Many times when I am driving using the adaptive speed control the vehicle will suddenly brake very hard, slamming on the brake, scaring the driver and all passengers in the car. When this happens, there were no other vehicles near our vehicle at the time. If another car was behind mine at this time,I feel that it would surely have caused an accident. I have documented these occurrences each time and brought to the attention of Tesla Service department.
2018 Tesla Model 3 driver assistance complaints
Page 9 of 10: complaints 221 to 250 of 253, newest first, as owners wrote them.
1) What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? answers: the automatic emergency braking system was incorrectly activated on several occasions, yes 2) How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? answer: my Tesla braked unexpectedly in the driveway of my home 3) Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? answer: no 4) Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? answer: no 5) Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? answer: no
I have been plagued with Tesla’s phantom braking for *years*. For all that they do, this seems like a problem they are not willing to invest enough resources to combat the problem. Some releases have been better than others but for last batch of releases, it has gotten far worse than ever before. The car is afraid of bridges and slows down unreasonably. The car is afraid of overhead signs (carpool ones especially) The car is afraid of cars riding on or near the lines of an adjacent lane. The car is afraid of oncoming traffic on the left while driving. What is ironic is these events of aggressive braking is all for nothing. 90% of the time,. The car brakes and does drama without actually having enough time or space if what it was afraid of actually happened. The car has a rear facing camera - why can’t it adjust behavior based on tail gating? Would the car rather have a rear end collision or be afraid of a bridge? It is straight dangerous. The fact there aren’t a lot more accidents is auto pilot/fsd drivers be a large majority pay attention. But, I have had close calls and *many* angry drivers around me get frustrated when it happens. It’s been happening for 4 years…. I realize navigating a complex intersection is a tough problem to solve. They have prioritized this over the fundamentals of driving in a sane way on the freeway in a straight line. It’s ridiculous and I for one am very tired of this problem lasting so long. What chides me is that, “car, why are you braking when a car right in front of you magically went through the bridge you are afraid of?” It is basic logic and simple/obvious clues to help avoid this. They choose not to use it. Also - being in technology myself, I have to rake Elon over the coals. No one smart chooses to not use available data. Elon calling ultrasonic data to be ‘noise’ to turn to vision only is a sign of great hubris over being pragmatic. His ego regarding Lidar is a problem.
When the vehicle is in autopilot, it sometimes (once every couple of months or so) will suddenly engage automatic braking as though there is an obstacle detected in front of the vehicle. In nearly every instance, this has happened at one particular location on an interstate where an overpass casts a shadow on the interstate on which the vehicle is located. The problem seems to be that the vehicle senses an object in front of it and the collision avoidance system is engaged; however, that "object" is only a shadow. This has happened in a few other locations (not simply this where this one overpass is).
Car rear ended, brakes froze after reacting to a car in front of me. Behavior unexpected and Tesla should not have frozen break maybe Abs kicked in
When driving with the driver assist Auto Pilot active it's possible to disengage Auto Pilot but Traffic Aware Cruise Control (TACC) remains active. When Auto Pilot is active the auto pilot system has control of the car including navigation, maintaining the lane, and speed. Speed can be set by the car or driver. In some cases disengaging auto pilot disables TACC , in other cased TACC remains active. A driver may be caught off-guard when the car continues forward at the set speed after disengaging auto pilot. This difference in behavior can surprise a driver and that puts every other driver in the area at risk. Ways to disengage Auto Pilot : 1) Press up on the right-side stalk (also used to engage TACC & Auto Pilot) on the steering column behind the steering wheel. When pressing up on the stalk Auto Pilot and TACC are both disabled. 2) Step on the brake pedal. Pressing the brake pedal disables both Auto Pilot and TACC. 3) Turn the steering wheel, for example to avoid a road hazard or a vehicle in the car's path. Turning the steering wheel only disables Auto Pilot functions, TACC remains active. The car continues to move forward at the speed Auto Pilot was using. The three disengagement methods have similar, but different outcomes. The result is a driver by moving the steering wheel can disengage Auto Pilot while cruise control remains active. This problem is compounded when considering Tesla's forward collision warning and avoidance has issues with stationary vehicles like those stopped at off ramp traffic lights or in traffic jams (this will be covered in another report). Since cruise control remains active when Auto Pilot is disengaged by turning the steering wheel is as designed there are no warnings or alerts. Several time I've had to swerve or slam the brakes to avoid contact with other cars and trucks after taking control with the steering wheel while Auto Pilot was active. This happened several times, date listed in Additional Details is near first time.
At night the camera feed turns bright orange with turn signal blocking the over half of the view.
Tesla changed the entire user interface with their software update to version 11. I believe that this software update will cause vehicle accidents since they removed quick access to critical features and replaced them with entertainment apps. As the driver of the vehicle I do not need quick access to video games / streaming services, and more importantly I should not have to go through several screens to access key functions like the window defrosters. Tesla removed quick access to the defrosters, the wiper controls, the seat heaters and tire pressure. Even the music player now causes driver distraction. This new update is an accident waiting to happen and is geared toward entertainment instead focusing on a safe driving experience. The windows that pop up on the screen even block critical features like wiper blade control. Tesla claims that since they removed the buttons for wipers and defrosters that I could use the voice command but with this new update the voice command feature usually crashes. The new icons for user interface a so small that they cause eye strain and make difficult to see the road after checking the screen. The bottom of the screen is stuck in night mode which also causes eye strain. Since this vehicle has no buttons just a touch screen this drastic change to the user interface is a serious safety hazard. Tesla needs to add an actual physical wiper control switch to their vehicles. The automatic wiper mode is defective because Tesla did not install rain sensors on their vehicles. Also the new software has a serious bug where the vehicle disables the safety systems (all cameras and the lane departure warning system). The vehicle safety systems were disabled on 12/26/21 and 12/30/21. I informed Tesla on both occasions and they saw this software flaw in my vehicle computer files. Please make sure that Tesla fixes their vehicle interface before someone crashes from distracted driving/difficulty using the touch screen interface.
Several times I am driving on the Highway at 65 mph and the car decelerates rapidly for no reason while I am in the drive assist mode. I have reported this several times to Tesla through the "report bug" feature in the car. It's very scary and dangerous. Additionally the drive assist mode doesn't work well in dense fog or rain and there should be a warning to that effect.
Side fender cameras quit working intermittently. Tesla repair tech said they need to be replaced and he's been replacing "hundreds" of them.
Tesla auto pilot does not stay in lane under certain conditions. On the freeway, it failed to recognize plastic reflective stanchions while driving on freeway interchange. The car was making left turn from 101 to 5 north. the car hit the stanchions while making the left turn. I took over the left turn as soon as the car hit the stanchion. The car did not recognize the stations because some stations were missing . The car can make very difficult left tuns on the freeway interchanges. It can make 270 degrees turns. It can make 90 degrees turn at 65 mph and slow down at the last minute to 45 and make the turn without any problem. But it does not recognize stanchion on a left turn. Another problem is AutoSteer in the streets. When passing through an intersection with no traffic , it steers in the Opposition direction lane.This happened about three times. The Autosteer does not recognize the lane in the intersection when the divider lines are missing or there are no other cars to use as a lane reference.
I was driving on interstate, using adaptive speed control but not autopilot. Middle lane. Car suddenly applied brakes. A car was ahead of me but not very close, there was no reason to apply brakes. Slowed down from 65 to 45 very fast, (seatbelt tightened) before I resumed acceleration myself. Lucky I wasn’t rear ended because traffic is usually heavy in that area. I had one passenger who was as surprised as I was. Yes, the car can be inspected. Not reported to Tesla. No warning messages, including didn’t make the loud sound Tesla makes with normal city driving if a car ahead is turning right and I start to accelerate before it has completely left the lane I am in. Tesla cameras are also not seeing cars traveling in my driver side blind spot. They used to show up on the screen but haven’t for months. Tesla cameras also do not see low flat bed trailers (such as empty car carriers) pulled by pickup trucks, common in Ohio. Screen shows the truck but does not show the trailer. I don’t use autopilot because of the blind spot issue, now I’m afraid to use cruise control too.
Multiple "phantom braking" events while using Tesla's Auto Pilot system. Vehicle, while in Auto Pilot mode, will suddenly aggressively brake for no reason (no road hazards or other imminent dangers). Occurs about once every 50 miles driven with Auto Pilot on. The last incident occurred on 11/14/21
Over the last several weeks there have been numerous phantom braking events when on autopilot. These seemingly happen out of nowhere, various conditions, and for no apparent reason. Some of the braking events are very light and others are harder. I estimate in the last 4-6 weeks I have 2-3 per week while commuting. One almost caused the person behind me to rear end me. I am on software version 2021.32.22 on a 2018 Model 3
On enhanced auto pilot highway speeds, the vehicle suddenly breaks, also known as phantom breaking. Extremely dangerous! Tesla service notified, their response “software is in beta, with a recent software update addressing the matter”. 35,000 of driver miles experienced, the auto pilot is extremely glitchy. When the algorithm is to complicated the vehicle well transfer the liability back to the operator with little warning. Their vehicle safety claims are highly overstated. Software updates cannot keep up with outdated hardware.
The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving at 45 to 50MPH in auto-pilot, the vehicle inadvertently veered into the left turn lane but continued straight into oncoming traffic. The contact stated that the vehicle collided head-on with the other vehicle. The contact was unaware of any warning lights or audio warnings. The contact stated that the front driver side and the knee air bags deployed. The contact stated that he sustained chest injures and a scrape on the right wrist and left knee. The contact declined transportation by ambulance so no medical attention was required. The contact stated that the other driver was complaining of pain but also denied transportation by ambulance but informed the contact that she would seek medical attention later. Both divers were seen on the scene by emergency personal. The contact stated that a police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to an impound lot. The vehicle failure cause was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact was awaiting to hear from the insurance company to determine if the vehicle would be a total loss. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The contact inquired of the Event Data Recorder (EDR) information from the manufacturer, however, was informed that it would take several weeks for that information to be retrieved and provided. The failure mileage was approximately 16,115. Consumer stated Tesla's messenger, from their Superior, CO office, stated that the Autopilot did not fail.
The Tesla Model 3 manual is unclear on what situations it is appropriate to use various ADAS functions of the car. For instance, on page 86, it says to never use autosteer on city streets or construction zones. Then on page 87 it says "if you choose to use it on residential roads" which should never be acceptable. Then, on page 94, it discusses the use of Traffic Light and Stop Sign control, and how the vehicle will detect and stop for these controls when using autosteer. These are controls which only exist on city streets. It is impossible to utilize this advertised feature while obeying the manual's other limitations. The same conflicts exist in areas such as page 87, where it first says that the vehicle may steer out of a lane to avoid an object, but then immediately warns that that the car will not do this in the very next paragraph. Page 93 warns you to "be ready to assist" as approaching construction zones, not to disable AP like the warning on page 86 requires. With inconsistencies in the manual such as these, it is expected that a user would be confused as to what the capabilities and limitations of the system are, posing a safety hazard. Additionally, the vehicle is capable of enforcing these warnings itself. As described on page 87, the vehicle is aware of the road type it is currently on. Rather than expecting the user to not use it on prohibited city streets, the system should enforce this limitation if it is one the manufacturer actually expects the user to obey.
Within the first day, my 2018 Tesla Model 3 lost all instruments, safety indicators, and touchscreen controls while driving on the freeway. The car did this *multiple* times, without warning. Each incident lasted several minutes. It was alarming, and there was no way to tell what systems in the car were working (such as automatic emergency braking or cruise control), and no way to change settings, or even know if the turn signals were working as I tried to exit the highway. The Model 3 has only one screen where everything (including basic instruments) is displayed and most controls are accessed. When the screen freezes, we lose access to basics like speedometer, collision safety or system failure warnings or even speedometer readings, as well as control of headlights, wipers, climate control, lock / unlock, navigation, and many other essential functions. During these failures, we do not know what if any safety systems are still operating. Typically when this problem occurs, the screen "freezes" while driving, without warning or any indication of trouble. The screen remains unresponsive for a lengthy period (typically minutes) until the screen goes completely black for a time, and then eventually a Tesla logo appears, followed by instruments and controls gradually being restored. The car was delivered from the factory to my home in this state, with other obvious defects—Tesla did not permit us to test-drive it. The next night a Tesla technician saw the failure happening in real time, through Tesla's remote diagnostics. He said the car was probably not safe to drive. I asked to return the car under Tesla's satisfaction policy, and he agreed to start the refund process. Tesla refused to take the car back, and the car has continued to exhibit these failures. This has been happening since the car was delivered in October of 2018.
I bought the standard autopilot for 2 model 3sI find it highly useful. It keeps me in the middle of my lane. Warns me with loud signal and bright red car marking of cars in my blind spot if it is dangerous to change lanes. Allows me to see clearly all cars around me. It will not allow me to drive without my hands putting active pressure on the steering wheel. I feel that it makes driving much much safer. Driver still needs to pay attention with active pressure on steering wheel.I drive 30,000 miles per year. I paid $3000 extra to buy the autopilot after not having it for the first 6 months. It was well worth the cost.Should be a standard feature on all new cars!!! My wife who drives my other model 3 has had the same experience.
https://youtu.be/Q74d_rK5aKk Please find the above YouTube link that has the front camera video at the time crash. Issues: ======= 1.) Tesla auto emergency brake didn't alert or stop. 2.) Obstacle awareness didn't alert or stop the vehicle 3.) Lane keeping assistant didn't alert/warn. All autopilot basic safety settings were enabled.
Rear view camera often does not turn on (or is black, while side view cameras work); rebooting car's software system has no effect, as other owners have advised. Tesla mobile technician replaced camera, still doesn't work. Says it may be software or chip-related issue with media control unit.
Tl* the contact owns a 2018 tesla model 3. The contact stated that while driving 70 MPH with the cruise control activated, the braking system erroneously activated causing the vehicle to abruptly stop in the middle of the road. The contact indicated that during the failure there were no objects or vehicles nearby to cause the braking system to suddenly activate. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The local dealer was not yet contacted. The failure mileage was 5,000.
While driving major federal freeways (i65 & i85) between houston and n.c., the car while on autopilot and traveling at freeway speed (70 MPH) would emergency brake when approaching some (6-7 times) overpasses apparently thinking the overpass was crossing traffic or a forward obstruction. This also occurred (3-4 times) when it was simply a rise in the freeway ahead. The braking only lasted for maximum 1-2 seconds, but since the vehicles behind me would not be expecting me to brake, I consider this a serious safety issue.
I was in bumper to bumper traffic on the freeway about to change lanes. I was on totally manual operation. The car suddenly accelerated and hit a car and continued with my foot on the brake to hit another car. There was no collision damage warning or avoidance automatically stopping the car.
While driving on a highway tesla suddenly hard braked out of nowhere. My speed dropped from 70 to 30 in a couple of seconds. There was an 18 wheeler behind me and it could have been a deadly collision if I hadn't intervened. This is a known tesla but that someday would kill someone.
-multiple times that the screen has gone black while actively driving the car (both on city streets and highway) -episodes where the screen is unresponsive; thus, being unable to use any functions of the car using the touchscreen both while stationary and while driving the car -car not rebooting/resetting despite multiple attempts while stationary -car sounds suddenly being cut off while driving- unable to hear turn signal, GPS, etc-and while driving -car/system implements auto-correction measure to reposition the car thinking the car is departing from the lane, when in fact, the car is not swerving or trying to do a lane switch (car is driving in lane on a highway). Due to this faulty system, car has unsafely drifted while in motion and does not let human guidance trump this mechanical error.
Vehicle will emergency brake on highway without warning and no other cars around. Also unable to access charging port to charge vehicle.
Three separate problems: (1) rear camera goes black when backing up. (2) forward facing camera gives error on screen "driving visualization temporarily degraded" when driving. This happens on road and freeway. (3) screen became completely unresponsive to input. Map display was working. Following software reset procedure fixed this.
Several ongoing issues with touch screen failure (black outs) malfunction, has been repaired more than 3 times continues to be issue * ongoing accelerometer malfunction * all of sudden receive error message stability control disabled * --regenerative braking disabled * --automatic emergency braking is disable * ongoing phone key and connection issues, antenna issues, unable to connect to bluetooth. Repeated issues have not been resolved by tesla service dept * touch screen failure (black outs)and consistent issues with connectivity wifi. * mass malfunction of internal hardware * voice control barely works * seatbelt sensor malfunction * issue with breaking noise, screeching * uncontrollable acceleration while ongoing chronic unintended acceleration problems, such a accelerate out of control, jerking, braking all of sudden while driving. Suddenly acceleration * these are ongoing issues with our tesla model 3. Several of these malfunctions have been addressed with tesla service department more than 3 to 4 in the last six months. Filed complaint on 8/30/2019 the federal safety agency id# 11301634.
I want to both report and complain about an incident that happened with me on december 14, 2019. I was traveling with my wife and two kids from vancouver, wa to my residence [xxx]. I was driving my tesla model 3 (bmx 2571) and the days before the car had a new update installed (that included improvements to wipers using some ai improvements). There was strong rain while driving on the I-5 freeway. The traffic speed was 70 MPH. I was in the middle of a huge pack of cars all moving at the ~ 70 MPH. What we encountered was- a) first wipers got locked (no movement et all), this reduced my visibility to almost zero and struggling to maneuver the car in the high speed traffic to avoid any accident. B) the car then went in some shutdown mode of display, both confusing me and leaving adrift as to how to handle the situation. It took both my wife and me some heroic effort to drive avoiding any accident until the car recovered (it was a period of ~30 sec which sounded like eternity for us) from this freeze, shutdown, and reboot. You can verify my claim as I did file a 'bug report' around that time. When talking of the anomalies, I have also seen that on freeways the autopilot has tried to put brakes all of a sudden in the past, thus creating life threatening situations. At all these occasions, I had filed 'bug reports' to help tesla. However, latest incident is beyond my wildest imagination and concerning with respect to the safety of life while traveling in a tesla car. Best, [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
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