Automatic Emergency Braking problems of the 2023 Tesla Model Y - part 2

131 problems related to automatic emergency braking have been reported for the 2023 Tesla Model Y. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2023 Tesla Model Y based on all problems reported for the 2023 Model Y.

36 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 12/18/2023

Tesla Model Y, suddenly applied emergency brake bringing the car speed from 70 down to 50 suddenly, when fsd was enabled while traveling on i35. This happened at least 4 times and all 4 times there was a truck next to Model Y. This is really dangerous and as there is no one behind me in my lane, no accidents occurred.

37 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 12/17/2023

The vehicle applied the brake without any warning. The road was clear with no other vehicles ahead and behind at the time. The speed at the time of the incident was 78 miles/hour.

38 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 12/17/2023

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? slowed down entering a driveway when car sped up on its own , forward collision warning/emergency automatic breaking did not warn or do any breaking. No sound or warning on the computer screen. I brake but the car still hit the post. I do not know what speed it accelerated to. I am not sure if autopilot kicked in but the car accelerated when I have already released the accelerator. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? yes - injuries sustained. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? when calling Tesla on Dec 23, 2023 - was told by the rep that ticket has to be filed but I was disconnected and I was not able to get through the lines. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? yes - car was totalled. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? I never saw any warning lamps come on as I always driven with distance. The camera was worked was worked on due to the wiper going on even when not raining on October 24 but the fix did not work. Once at the emergency room, trying to call Tesla or texting the no that responds when buying the car no longer accepting my text. The promise that when we get car accident, Tesla will call - no phone calls. All I received was text alert car suffered failure and was deactivated. I was in pain and not able to follow up and try to do report and look at pictures. . Today I just received a letter dated 2/8/2024 about recall no 23v-838 in the mail. But the car is gone. . . The software version it had is 2023. 27. 7. The tech guy came here to the house on oct 25, 2023 and checked everything.

39 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 12/17/2023

The car suddenly engaged the automatic emergency braking system when it perceived a glare on the road to be an obstacle. Passenger experienced mild whiplash discomfort from the severity of the braking. No other cars were around so no accident occurred.

40 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 12/12/2023

Driving 75 mph on the interstate with cruise control activated. Brakes slammed unexpectedly with no reason or warning. Had there been anyone behind me it would have caused serious accident.

41 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 12/02/2023

Traveling on an interstate highway when the car suddenly decelerated. Cruise control was on at the time. Sudden deceleration with cars following made it quite dangerous. We could have been struck from behind. This happened two times on the same trip.

42 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 11/25/2023

These are observations over the past couple of months that I have owned the car. They have been consistently observed and have occurred at speed between 35-70 mph. There are four main issues I’m having with my Tesla. 1) I cannot use cruise control because it requires automatic windshield wipers. The automatic windshield wipers cannot sense when it’s raining and just turns on randomly when it’s not raining. 2). The car breaks on its own randomly on both the highway and city streets. I have almost been rear ended several times because of this. 3) the car thought another car was coming in my lane on interstate 95 and violently switched lanes without warning causing me to oversteer and almost wreck. I had my family in the car with me and it was terrifying. 4). The two times I used full self driving the car actually accelerated to make it through a yellow light. I know these are all beta features of the car but in my opinion they are all dangerous to use on the roads and should be disabled until they are ready for prime time.

43 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 11/21/2023

Phantom braking occurred while traveling eastbound from austin to houston on us 290. Vehicle was traveling 76mph and slowed to quickly to 55 mph for no reason. There was a highway overpass about 75 yards away which may have triggered it, but no vehicles around us. Scared my wife and kids!!!.

44 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 11/15/2023

The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while his grand-son was driving 40 mph with his friend in the front passenger's seat, he depressed the brake pedal as he was approaching a stopped occupied vehicle. A light indicating that the brakes were engaged illuminated, but the vehicle failed to respond. Additionally, the automatic emergency braking system failed to engage, and the vehicle crashed into the rear of the vehicle in front of him. The air bags deployed. The contact's grand-son and his friend were able to exit the vehicle. The vehicle then turned off and locked, which rendered the vehicle unnoticeable by oncoming drivers. Another driver who noticed the incident parked behind the vehicle and activated the hazards lights to prevent other drivers from crashing into the vehicle. The contact's grand-son sustained a burn on the right hand from the driver's side airbag deployment. The friend and the other driver did not sustain any injuries. A police report was filed. The contact's grand-son received first aid assistance from the ambulance. The vehicle was towed to a Tesla collision center, who denied assistance. The vehicle was then towed to a collision center that was certified to work on Tesla vehicles. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 8,000.

45 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 11/09/2023

Tesla Model Y delivered six weeks ago, I engaged the "auto pilot" for the first time on my morning commute and it worked well for a few moments. Suddenly and without warning the vehicle applied full braking force from highway speed, so hard that it glazed the rotors. This happened on eb I-10 jwo I-15, an extremely busy interchange. With possibly divine intervention I was able to retake control of the vehicle, shut down the auto pilot and I swiftly returned the vehicle to speed, needing only a restroom on an emergency basis. Relevant factors could include low incident angle of the sun at dawn and being in a construction zone with lane markers not thoroughly scrubbed off.

46 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 11/08/2023

I was driving in my Tesla Model Y to my sister's house. I went to park, stopping with the car facing the garage. Then, it suddenly accelerated and sped through the closed garage door. It slammed through the door, hit the walls, damaged the house and staircase and then finally stopped. It was so fast that I felt like it happened in a fraction of a second. Like sitting in race car or ride I reported the incident to Tesla on November 8th, the day this happened, and was asked to send pictures. I was told someone would contact me within a week, but I still haven't heard back from anyone. Currently, the vehicle is at a Tesla authorized collision center, and no one has looked at the reported issue. Collision center sent estimates for the repair.

47 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 11/05/2023

I was driving on the freeway at approximately 67 mph using the advanced cruise control. There was no car immediately in front of me or directly beside me. All of a sudden, the car decelerated quickly, as if it slammed on the brakes. I was able to react quickly and override the deceleration, but had there been a car directly behind me, I very likely would have been rear-ended. It all happened so fast that I didn't stop to get all of the detail, but I'm guessing I dropped down to about 50 mph before being able to respond and override the breaking. It was terrifying, as I didn't know if I could override it at first. I later read other complaints about "phantom breaking" and realized there is a pervasive problem with the Tesla.

48 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 11/01/2023

I was driving my 2023 Tesla Model Y northbound on interstate 69 in indiana near the 219 mile marker. The time was around 9:30 p. M. My speed was approximately 70 mph. I was using what Tesla calls "traffic-aware cruise control". All of a sudden and with warning, my vehicle braked extremely hard, slowing me down very fast. Luckily no one was behind me. I had no idea what was happening and looked all around for danger. After a few seconds, I accelerated and continued on. This phantom braking is very concerning to me. Had someone been behind me a horrible crash would have occurred.

49 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 11/01/2023

We have owned this car for a week and we have experienced unwarranted automatic breaking and rapid deceleration 1or 2 times on 5 out of the 7 days of driving. We are now considering returning the car due to overall safety concerns.

50 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 10/26/2023

One month latest Tesla model-y owner. Tried all means in last 3 days to submit several concerns, but Tesla had made it impossible to file written complains. 1. Automatic emergency braking was applied with kids in back eat to school on an internal 35mph road in broad day light with a solid cement divider in left and no vehicle around anywhere. Everyone was hurt someway or other due to this phantom braking and would have been much worse on highway as there are many trucks on this side. Seems accelerator was also not working for few seconds. A software fliker is seen, seconds before this, in video. Not sure a hack, bug or intentional. Major safety issue, have video from dashcam. 2. The fsd is not ready, whatever Tesla says, it doesn’t care about road condition, speed or other surroundings. Drives like aggressive kid who just learned driving & doesn’t care about anyone or anything. Thats the reason have stopped using it. 3. The automatic lane departure assistance is very dangerous at the as it takes control of vehicle and tries to move away from lane as soon as you are around the border, without considering speed, other vehicles in side lanes, road condition or road hazards and due to this, several time it happened like tug of war, where other vehicles were too close like a truck in there lane left & right, hence was trying to be on edge of lane and this system was yanking to go away from line, causing shaking & was about to hit other vehicles. This may have caused accidents, had to turn this off as well. 4. The estimated range is so wrong and off my 70-100 miles and this could cause safety issues for family in night or cold getting stuck or anxiety that can cause emotional trauma and safety issues. 5. Other small stuff- wiper turn on without rain or water, sentry mode don't work if charge is below 65 miles, which could be a security risk, fandom door open notification, bluetooth issue, car don't unlock, costly super charger etc. Sorry but had no other way.

51 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 10/15/2023

Phantom breaking while on autopilot. The car slows down abruptly with no vehicles or obstacles ahead. This is a new issue that started after a recent update. Also since latest update autopilot has became more sensitive(in a good way) to situations that do require speed reductions. But, the phantom breaking is scary and frustrating.

52 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 10/15/2023

I had 3 incidences where my Tesla braked hard while using basic cruise control. There was no car in front of me in all cases. One time there was a car to the side of ne. The incidences happened on October 15, 2023 while driving on I-15 and I-70 through utah. It happened around 1 pm, in sunny weather. The car braked hard for now apparent reason, and this is very dangerous if a car was behind me. The passengers in the car became scared. I looked for settings to disable the automatic braking when using cruise control, but changing the various settings GS did not help. The random braking did not happen if cruise control was off. I had to stop using cruise control for fear of my safety. There should be a way to turn off auto-braking when using cruise control.

53 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 10/10/2023

My car randomly brakes while using autopilot/cruise control on the highway. It will brake and move the car toward one side of the line. This happens sometimes every 20 minutes on a roadtrip. On one occasion, it threw the car to the far left side of the line and then reacted to the on the left. It threw the car back to the right side of the lane, near the car on the right side. There were cars on either side of me and neither were coming into my lane.

54 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 09/30/2023

Car was on tacc. It was early evening so the sun was making a lot of shadows on the road from trees. Car kept repeatedly slamming on the brakes approaching each tree shadow. The road was absolutely clear of any real hazard. Almost caused car behind me to collide into the back of me, and then they passed me while honking and very angry. I can't blame them.

55 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 09/27/2023

My wife pulled into our driveway at 5 mph. Suddenly our Tesla y. Auto accelerated,before my wife could realize it ramped into our garage through the door and collided on the wall of our laundry room and kitchen damaging foundation of the laundry room. My wife was also injured badly. This incident has shaken my wife. We complained to Tesla and filed the complaint but they are not even following up. Please investigate this issue.

56 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 09/22/2023

While driving with autopilot/cruise control, the car started braking heavily with no obvious obstruction on the road. This happened 5 times over 2 days of long distance driving.

57 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 09/17/2023

Tesla Model Y emergency braking applied on a freeway while driving with enhanced auto pilot putting me and my family at high risk when there was no emergency whatsoever. My lane and the lanes either side of me were free and there was no traffic.

58 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 09/15/2023

Phantom braking happening regularly when auto driving cruise enabled on highways w no oncoming traffic.

59 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 09/13/2023

4 times on our 300-mile trip on I-90, where it is a 4-lane divided highway, our Tesla braked unexpectantly (phantom braking) at highway speeds in excess of 65 mph. There were no warning bells or chimes - just violent unexpected braking for no apparent reason. There were no obstructions in the lanes ahead of us and no apparent reason for the sudden braking. Fortunately, there were no cars immediately behind us. But it was extremely unsettling to have the car unexpectedly brake.

60 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 09/09/2023

The incident occurred because the car in front of me made a sudden stop (there was a 3-car accident ahead of the car in front of me). In response to the sudden stop I hit the brakes hard on my car but my car failed to completely; it kept moving forward until I hit the car in front of me. I was not tailgating the car in front of me and had plenty of room to stop as I braked. Video recording from the Tesla showed the sufficient distance between my car and the car in front of me. I re-recorded using my phone, I can upload it for your review but the size is about 30mb and in . Mov format.

61 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 09/07/2023

Our Tesla seems to be experiencing regular phantom braking events. We just had an event today while traveling on the freeway. Our Tesla unexpectedly applied the brakes without warning as if it was trying to avoid a collision. No objects were in sight. Our cruise control was active and we don’t have autopilot.

62 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 09/04/2023

When accelerating to highway speed the automatic emergency braking (aes) erroneous engaged. The aes appeared to register a tie-down strap going from the center front of the Model Y to the cargo on the roof as a pedestrian. This resulted in the car coming to a complete stop while merging onto the highway (decelerating from approx. 45 mph to a complete stop) which risked causing a rear end collision. The aes again erroneously engaged when puling to the side of the road. I disengaged the aes, but the pedestrian warning continued to light-up sporadically for the remainder of the trip at a range of speeds (although braking did not engage). Prior to the aes engaging there was no warning or alarm. There has been no inspection of the vehicle. A "bug report" is being filed with Tesla.

63 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 08/22/2023

Automatic emergency braking activated without any car in front. The car came to sudden stop. Acceleration was disabled.

64 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 08/17/2023

I was driving along hwy 37/151 between san antonio and mission, texas. The trip is long straight and flat highway. During the round trip, my Model Y had 5 episodes of phantom braking. Twice in auto-steer mode and thrice under regular cruise control. In each case there were no cars within meaningful proximity, and no debris or other obstruction that should trigger the brakes. In every case the car was running at 60-80 mph, and the braking ranged from light to near emergency stopping force. The incident that prompted this report was when I was crusing at 80mph when the brakes engaged. Within seconds, my speed dropped by nearly half in what seemed like a couple hundred feet. The car responded to my immediate use of the accelerateor, so I don't know how close to a stop I would've come. Had this happened with a car close dehind me I would have absolutely be struck by it. I know that it is a known problem, but I wanted to add my car to the list of effected vehicles.

65 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 08/17/2023

I was trying to make right turn from mcdonald's but suddenly, unintended acceleration, Tesla went into the intersection and hit the other side of car. - the emergency brake did not work and as a result of the accident , there was a severe damages in the front of the Tesla.

66 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 08/15/2023

Yesterday updated Tesla car software version with 2023. 26. 7. Today, I am going to work with autopilot mode. Traffic was slowed down and stopped and car should apply the break automatically. However it didn't apply the break or slow down the vehicle. I forcefully applied the break still car didn't stop fully and collided with in front of the car. I strongly believe, there was a bug in. New software version 2023. 26. 7.

67 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 08/12/2023

The car engaged breaks multiple times on an empty freeway while driving on the adaptive cruise control. There were no cars nor any objects on any lane. The breaking was so hard that I almost lost the control of the car. Luckily there were no cars behind. The problem might be sun related as it didn't happen at night.

68 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 08/11/2023

When in cruise control my car experiences phantom or ghost braking seemingly out of nowhere. It violently applies the brakes without any obstacle in sight. This has happened to me many times and always on the freeway in sunny conditions. Tesla needs to address this as it’s a common complaint and has likely led to or will lead to many rear end type accidents. Thank you.

69 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 08/07/2023

Consistent to the point that it can be predictable- phantom braking along virginia I-66 eastbound; everytime exactly after passing the gantry near exit 44.

70 Automatic Emergency Braking problem

Failure Date: 08/01/2023

On 8/1/2023, driving between mojave, California and inyokern, California on highway 14, a newly paved and striped highway being followed by a mercedes van, I was doing 70 in a 65 zone. No traffic in front of us. No road signs. No turn outs. No side roads. No bridges, overpasses or underpasses when suddenly the car braked from 70mph to 48mph before I pressed down on the accellerator to keep the mercedes from hitting us. The front end of the mercedes dipped as he hit the brakes hard and he honked his horn which is what I would have done under similar circumstances. In the next half hour we experienced the phantom braking phenomenon five more times before my wife found complaints about "phantom braking", a phenomenon we'd never heard of or had been warned about. We turned off the automatic emergency braking and experienced no more events until after stopping in lone pine for charging. When we reentered the highway we experienced one more event before turning off the automatic emergency braking system, once again. Hours before we'd been in southern California driving on highways 5, 101 and 405 cruising along at 70 with traffic close in front and behind us. If the phantom braking had occured there, we might not be here today. Calling the Tesla dealership in reno the salesman was non-plussed about our experience and informed us we should be ready to hit the accellerator at all times. This is not an acceptable response to what could easily have been a major accident.


Other Forward Collision Avoidance related problems of the 2023 Tesla Model Y


Model Y Service Bulletins
Model Y Defect Investigations