When using cruise control, there has been 4 times that the car has engaged in “phantom braking”. We were driving on highways going the posted speed limit of 70 mph, when the car suddenly slammed on the brakes and decelerated to less than 30 mph – all four times we were thankfully not being closely followed by another vehicle or we would’ve had a devastating crash. One time when we looked at the screen, it showed the outline of a person in the median but there was no person/ other obstacle at all. We have reported this to the Tesla service center and they said it is a known issue, and what we have to do is just click the scroll bar and report it so that the engineers can mark the timestamp and collect data so that some patches can be sent over the air/ uploaded at a future date. Nothing has been done to fix the issue and we feel dismissed about our concerns about our family’s safety, and the safety of drivers around us.
2021 Tesla Model 3: brakes engage by themselves (phantom braking)
148 of the 675 complaints about the 2021 Tesla Model 3 describe brakes engage by themselves (phantom braking).
- owner complaints
- 148
- of this car's complaints
- 22%
- typical mileage
- 14,169
- recalls
- 1
Brakes engage by themselves (phantom braking) by model year
What owners say
2 problems 1,Phantom braking when cruise control is activated. 2, There's no rear door mechanical release in the event of a electrical power failure in the event of R.T.A
My Tesla has full self driving supervised. When I use this feature, since about three updates ago, my Car has started braking for no reason. It hasn’t happened on a freeway, but, but on secondary roads, it will brake and try to come to a stop. It seems to do this, when there is a shadow across the road, or when there is a puddle in or near the road. Sometimes it will brake for no reason at all. I I have come close to being hit from behind. I think this is a dangerous situation that needs to be looked into.
vehicle constantly phantom brakes while driving. i have reported 100+ incidents thru my tesla "report bug" feature. It will read the speed limit sign on the off ramp and slow the vehicle down 20mps abruptly, it will see a car on an onramp and slam the brakes on thinking there is a collision coming. it is every single day using cruise control
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle experienced phantom braking, causing the contact to lose control of the vehicle. The contact was driving in a rainstorm during the failure and stated that the vehicle had not hydroplaned nor had the accelerator pedal been released. The contact stated there was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure occurred another time during a rainstorm. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 74,000.
Tesla ADAS detects non existent objects and issues collision alerts and phantom brakes randomly if there is no cars in front of the Tesla, braking abruptly and almost getting me into rear end accidents. Tesla ADAS freaks out when making lane changes randomly, shaking violently and giving the driver and its passengers a fishtailing simulation. Auto wiper triggers randomly while it's sunny, distracting the driver and forcing an interaction on the center console to stop it. Auto wiper cannot be turned off as it reengages upon using Tesla ADAS. The rear view camera lags. It stutters and shows me a delayed view. Compounded by the Model 3's very small rear view mirrors and side mirrors, this is incredibly dangerous as I have no way of gaining sufficient visibility of the back of the car. Tesla service told me this is all normal.
This car, like many Teslas, is experiencing what has been come to be known as phantom braking. When in the autopilot or full self driving, this car will occasionally to frequently, depending on the day, suddenly break where it will decelerate from say 65 mph to 45 or 50 in a very short period of time. This can happen in very busy traffic conditions. It seems to happen when I'm going faster rather than slower. For example, I haven't experienced it so much on City Street. It seems much more prominent on highways. This is an issue that has many YouTube videos about. It has been reported by many Tesla owners as well as the media.
When autopilot is engaged, car unexpectedly brakes with no obstacle in front of car. Some called it “phantom braking”.
While the Traffic-Aware Cruise Control was engaged, my car abruptly tried to stop 8 times on the interstate while traveling at 80mph (the speed limit on the open stretch of road in central Utah). The weather was clear, no clouds, no wind, very light traffic, very good roads, no debris on the road, about 85 degrees, no shadows were cast on the road and during the day. I was on a 5 hour road trip. Out of the blue on at least 5 of the occasions, with a vehicle about a half mile or more ahead of me and no vehicle next to me my car abruptly braked - like emergency breaking - for no apparent reason. Two of the phantom braking occurrences happened when after passing a vehicle and I signaled and pulled back in to the right lane with at least a 3 second space, and my car emergency braked. This about caused an accident and thankfully it did not cause a road rage incident. Two of the times we were snacking once on vegetables when the car phantom braked and the bowl and vegetables went flying forward. Thankfully none of the times did I have my cup to my mouth as I would have gotten hot coffee on me and could have burned myself or have caused some destruction to my car. The passenger in my car safety was at great risk as well as everyone on the road near me. No warning that the car saw something or was going to emergency brake. My vehicle is available for inspection. I have not taken it to a dealer or elsewhere for replication nor has the vehicle or component(s) been inspected. There were never any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. Also, the problem occurs 100% of the time I am at one particular place on a local freeway so it can be replicated. I do know that it will occur there so I plan for it. When I travel this road south bound there is never a problem but when I travel north bound 100% of the time my car will phantom brake regardless if it's day, night, clear or wet. Tesla needs another option for cruise control now!
Intro: This is a well known problem with Tesla cars. It's referred to as "phantom braking" in the Facebook Tesla groups and is wide spread. Using only cameras since around 2021 for adaptive cruise control, the car will "slam on the brakes" even though the road is completely clear ahead. This can easily cause an accident if there is a car following you. It has occurred several times since I bought the car Jan 2022. - malfunction component adaptive cruise control. yes available for inspection - a rear end collision could occur when the car's brakes are activated so hard that the car decelerates from 70 to 20 in seconds - the problem is well documented - no, no inspection by any entity. Tesla knows the problems exists - no, no warning of any kind
Major phantom Braking at 70mph on interstate 5, 4 times the brakes slamed on as if yo had done an emergency stop from 70mph to 20mph fortunately we were not rear ended as I had my son and grandchildren in the car. The car was in cruise control on each occurrence I finally had to stop using it for fear of a major accident
My Tesla Model 3 Phantom Brakes when using Cruise Control, particularly in the morning when the road is clear, no cars or obstacles in front or behind me. the federal safety agency KNOWS THIS IS A PROBLEM AND I HAVE PREVIOUSLY MADE THIS COMPLAINT. I contacted Tesla to no avail. They did nothing. WHY HASN'T the federal safety agency DONE ANYTHING ABOUT THIS ISSUE. THIS IS DANGEROUS AS AN ACCIDENT IS WAITING TO HAPPEN.
Service bulletins that may apply
Related recalls
Service brakes, hydraulic: foundation components: disc: caliper
- What is wrong
- Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain 2019-2021 Model 3 and 2020-2021 Model Y vehicles. The brake caliper bolts may be loose, allowing the brake caliper to separate and contact the wheel rim.
- Risk
- Contact with the rim may cause a loss of tire pressure, increasing the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Tesla Service will inspect and tighten, or replace the caliper bolts as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 23, 2021. Owners may contact Tesla customer service online by visiting www.tesla.com/support/contact or by calling 1-877-79-TESLA (or 1‑877‑798‑3752). Tesla's number for this recall is SB-21-33-002.
Recall number 21V387000 · Recall details
Questions about the 2021 Tesla Model 3 phantom braking
Is brakes engage by themselves (phantom braking) a common problem on the 2021 Tesla Model 3?
148 of 675 owner complaints about the 2021 Tesla Model 3 (22%) mention brakes engage by themselves (phantom braking). The model year with the most reports is 2022.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2021 Tesla Model 3?
There is 1 recall and 2 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 2021 Tesla Model 3
Adaptive cruise 256Collision warning 32Wipers 21Lane assist 19Headlights 17Backup camera 14Sudden acceleration 12Jerking 11Loss of power 9Ball joint 8Seat belt 7Grinding brakes 6
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