The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving 20 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently made a sudden stop and then lost motive power. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact attempted to restart the vehicle; however, the vehicle failed to restart. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, and the contact was informed that the inverter failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 9,000.
2021 Tesla Model 3 electrical complaints
Page 3 of 4: complaints 41 to 70 of 80, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The contact leased a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated upon starting the vehicle, the center display failed to operate as designed. The contact was able to drive the vehicle; however, while driving 25 MPH, the vehicle stopped abruptly in the middle of the road. A message indicating that the trunk was opened was displayed. There was also a question displayed whether the contact wished to continue driving. The contact tapped the option YES however, the touch pad center display failed to respond. The contact exited the vehicle and attempted to close the trunk several times; however, the trunk reopened independently. The contact was able to close the trunk after eight attempts. The contact was able to continue driving to her residence. The contact stated that upon parking the vehicle, the trunk reopened independently. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and assisted the contact with towing the vehicle to the local Tesla Service Center where it was diagnosed that an unknown software had failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer declined to provide additional information. The failure mileage was approximately 15,460.
The cabin heater stopped working. I received an error code "VCFRONT_a447" recommending to take the vehicle in for service. This issue is a problem in sub-zero climates where the windshield will not defrost before and during driving. I have found 67 other cases from reddit and tesla motors club describing the same issue, on new or <2 years old cars. My components have not been inspected. I tried a full hard reboot of the software and no fix. Tesla service estimates $1,792 repair. Replacing a Supermanifold ($450.37) & A/C compressor ($1273.53) +tax =$1792. I am out of warranty by milage, car is 1.5 years old. 60,200 miles.
I'm getting a notification that says " cabin climate control system requires service cabin heating/cooling limited or unavailable". As a result of this failure the defroster is not working properly. The windshield defroster will only blow cold air very slowly. This causes the windshield to fog up very quickly in cold temperatures. I cannot see out of the windshield properly.
It has been weeks and Tesla has still not provided a fix for this issue. It was supposed to be resolved over the air but we have called Tesla for weeks and they have no idea when the fix will be available. Do they have a time limit to resolve? Sep 19,2022 Manufacturer Recall NumberTBD the federal safety agency Recall Number22V702 Recall StatusRecall Incomplete
Driver side window fails to lock completely upon locking the car manually and/or using auto walk away function. This leaves the car very much unsecure and open to being vandalized. Additionally, the driver sides window fails to close fully when auto close button is pressed. The driver side window button has to be fiddled with few times to get a complete window seel.
Seat sensor fail and was able to drive in the middle of the intersection to make a left turn. Since the sensor fail if vechicle is driven less the 5 mph the car will go in park- very scary when in the middle trying to turn left
Since owning this car in January 2022, there have been issues of phantom braking during cruise control or autopilot. However, today 10/6/22 during an hour and a half time frame my car has had phantom braking episodes at least 5 times in the middle of the highway where it's speed suddenly drops by 20mph.
Tesla Model 3 main computer system failure. Failure was not cause by any negligence by the operator. The vehicle was parked over night and upon attempting to operate the vehicle the following day there was no power to the screen. There were no warnings prior. The screen which displays vehicle speed, vehicle battery level, seatbelt warning indicators was inaccessible. Also as a result of the computer failure the vehicle did not emit the required pedestrian safety sound, the front and rear collision warnings were disabled, charging was not possible, the ability to disable passenger airbags in case of a child needing to be transported in the front was inaccessible, if the vehicle was operated during winter the ability to defrost the windshield would be impossible and all safety and security features were disabled. The screen/computer has been an issue for several owners as easily viewed by a simple google search. The vehicle is only a year and a half old and was purchased new. The issues that occurred from the defective computer could of easily have caused of an accident or a caused disabled pedestrian to have been hit. The computer was deemed the cause by Tesla’s service professionals.
This "self driving" Model 3, with FL License Plate [XXX], attempted to merge onto I95 south from an on-ramp, and very nearly caused a major accident. The vehicle had a bumper sticker on the back that said something like "please be patient, I am a self driving vehicle." The vehicle was merging from a left side on-ramp, at a VERY LOW SPEED, and crossed two lanes of interstate traffic, very erratically accelerating, then braking, then accelerating again, and then braking. My vehicle was directly in its path, and I had to brake hard, and take to the shoulder to avoid the collision. If this vehicle's trips are logged, it needs to be investigated. If it weren't for the humans paying attention, the actions of the Tesla car/driver would have caused a major accident, and most likely bodily injury or death. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 MPH with the self-driving feature activated, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that there were no other vehicles nearby in the lane. Additionally, the contact was unaware of any shadows or anything else in the lane. The contact stated that the vehicle slowed down and then resumed a higher speed. The contact stated that he disengaged the self-driving feature and manually drove the vehicle. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or independent mechanic to be diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that he attempted to notify the manufacturer thru the vehicle App but was unable to leave a full detailed report. The approximate failure mileage was 10,445.
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH with the cruise control activated, the vehicle applied the brakes independently. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated he experience the failure three times while using the cruise control feature that same day. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 7,000.
While driving with cruise and steering control, car will emergency brake like something is in front of the car. Many call it "phantom" braking. One time on a 2 lane highway the car braked hard for no reason, it happened on the way to Vegas and a large group of bikers were behind us. Very scary at highway speeds. We let the bikers pass.
Vehicle will engage breaks when there is no obstacle or while on a straight road when placed in cruise control.
https://youtube.com/channel/UCNkrwnR_lAKd4neLwYAbugA My YouTube channel has 13 videos about Tesla safety concerns. They are the only videos on my channel. The minutes long clips show what happens when the mainframe screen goes black, dies out or powers down while driving. Listed from memory are the following concerns associated with the Tesla ‘Black Screen of Death’: 1. No energy/distance shown 2. Glove box is inaccessible 3. Front trunk ‘Frunk’ cannot be opened 4. Proof of signalling is gone 5. Proof of low vs high beam is gone 6. Changing of wiper speed is gone 7. Access to heating/Air-Con is gone 8. Back up camera is obsolete 9. Cameras used when signalling are missing 10. Speedometer is not visible 11. Odometer is missing (have never found it on screen when running anyways!) 12 Air pressure indication is gone 13 GPS is obsolete From memory that is all I have to add. Imagine everything that was/is available to the driver in every other cars dashboard and then take those parts away sporadically for minutes at a time and you’ll have an understanding of how precarious driving my Tesla can be. As an Uber driver I had the opportunity to speak with a corporate agent who was my passenger. She said Tesla is aware of this issue. Having spoken with a Tesla rep at a Tesla garage I was given the same advice found on Internet forums: “Find a place to park, park, press the steering volume & station finder buttons for 10 seconds until display starts up” This very rarely works, and is impossible, even dangerous in many situations. I’ve learned to drive with this continually faltering equipment, and I know every Tesla driver I’ve spoken with must do the same to varying degrees. While all Tesla drivers experience this, none are as repetitive as mine and none seem as proactive to inform government agency of this. Next week, May 26, I have an appt with a Tesla garage that will look into this when I bring my car in. Please view my videos.
The contact owns a Tesla Unavailable. The contact stated while driving 10 MPH in the parking lot he notice an unexpected increase in the amount of acceleration. The contact pulled over in the parking lot and turned the vehicle off then restarted and safely drove off. There was no warning light. The contact did not take the vehicle to a dealer or an independent mechanic. the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The mileage was 36,000
We were driving on the freeway at 69 mph and suddenly with no warning the center console main screen froze. All electronic functions of the car stopped and the car was stuck at 69 mph. Speedometer And turn signals did not work. We managed to get to the side of the road (mechanical brakes and steering were unaffected). The car could not be put in Park so a manual reboot was not possible. The car rebooted itself (screen went black and then came back online) after about 10 minutes or so and then the car functioned normally.
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while her son was driving 70 MPH on autopilot, the vehicle independently decelerated to 45 MPH. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The driver was able to continue driving to his destination. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 8,900.
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving at 5 MPH, the front driver's seat continuously changed positions independently and her foot could no longer reach the one-pedal driving. The contact veered to the side of the road and parked the vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle was designed with a feature that allowed both her husband and her to save their front driver's seat profile on the center display, based on their physical characteristics. The contact stated that her husband was 6 ft. 2 inches tall and she was 5 ft. 5 inches tall. The contact stated that the failure occurred as the front driver's seat moved from her seat profile to her husband's seat profile. Additionally, the contact stated that the center display was displaying a message stating it was looking for a charging station while the vehicle was fully charged. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 2,100. The consumer stated Tesla diagnosed the problem as phantom touchscreen issue and replaced the screen on April 29, 2022.
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, he attempted to honk the horn to warn a vehicle that abruptly moved in front of his vehicle however, the horn failed to respond. The contact stated that the horn only responded when he applied more pressure to it. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the Tesla Service Center where the horn switch was adjusted; however, the failure reoccurred. A Tesla mobile technician arrived at the contact's residence and diagnosed that the steering wheel was not seated properly, and the steering wheel switch was securely adjusted; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to a second Tesla service center, Tesla (4180 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94306) where it was diagnosed that the horn retaining clip needed to be adjusted. The contact stated that the vehicle was repaired; however, the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 900.
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving on autopilot at 60 MPH, the vehicle applied the brake independently. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated he had experienced the failure multiple times. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 2,000.
The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed with the cruise control engaged, the vehicle would independently brake without warning. The contact stated that he saw an article that referred to the failure as “Phantom Braking”. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 2,000.
When pressing the horn in the center of my steering wheel, it only activates when certain regions are pressed. When pressing certain regions of the wheel, such as the bottom half of the wheel, a switch is heard clicking, but the horn does not activate. This issue has been reported elsewhere on forums with videos e.g. in one case where the left portion of the wheel's center area did not activate the car's horn. I have discussed this issue with my local Tesla service center on four occasions and demonstrated it to the technician. But the issue is never addressed and I have now been told that bringing up the defect will incur fees from the service center. https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/model-3-horn-issue-check-the-left-side.137767/ ^Here, there are at least 47 reports of the issue occuring, based on the thread's poll. I wouldn't mind this issue terribly much, except there has now been 3-4 separate incidents where I have had to use the horn in an emergency situation (e.g., when another car is changing lanes without noticing my car next to it). During these incidents, I was either unable to activate the horn, or only able to activate the horn in a delayed manner as I worked to activate the horn by pressing it in a specific manner to enable it. My own video of the issue: https://imgur.com/a/dpXv7sT
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.
On January 26th at about 4:30 pm pm on a clear day I was proceeding west at approximately 55mph on US33 between Barboursville and Ruckersville VA on a straight section of the road with a slight downward slope. I was not using cruise control. A tractor-trailer sized truck was going east and as it approached my Tesla braked hard, maybe maximally, and the panel flashed red, I think. I think I stepped on the brake pedal, but the braking ended instantly as the truck passed. There was no skidding or swerving. No car was close so there was no collision. There was no warning. The police were not called. I have not contacted the manufacturer - yet, as I assume it is a software problem that they are already working on.
While using adaptive cruise control the car unexpectedly and unnecessarily brakes, rather sharply at times. This occurs especially frequently on two lane roads with curves and with trucks coming from the opposite direction. This does not occur, in my 6 months of owning this Tesla Model 3, on freeways.
Phantom Braking occurs often and cannot use the autopilot.
While driving in cruise control at set at 75mph, the car suddenly started to slow down. (Note, the nearest car ahead of me was at least 15 car lengths away and was not braking, so it should not have affected my speed) When I tried to accelerate, the car continued to de-accelerate. I looked at the screen and it indicated that cruise control was set at 50. When the car reached 50 mph, it stopped de-accelerating and I was able to increase my speed. I tapped the brake to get out of cruise control and continued my trip.
I was driving north on Wisconsin route 14 at about 60 mph in my Tesla model 3 using the cruise control.. When a large transportation truck came from the opposite direction, my Tesla suddenly braked sharply. A Ford model F150 truck was following behind me and almost crashed into the back of my car. Fortunately the driver was alert and by sharply apply his brakes on driving into the ditch he avoided colliding with me. This could have been (and nearly was) a lethal accident. I would urge that you put a recall on a Tesla vehicles until this problem is corrected. I have contacted other Tesla owners and they have experienced similar problems. I contacted my local Tesla service station and they seemed unconcerned about the problem. I urge you to issue a recall before someone is seriously hurt or killed.
The automatic rear trunk closure button gets water inside wetting the electrical wiring. It has caused my trunk to randomly open at times and more importantly, can cause an electrical fire. This has put my safety, as well as any passengers at risk for injury and or death. I have not reproduced the issue because it has not rained, nor have I had the car washed. I have notified Tesla of this approximately a month ago and they continue to cancel & reschedule my appointment. There seems to be no urgency to investigate or fix the issue. The vehicle has not been inspected by anyone to date. There was no warning lamps or messages prior to the issue.
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