In cruise control or autopilot, the car will apply brakes randomly and without warning. It is extremely scary to have it slam on the brakes for no reason. Luckily no one was behind me, so I wasn’t in danger of causing an accident, but the problem is constant enough I cannot use the cruise control nor autopilot.
2021 Tesla Model 3 driver assistance complaints
Page 12 of 16: complaints 311 to 340 of 431, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The automatic cruise control will 'phantom brake' and is unusable on the 2 lane highways near my home. Sometimes the braking is extremely abrupt and if a car was following it could create a very dangerous situation. The car brakes unexpectedly when traffic is coming the other way or of there's an undulation in the road.
Phantom braking with autopilot on one lane highways when larger vehicles approach the vehicle in the other lane. This is easily repeatable on any one lane road, happens literally all the time. My older Tesla that still had radar never had this problem. This is a problem with Teslas vision only approach to cruise control
While using cruise control on a highway, the car suddenly braked for no reason that I could detect. This has happened 3 or 4 times and I have stopped using cruise control for fear it will reoccur. I reported this to Tesla but was told I would need to take the car to Santa Barbara. I live 90 miles north and traveling to Santa Barbara is not feasible right now. You ask for dates below and I don’t know the dates other than that the incidents occurred between October and December 2021.
The Traffic Aware Cruise Control and Auto-Steer are easily confused so that the vehicle does unexpected things like suddenly slowing down, even heavy breaking, or disengage steering control while in a corner next to semi-truck. This commonly happens when driving at higher speeds, 70 MPH, on the freeway. Suddenly slowing down at such a high speed is dangerous when there are cars following me as they don’t expect a sudden slow down when they can clearly see there is no reason for our car slamming on the brakes. In my observation this problems occur most frequently at higher speeds and when approaching a semi truck or overpass. It is especially worse when going through a corner. Sometimes the center barrier seems to cause sudden slowing down. Also, driving in a corner on the freeway while driving next to a semi truck has caused the auto steer to suddenly disengage which in itself was not dangerous since I had both hands on the steering wheel, it certainly startled me which could potentially be dangerous.
PHANTOM BRAKING When cruise control is engaged (not auto steer or full self driving) the vehicle will intermittently slow down or apply corrective braking when no hazard exists. This happens more frequently on 2 lane roads but also happens occasionally on multi-lane freeways. On a 2 lane road, my vehicle will either slow down, brake or break HARD when anything larger than a SUV is coming from the other direction at normal speeds and in his lane. I have also experienced this when there is nobody for 1+ mile in front of behind me. If there are cars behind me, I find myself covering the accelerator and ready to floor it in case my car suddenly slams on the breaks. This make cruise control very unsafe and stressful. I have another Tesla vehicle doing the same thing and will post separately on that one. Thank you.
In the process of slowing down for traffic, the brake pedal floored by itself and the brakes locked. There was no longer any contact between the foot and brake pedal. If not for the brake locking, the car would have been able to stop in time and avoid a rear end collision.
Since we received the car in November 2021 on two lane roads when meeting large profile vehicles like semi's or UPS it gives us a collision warning and hard brake, which in heavy traffic scares us of a rear end collision. It happens on both cruise and autopilot. Have been in touch with Tesla and they say everything is working correctly. They say they are trying to correct the problem but It's been four months and we are still scared to use the cruise on two lane roads.
“Phantom emergency braking” problem while cruise control engaged. Occurrences are unpredictable as to causation. Examples of emergency braking include: - no apparent reason: no vehicles nearby, no obstacles in road - cresting a hill - bridge overpass - highway overhead signage - vehicles on side of road - vehicles crossing highway but at a distance that is not dangerous - passing large vehicles on highway This problem causes anxiety driver. could likely create a very dangerous scenario for vehicles following behind should emergency braking engage
Phantom braking. The Tesla brakes without warning or provocation when on cruise control. On two lane roads brakes deploy forcefully every time a semi truck is traveling in the on coming lane. It does not have to be on a curve. It is every time a large truck is in the opposing lane. On 4 lane divided highways, it will forcefully brake (from 75 mph down to 40 mph in seconds) climbing small hills, patches of tar on the roads, shadows, off ramps, side roads and for no apparent reason. I have almost been rear ended when a car is following closely and it happens. I have recorded these incidents , reported to Tesla, taken the vehicle for diagnostics and they have no answer and imply that occasionally it may happen however, it should not be an issue. IT IS A DANGEROUS PROBLEM and an accident waiting to cause serious injury. I drive daily with my job and it happens every day.
The automatic braking system performs pretty well on interstate highways. However, on two lane highways and secondary roads, heavy braking occurs for no apparent reason and with no warning resulting in several near misses for rear end collisions. I can solve the problem by not using cruise control; but, cruise control prevents me from unintentionally speeding. Either this unintentional heavy braking needs to be technologically resolved and/or I need to be provided with the option to switch to conventional cruise control in which I set the speed and determine when the cruise control is deactivated. THIS ISSUE HAS OCURRED DOZENS OF TIMES DURING MY 5 MONTHS AND ~10,000 MILE OWNERSHIP.
I received delivery of a Tesla Model 3 Long Range vehicle on Oct 25, 2021. On nearly every occasion that I use the “autopilot” cruise control feature, one or more phantom braking events occur. When this happens, my vehicle decelerates rapidly and without warning with enough force to thrust my head and upper torso forward. In all cases, there is nothing in the road and no perceivable road condition to warrant this behavior. Fortunately, no one has been close behind me yet when this has occurred since it would surely result in a rear end collision. There appears to be no consistent pattern: it happens on sunny and cloudy days; day and night; highway and surface streets. I have gotten into the habit of leaving my foot resting gently on the accelerator when in autopilot mode in order to react quickly to these events and hopefully avoid a collision. On Dec 17, 2021 I mentioned this issue during a service appointment at my local Tesla dealership. The response was that this was a common and known problem with Model 3’s and would be hopefully worked out in future software updates as the system “learns”. Four software updates later, the problem has not been resolved and in fact seems to be occurring more frequently. I believe this phantom braking problem is a serious safety issue that Tesla should immediately address.
I was driving down the freeway at highway speeds. A motorcycle passed me in the left lane. My car sudden slammed on the brakes at freeway speeds and if a car was following me closely I would have been hit. The motorcycle did not cross my path and I was in no danger of hitting it. I was using cruise control at the time. This has happened more than once. Usually it is when a motorcycle is around. I have stopped using cruise control if I see a motorcycle on the road.
Forward Collision Warning and Automatic Emergency Braking system failed/malfunctioned. The car is in a Tesla authorized body shop for inspection. The airbag deployed and prevented any injury but the accident did put my life and others at risk. The car was inspected by Tesla's authorized body shop. There was no warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. The car was brand new, and I believe a possible explanation is Tesla taking out the radar and replacing it with Tesla vision. I tried to contact Tesla for an investigation but no response. I received a 30k bill to fix the car, and Tesla did not take any responsibility. Here is the footage: https://www.dropbox.com/s/sat1w5i0gl6bwsr/2021-12-20_10-56-45-front.mp4?dl=0
While on autopilot I experience regular abrupt phantom breaking around semi trucks. This has nearly caused several accidents. I will be going from 60 mph to nearly full stop. This is incredibly unsafe and I no longer feel comfortable using this feature around semi trucks.
Cruise control will slow abruptly without notification or apparent reason. Driving in the middle of the desert on an interstate with cruise control activated and the vehicle will suddenly apply emergency braking for no apparent reason. No other vehicles in close proximity. No crossroads, overpasses or entry/exit ramps in close proximity. Braking event occurs every time cruise control is initiated and occurs several times in one session. This is a critical safety hazard and needs to be addressed immediately. If a large truck was following close behind, they would not be able to slow in time which could have deadly consequences. Tesla shows no concern to fix this critical flaw in an expeditious manner. This needs to be investigated and corrected immediately before someone has to pay the ultimate price.
Tesla is phantom breaking for no reason. It could cause me to be rear ended by another car. This is happening more and more to me. Tesla purchased in Oct.
Phantom braking occurs intermittently since vehicle purchase while operating autopilot cruise control. My Tesla suddenly brakes without any vehicle ahead to warrant this action. Cars following me could easily slam into the rear of my car. Luckily that has not yet occurred. I have not noted any associated warning lights or alarms. I am awaiting replacement of the car computer (prompted by needing to reboot computer repeatedly), but this has been delayed several months due to parts unavailable. Consumer was unable to use cruise control because of the numerous times car brake mysteriously while driving on a freeway. Consumer reported the issue to Tesla and Tesla stated it was a bug immediately when it occurs.
Sudden/phantom braking of Tesla Model 3 with no apparent obstacles in sight while on adaptive cruise control both with and without auto steering. First noticed on a trip from SF Bay Area to San Diego in August 2021 at mileage about 2,000 miles. On a longer trip from the Bay Area to Colorado in October 2021 with mileage about 5000 miles, we further tested it on desolate stretches of highways with speed limits from 65 to 85 MPH. Over the course of the trip, the problem occurred over 20 times. We turned off all the automatic driving functions and have not used them since October. We prepared a detailed spreadsheet of all the incidents. See attached. In November, we reported the sudden braking problem to Tesla, along with the spreadsheet. They could not use the data I provided and asked me for more recent timestamp of the braking problem. I refused to test the car on busy Bay Area freeways because it was simply too dangerous. After much back and forth, they decided to test drive for themselves. I informed them that the problem was sporadic and would need to test drive for at least 2 to3 hours. On the first service appointment, they drove for about 15 miles and determined that they could not replicate the problem but would recalibrate the cameras. On the second appointment, instead of recalibrating the cameras as promised, they did another test drive. Again, they only drove for 15 miles and determined that they could not replicate the problem and asked that I contact them if the problem occurred again. I believe this problem is extremely dangerous and have not turned on the autopilot features since October. During my interactions with Tesla service employees, they seem to act as though this is the first time they heard of the problem. I don’t believe Tesla is treating this problem seriously enough to take immediate action and needs the attention of the federal safety agency.
Since the V11 user interface update, when you put the car into reverse, the rear camera sometimes does not show up, or often shows up only after a delay. Sometimes the delay is just a second or two, other times it is a minute or seems to hang forever. Today I was parked in front of my kid's school dropoff zone, and needed to back up after they got out to leave. When I went into reverse the cameras were just black and stayed that way. This was especially worrying in this scenario since small children could be walking behind me that I wouldn't be able to see without the camera. This was never a problem until the V11 user interface update, which also causes other safety problems, by burying important functions behind menus. For instance you now have to dig into a menu and reach all the way to the right side of the screen to operate the wipers, you have to dig into menus to operate basic climate control functions that used to be immediately available, etc.
With Autopilot/adaptive cruise control engaged, the vehicle slows precipitously on the freeways before large overhead signs across the freeway. There is no need for this reduction in speed due to safety. The system phantom brakes.
- Yes - The cruise control portion of autopilot has some dangerous bugs in it ('21 Model 3 Long Range). At freeway speeds, the phantom braking is scary ASF!!! Potentially, getting someone killed. While on my road trip between Los Angeles and Denver then back. I experience at least 20 to 30 phantom braking events from mild to dam near scaring the f$$k out of me. Most of these events were during the day at speeds that would have caused a serious accident if someone was following me too close!! During the night time the events were all mild in comparison to the day time events. -Yes -No -No
While driving up SR95 in AZ at 65mph, the car suddenly provided an audio alert and then slammed on the brakes. It felt as the anti-lock may have engaged. When control was regained, I glanced at the screen and it appeared that it believed a person was in front of the car. There was nothing in front of the car at the time except the road and its common tar-snakes. All safety features were manually turned off to resume the drive. Though within seconds of turning on cruise control, it would start braking and being erratic forcing me to not use the basic cruise control. This was NOT while Autopilot was engaged. At the time of the main incident, cruise control wasn't even engaged. I was in full control of the vehicle and the throttle. But I could not override the braking. Thankfully the person behind was far enough not to be a major risk, but that was luck. Had anyone been following at your average distance, it would have been a rear end collision. This system is NOT safe and I will be looking at replacing the vehicle on this incident alone. I had experienced phantom braking often in the past, but never like this one where it panicked and slammed on the brakes so hard as to cause pain in my wife's shoulder due to the belt.
When traveling on a two-lane highway, oncoming traffic - especially larger vehicles such as semi trucks - cause the car to think it is going to hit the oncoming traffic and engages the brakes and sounds the forward collision warning. If the driver is not quick, there is danger of being rear-ended due to the sudden and unexpected braking.
The car makes sudden braking when cruise control and/or autopilot is engaged. It’s very frustrating as the car thinks it’s emergency braking because of something in front of the vehicle but the sensors are misreading the stopping. It’s very scary.
Phantom breaking. The basic autopilot cruise control frequently + aggressively brake as it detects phantom threats due to obscured sensors. Car can brake from 65 to e.g. 40mph rapidly, causing more risk, due to the rapid deceleration. Car needs a basic cruise control feature
The car has been phantom braking wrecklessly since July and has not been fixed. It almost caused an accident yesterday morning on the way home from my work. There was a vehicle approaching in the oncoming traffic lane and the lights were on. My car slammed on its brakes causing the person behind me to swerve. If it is low light conditions and a car is approaching in the oncoming traffic lane my Tesla will phantom brake almost always. This started with the vision only vehicles as my past Teslas with radar did not do this. It is now impossible to drive in low light conditions even with cruise control without the car slamming on its brakes constantly in autopilot or cruise.
Adaptive cruise control is becoming dangerous on two lane roads. It repeatedly tries to slam on the brakes as if there is an obstacle whenever a large truck or similar vehicle passes in the oncoming lane. It is dangerous to vehicles driving behind us and defeats the purpose of having adaptive cruise control.
The car keeps abruptly braking between 10-20 mph speed reduction while at highway speeds. Seems to be when there's minor hills or curves but otherwise entirely open road without nearby vehicles. Happening in a 4 lane and 2 lane highway with cruise control set (not self driving or autopilot) and the autopilot, autosteer, forward collision warning, and automatic emergency braking options are all confirmed OFF.
We recently purchased a new Tesla Model 3. This vehicle has Tesla Vision and doesn't have the radar unit to assist with TACC or Autosteer. With this vehicle, it has phantom braking on a frequently basis. For example, I drive on a two lane highway and in a 20 mile drive in clear daylight the vehicle will phantom brake anywhere from 5-10 during the trip. These phantom braking vary from random light braking for no reason to full on hard braking. Fortunately, we've been lucky not to have anyone behind us when these incidents occur. I've contacted Tesla and given them multiple dates and times. I was told that they were able to look at some data on the car and it appears everything is working as it should and it "should" get better with updates. I was also given a bunch of excuses why it was working as it should. I even sent Tesla a video of it doing a hard phantom brake and i was told that the highway was narrow. I've argued with them that this is occurring every day on every drive when we are on a two lane highway. I basically get told that it's functioning as it should, which clearly it is not. When I tell them I owned a 2019 Model 3 and we had zero phantom braking issues with it, but they have no answers. I feel their go to answers are it's a software issue and blame the engineers, which us customers don't have access to. This is going to cause a crash one day if this issue isn't taken seriously.
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