each time the traffic light ahead turned green. ) as any Tesla owner will tell you, the best way to slow down is to remove your foot from the gas pedal, and the car will slow down and come to a stop on its own. That had always been the case for our vehicle until Wednesday. Shockingly, for no reason at all, the car massively accelerated. I slammed on the brakes, but the brakes did not slow or stop the car. Luckily, the car in front of me was only 2 - 3 car lengths away, so my Tesla which was rapidly gaining speed stopped only when it crashed into that car. I have relatively minor injuries, but I am sure I would have been killed and/or killed others if not for the vehicle in front of me forcing my car to stop. After the crash, we flat-bedded the car to a Tesla-approved auto body shop. Our insurance adjuster will be inspecting the car on Monday. We will make the vehicle available for inspection. I am still shaken from this traumatic experience. I have never had a car accident (but for a fender bender over 40 years ago). Moreover, I have spent my life working in public service (govt, elected officials and nonprofits). I am determined to make sure that this safety problem is fully investigated and repaired - as our roads are not safe until it is fixed.

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.

I was on the highway with cruise set to 80. With no vehicles anywhere near in front of me, the car brakes hard and the cruise was set to 50. I was able to gain control by hitting the accelerator but slowed down quickly from the phantom breaking.

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.

While driving eastbound on the ca60 freeway and merging onto the interstate 10 freeway, on a clear sunny day and on a dry road, without another vehicle beside the car, with the 'autopilot' (not full version) engaged, the car suddenly initiated an uncommanded acceleration which required the driver to aggressively depress the brake pedal to stop the acceleration and to disengage the automated driving feature. This sudden acceleration brought the vehicle dangerously close to another vehicle traveling in front before it could be stopped. Witnesses were in the car when this incident occurred.

While driving northbound on the ca111 freeway along an elevated ramp leading to the interstate 10 freeway, in the evening after sunset, and on a dry road, without another vehicle beside the car, with the 'autopilot' (not full version) engaged, the car suddenly initiated an uncommanded acceleration which required the driver to aggressively depress the brake pedal to stop the acceleration and to disengage the automated driving feature. This sudden acceleration placed the driver and occupants at risk to the car traveling around an elevated tight curve with a ramp speed limit that the car exceeded. Witnesses were in the car when this incident occurred.

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.

The problem I am writing about is not specific to my Tesla vehicle, but inherent to all Tesla's. I have read in the news about the issue concerning the full autopilot with drivers not paying attention figuring the vehicle will drive itself. Although, there is another inherent issue with vehicles without subscribing to autopilot while using the cruise control feature resulting in a problem referred to within the Tesla community as "phantom braking. " while the cruise control is active and the driver is attentive with hands on the steering wheel, the vehicle intermittently jams on the brakes even though there are no obstacles in the road ahead. The driver and passengers are panicked requiring the driver to immediately respond by pressing the accelerator to avoid being rear-ended. My wife and I have experienced the issue on multiple occasions since owning our Tesla y since September 2021. We have experienced the issue on clear days with perfect weather and a clean windshield. The road is clear with no vehicles in front of us on a divided highway traveling at highway speeds. We've also experienced the issue on a two-lane non-divided road with oncoming traffic in the other lane. Eventually, the problem becomes such an issue that we have to turn-off the cruise control to drive normally which defeats the reason why cruise control is desired. I had presented the issue with Tesla support, but I was basically blown off. Although, this issue is frequently commented by other Tesla owners on social media. Basically, the Tesla cruise control does not function like any of my other car's cruise control. The problem is thus software related to how the images from the camera are interpreted. I'm worried about my safety with the possibility of being rear-ended.

Driving I-80 on may 9 between 2 - 4 pm going approx 70mph using autopilot. Sudden, unexpected, rapid deceleration causing back seat contents (suitcases & my dog) to fly forward. Nothing in front of me, no visual obstruction, weather clear and sunny. Luckily no one behind me. It felt like I had slammed on the brakes. I did get off highway shortly after to get dog out of where he lodged in back seat. Tesla rep via text messaging said I caused this by tapping accelerator & no need for inspection, but I do not recall doing that. I did receive a message/warning around the approx time I think this occurred stating “driving visualization temporarily degraded” (I have screenshot. ) they did send me the spreadsheet data of that day but I can’t decipher it.

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.

There are two concerns-first the phantom breaking using cruise control and the other is poor functionality of using the windshield wipers. I have experienced the phantom braking since shortly after ownership to as recent as 2 weeks ago. This has caused me to no longer use the cruise control. It is very difficult to engaged the windshield wipers. During nighttime driving and sudden heavy rain I could not locate how to turn the wipers on so I used the voice command button to do so. Thus had verying results it may not work at all, maybtake obe swipe or make continue to have wipers work until returning home. Thank you for your time.

On March 18, 2023 we were driving on highway 80 from winnemucca nv to fernley nv. At 3pm and about 3:10pm the car suddenly decelerated from ~82mph to ~50mph. The road ahead was clear of obsticles. Luckly there were no cars following close behind us, if there had been the unnecessary and unexpected deceleration could have been dangerous.

This car is unsafe. 70k+ purchase price with the inability to use basic cruise control, must-less the 10k fsd purchase that is useless. The phantom braking is constant while trying to use the basic cruise control, auto-pilot/fsd. Driving this car makes me a nervous wreck and I am beginning to hate it and regret my purchase. I am seriously concerned for the safety of myself and other Tesla owners based on the current radar-less autonomous features. Nhtsa should get involved and force Tesla to address the phantom braking issues before more people are involved in an accident that could be avoided.

It seems like this is a common problem if you search "Tesla phantom braking," which very obviously needs a solution. I commonly experience the phantom braking when there is a shadow like passing under a bridge. The car will slam on the brakes thinking the shadow is another car, which is obviously extremely dangerous especially on the highway. A simple solution would be to add a legacy cruise control option, while fixing the phantom braking. This would cause a lot less wrecks and deaths.

I was in 2 accidents with this car within a span of less than a year all with the same problem. I had not been in any accident over 40 plus years until this car. First incident was at a drive through when creeping up to the next window the car took off hyperaccelerating. I was able to avoid the truck in front of me from back ending her however scraped her tailpipe causing extensive damage to my car. She then hit the car in front of her. Second incident was approaching my home in my 20-30 mph neighborhood and went to go from 20-30 when car accelerated at a fast speed and was unable to control it being it happened so fast. Hit a tree. All the airbags went off. I could have been seriously injured as anyone who had been on bikes or walking .

I was driving on a large, multi-lane, divided freeway (5 south interstate just before anaheim, CA in orange county, California) and using adaptive cruise control (not autopilot) to maintain my speed in the mid 70s mph. It was around 9pm pt and there was very light traffic. The next car in front of me was at least 100 feet ahead of me and there weren't any cars on the left or right of me. All of a sudden the car started decelerating really quickly, and by the time I pressed the accelerator to counteract the deceleration, the car was at roughly 60 mph. There wasn't any indication as to why the car decelerated so suddenly, and there wasn't anything that I could see that might have caused the cruise control to react that way. Thankfully there wasn't a car close behind me - if there had been, it's possible that the trailing car could have hit me and caused an accident at high speeds. I've read online that there are quite a lot of reports of "phantom braking" from Teslas, and from the descriptions I've read, my experience seems to be exactly the same. I hope that NHTSA and Tesla can work together to get to the bottom of this and prevent these types of scary incidents from ever happening again.