Was traveling on auto-pilot on an uncrowded 2-lane highway, 1 lane in either direction, about 65-70 mph. Car suddenly braked quite drastically for no apparent reason except that perhaps there was a truck in the distance. However, the car had "seen" plenty of trucks before and after and didn't respond in this way. Note that this happened 3 times, possibly 4, on 2 separate days, and only on AUTOPILOT. Note also that the autopilot was functioning as a cruise control because I had 2 hands on the wheel and was not really allowing autopilot to steer. I stopped using autopilot after that.
2022 Tesla Model 3 brakes complaints
Page 5 of 7: complaints 101 to 130 of 169, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Two separate times today the car automatically braked hard when there was nothing in front, nor around us, when we were using cruise control.
While driving at approx 80 MPH along a major highway at approximately 11:30 PM, and while utilizing cruise control, my Tesla Model 3 applied brakes when no vehicle or object was around. My hands were on the wheel and I was focused on driving but the force of the braking caused passengers to move abruptly forward in their seat belts and startled me as the driver. The speed abruptly went from approx 80 down to below 60 MpH. This has happened multiple times. I contacted Tesla support and was told that this is a known issue called “phantom braking.” Since I have NOT used this feature and was told that there is currently not a fix or estimated software release.
When driving on the interstate this morning our Tesla suddenly and aggressively applied the brakes. This happened many times. There was absolutely nothing near us. These were empty stretches of highway, These incidents were jarring, both emotionally and physically. We were fortunate that there were no cars near us, especially behind us. This has happened before driving around town but it was less dramatic because our speed was slower than on the highway, We thought maybe we had to get used to the car, This is our first highway trip. We’ve been on the road for 3-4 hours and it has occurred 8 or 9 times. We called Tesla to report it. They said they rarely hear this complaint, upon researching it we see that this is a known issue with our year and model but nothing is being done. The research says you are “investigating”. Tesla owners need to be told that this issue is under investigation. I’m Sure it is hugely underreported. Will it take personal injuries to get some action? At the very least Tesla owners need to told to be aware and to report any incidences of this random extremely dangerous breaking out of the blue. I am requesting a personal reply to this concern and compliant: [XXX]@yahoo.com and [XXX]@gmail.com. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).”
My concern first started with the cruise control suddenly shuts off. My biggest concern when the cruise control suddenly shut off and braked. When this happened we were traveling on Interstate 80. 4 lane highway 2 lanes each direction. Cruise control set at 80 mph. Approaching an 18 wheel truck moved to the fast lane. Half way past the 18 wheel truck cruise control suddenly shuts off and the car brakes. Traffic was light so lucky I wasn't rear ended. Notified Tesla they sent me a over the air software update. Not satisfied made appointment to bring into their service department. Was told their system doesn't go back to the incident and it happens again file a bug report. Not feeling safe with a car suddenly brakes.
Driving on interstate with autopilot on. I was cresting a bridge overpass when the car suddenly braked on its own even though no other cars or obstacles were in either lane.
My car while in auto pilot will sometimes randomly on highways at highway speed, slam on the brakes. It’s dangerous because you will be doing 75+ mph and the car will just slam on the brakes and you have to take over control quickly to keep up speed. It has happened to me on I-25 in Colorado and I worry sometimes that I could get rear ended. It doesn’t happen all the time just randomly.
While driving at high speed on a freeway the car started braking without driver touching the brake pedal. Adaptive cruise control and lane departure were on. Fortunately no one was following close or it could have cause a serious accident. This happened twice on one day.
I purchased my Tesla Model 3 six months ago and I have experienced the phantom braking event while on autopilot four times that I can recall. The most recent occurrence was this past Saturday afternoon, May 28th, 2022 southbound on I-35W around 2pm . I was driving on a clear sunny day and there was no traffic in front of me. There was a white pickup truck behind me about 5-10 car lengths. While traveling on auto-pilot at 70mph the car suddenly slammed on the brakes and created a situation where the truck behind me could have rear ended my vehicle if I had not disengaged the autopilot quickly. The forward collision warning sensor did not activate indicating any type of potential collision risk. The vehicle simply slammed on the brakes and decelerated from 70 to about 35mph before I could get the autopilot disengaged by tapping the brakes and taking manual control of the vehicle. This was by far the most startling incident but it has occurred on more than one occasion.
When using the cruise control or assisted cruise control, the car will brake suddenly and without warning as if there’s an obstacle in front of the car. In every case (more than 20 times) no obstacle is present yet it brakes regardless. In one recent case we were being closely followed and the trailing car had to suddenly maneuver around us into the oncoming lane. Thankfully there was no oncoming traffic. When I reached out to Tesla they acted like it was not common yet now I’m reading that it’s becoming extremely common.
The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving at 40-60 MPH and making a turn using the self-driving mode, the brake pedal was depressed. However, the vehicle accelerated inadvertently at a higher speed. The contact depressed the brake pedal several times but the vehicle failed to respond. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle crashed into the front passenger's side door of another occupied vehicle. The air bags deployed. The contact briefly lost consciousness. The contact sustained soreness on the nose, the throat, the upper back shoulders, and increasingly on the back. Additionally, the contact sustained emotional trauma. The contact stated that she was in the process of seeking medical assistance. The two passengers occupying the front driver's seat and the front passenger's seat of the other vehicle sought medical assistance. There was no further information provided. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow lot. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but did not provide any assistance. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 3,500.
2022 tesla model 3. Consumer writes in regard to defective braking system. The consumer stated while in cruise control, the vehicle unexpectedly slammed on the brakes. The consumer referred to the failure as "phantom braking".
I275 southbound in Terra Ceia, FL. 11PM. Road surface damp. Speed 80 mph with adaptive cruise control engaged. No other vehicles within view. While on cruise control, the vehicle suddenly engaged the brakes slowing from 80mph to 65mph in a violent manner in a fraction of a second. Wheels broke traction slightly. This has occurred on a number of occasions to me since owned on 12/10/21. It's extremely dangerous to the point I rarely use cruise control on wet or slippery roads for fear of departing the roadway.
For no reason at all the brakes stopped me in the middle of the road. I was nearly hit from behind because it was so sudden only driving about 20 mph and slowing up for a light but did not hit the brakes Happened approximately three times
There have been 3 separate instances in unexpected and sudden braking when using cruise control. All instances occurred when there were no nearby vehicles present. The first incident occurred on a 2 lane road when I was driving in daylight. I used the cruise control and twice over 10 min the car suddenly and unexpected slowed/braked startling me. After 2 times, I turned off the cruise control. Another incident occurred when I was driving on the interstate. Same experience. Sudden unexpected emergency braking as if I was about to hit something and there was nothing there, again daylight. Most recent occurrence my husband was driving, it was night on interstate and he had cruise control on and the car suddenly braked startling everyone in the car. There were no other vehicles present. He turned off cruise control for the remainder of the drive.
Report Phantom braking. It happened multiple times on Thru way from last 3 days. There were nothing in the front of the car but it applied brakes on thru way, lucky no vehicle on the behind. I am concern about safety of my family.
While driving with cruise control set to 90 mph, my vehicle rapidly decelerated to 70 mph — with no other vehicles around. The vehicle suddenly braked for no reason at all, multiple times. Autopilot was not engaged and I was steering the vehicle myself. This while driving West on HWY 76 in Colorado a clear sunny day around mile marker 141, near Proctor, CO. The middle of nowhere. I have a 50 second video I would be happy to share but no video upload option.
We just purchased this vehicle new one week ago. Several times while using cruise control on Highway 101 in Mason County, WA we have experienced severe "phantom breaking". There is no reason for the sudden breaking and seems to be quite random and dangerous.
I have a 1 month old Tesla Model 3 that when i use the cruise control every time i go past a truck on a 2 lane highway, my car will initiate emergency breaking. This has caused cars to almost rear end me. I took the car to Tesla to be serviced, and the issue didn't get any better. I have videos of this happening if you need them
Multiples times while the car was using cruise control we have had it unexpectedly and aggressively brake. This seems to happen when a car is coming towards us in the opposite lane. We have only had the car for 4 days. It is to the point we do not use the cruise control. If someone would have been behind us we would have gotten in an accident. We have also had the forward collision warning go off while not in cruise control.
Driving on a 4-lane limited access road while using adaptive cruise control (Tesla calls it "Autopilot", my car suddenly reduced speed dramatically. There were no other cars nearby, nor was there any kind of obvious obstruction. I was able to turn off Autopilot and resume speed, but I worry what might have happened if there had been another vehicle behind me.
The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving 75 MPH, the braking system erroneously activated causing the vehicle to abruptly stop. The contact indicated that prior to the braking system activating, an audible beeping noise was heard inside the cabin. Additionally, there was no vehicle or object nearby to cause the Forward Collision Avoidance system to be activated. The cause of the failure was not determined. The local service center was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 1,800.
While using adaptive cruise control, the car suddenly braked on Interstate at 65 mph when no obvious obstruction was seen. There was one truck over 100 yards ahead in the slow lane. The braking occurred after I changed lanes to pass. There were no vehicles ahead in the passing lane. Despite a light rain, visibility was not overly affected.
- Cruise control and Autopilot are causing rapid and unneeded emergency braking. This issue essentially renders the car unable to reliably use basic cruise control capabilities - Unneeded braking can cause an unintended rear collision by someone following behind the vehicle, also raises blood pressure of drivers and passengers in the car when braking happens violently and unnecessarily. - Issue hasn't been reproduced. But others I've spoke with are experiencing this on the Tesla Model 3 - The vehicle hasn't been inspected by anyone. - There is no warning audibly or visibly in the car. However the problem seems to occur when the car can't determine if an oncoming car or other obstacle is in the actual lane of the direction of travel or not. My guess is that this has to do with the vision system that's tied into autosteer and cruise control
When driving my husband's new Tesla on the highway for the first time, with adaptive cruise control on, there were two frightening incidents: 1) I was traveling in the left-most lane of a 3 lane highway (3 lanes in one direction) moderate traffic. I signaled my intention to change lanes, and started to migrate into the middle lane. There was an 18-wheeler in the right-most lane slightly ahead of me. The Tesla suddenly braked hard without warning. Either I or the Tesla also swerved back towards the leftmost lane (it happened very fast and I was panicked, so I'm not sure which of us initiated the swerve). The Tesla then seemed to recover from being "spooked", and accelerated back up to the set speed. 2) Later that day, I was traveling on a highway again, this time just two lanes in one direction. Traffic was light. The Tesla again braked suddenly, though there were no cars nearby, and then resumed speed. Additionally, when driving in moderate traffic in town, the Tesla let out loud alarms twice to alert me about cars it deemed I had not paid sufficient attention to as traffic slowed approaching a light. Cruise control was not on, and it did not brake, but it was startling. I usually drive a 2017 Volvo V60 with adaptive cruise and collision-avoidance technology, and it is MUCH less sensitive than the Tesla is.
Good evening, we took delivery of our Model 3 just over a week ago and have a big concern with Autopilot. Over a dozen times thus far, the car disengages Autopilot and begins to brake. This is MUCH worse at night when approaching hills or other cars and is very unsafe, especially for the people behind us. Is there a feature I can turn out to improve this? Perhaps add STD Cruise w/no emergency braking? Help!!!
Phantom braking occurs when 'autopilot - cruise control' is engaged, while traveling at highway speeds.
Just bought the car a few weeks ago. Have had several instances of phantom breaking. Can't drive down a residential street at 25mph as the cars parked along the side of the road cause the alarms to go off and the breaks apply themselves. Also happens when driving on 3 lane roads with a middle suicide lane and there is a truck parked in the middle lane suicide lane. The car will apply emergency braking just driving past the truck. Or past a school bus that is off the side of the road. Very irritating. My subaru has never done this. Multiple dates this has happened
2022 Tesla Model 3 Long Range. As already known the Tesla Model 3 has the issue of "Phantom Braking". Now that I have a $65,000 for 3 days I am very angry and concerned about the phantom braking. Here are some details. Within 10 minutes of initiating Autopilot or Cruise Control the vehicle brakes without any reason when driving highway or freeway speeds (I did not try it on city roads). For the most part the vehicle unexpectedly decelerates 2-5 mph. Although, it is just a little bit it makes for a very unpleasant ride. However, it happens repeatedly. And this happens all the time when Autopilot or cruise control is activated. I counted 5 occasions of phantom braking within less than 3 minutes. The last of those 5 was an unexpected and heart stopping deceleration from 84mph down to 52 mph in less than 2 seconds. This can really give you a heart attack because it is very unexpected. You cannot even drive 10 miles without this happening. There wasn't even a car in front of me for at least 1 mile. So no reason whatsoever for this braking "maneuver". Since I have read about this issue I only (if even) try cruise control or autopilot when there is no vehicle behind me within 1 mile to avoid someone rear ending me. But still.....it is a serious safety issue. One, because of following traffic rear ending the vehicle and second it is really HEART STOPPING when for no reason, out of the blue your vehicle decelerates very HARD. Thank you.
Brand new Tesla Model 3, driving 60 mph on 2 lane highway. The shadow of an oncoming 18 wheel truck was cast into my lane, as it was oncoming, probably 60 mph as well. I believe the shadow triggered the "Automatic Emergency Braking", and my car violently slammed on the brakes, and released them about 30 mph. If there was a vehicle behind me, there almost certainly would have been a collision. Thankfully, no one was behind me, and my car never left the proper travel lane.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2022 Tesla Model 3?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history