2014 Tesla Model S: sudden unintended acceleration

Filed May 31, 2026 · Acceleration, Brakes · CA · crash · 1 injury

I have been driving my Model S Tesla for 13 years. On 30 April as I was pulling into a parking space at my local grocery store, I applied the brakes to ease into the space and my car surged forward with unintended acceleration. I smashed into the concrete base of a light pole, the airbags deployed and my car ricocheted back about 8 feet. There were no warning messages. I was taken to the emergency room and had whiplash and a burn on my leg from the airbag. No one else was hurt. I know it was the car that malfunctioned because my foot was still on the brake after the collision and the airbags bruised the right side of my right leg. It could not have bruised it in that way if my foot had been on the accelerator. The insurance company inspected and declared a total loss. I obtained the black box data from Tesla and am uploading the documents below. The car is currently at the Tesla collision center. They do not seem interested in evaluating the problem.

Filed Mar 4, 2024 · Acceleration · MD

On February 11, 2024, as I was entering my house garage at a very low speed, the car suddenly accelerated and hit the wall of my garage, causing damage to the garage and interior of my house. The car was insured by State Fram. It was towed to a shop for repair at which time the insurance company notified me that the car could not be repaired. The car had been totaled. Over the following several weeks, I repaired the damage to my house and bought another car.

Filed Jan 28, 2023 · TX · crash

Car was parked in a lot for 15 minutes and suddenly accelerated, jumping the curb and hitting a structure. The car seemed possessed.

Filed Apr 20, 2021 · Acceleration · MD · crash · 1 injury

2014 tesla p85. Consumer writes in regard to unintended acceleration. *ld the consumer stated the vehicle accelerated into the wall of the garage, while her foot was on the brake. The consumer stated the rear wall and the front wall of the garage were badly damaged. The consumer was injured.

Filed Jan 16, 2021 · Suspension · 38,609 miles · PA

Rear end of the car swayed from side to side on sudden acceleration or deceleration. Tesla verified the problem and replaced replaced rear tow links and front aft links. They said these parts were worn. They charged $3,098 for the repair. The car only has 38,692 miles on it. I know that tesla cars with similar suspension issues have been recalled in china. It is also clear from various blogs that the problem is quite common. My car is out of warranty but I think the issue is a problem with original design. Is there any plan to recall these cars for this issue?

Filed Mar 8, 2019 · Body, Steering · 83,977 miles · CA

It's about 8:18 on saturday, march 2nd, drizzle. I was driving from freeway 56 west to south highway 5. After merge to 5 freeway, I felt the tires slip, then the car suddenly unintended accelerated and steering wheel failed, car whirled at high speed bump into the left side of freeway guard wall, continued to be accelerated spin crossed four lanes hit on to the right guard wall, spin another half circle then stop on emergency lane. Luckily, no other car was involved, I was not hurt at all, except that the car could not drive. By that time the car show 'stability control disabled' see picture. Sitting in my car and calling tesla report about the accident. They told me the reason was the weather. About ten minutes later, the police came and looked at the scene of the accident. As no other car was involved, no one was injured, no public equipment was damaged, the police did not issue tickets and reports.

Filed Feb 15, 2016 · Acceleration · 10,000 miles · WA · crash

Driver purchased a 2014 tesla model s car in june 2015 from the hangzhou china dealership. This car was driven moderately in the following months. In september 14, 2015, the car was being driven within a small, enclosed housing compound. The car was going very slow as the driver was turning to exit the compound through a gated entrance. The car suddenly accelerated without the driver's assistance and drove through the traffic gate before the driver was able to quickly break and bring the car to a stop. Electronic records accessed on september 15, 2015 revealed the following information: the car was originally being driven at 4.7 km/hr with the acceleration pedal depressed at 2.8%. Within one second, the acceleration pedal went from being depressed 2.8% to 84.8% and the car increased to 10.75 km/hr. During the following second, the car's records show the acceleration pedal to continue to be compressed at 84% with the speed increasing to 18.35 km/hr, but with the break pedal also being simultaneously compressed. In the subsequent second, the anti-lock brakes initiated, and the car was brought to a stop a second later. We reject the dealership's decision that this was driver's error. In such a narrow environment as the housing compound, and during a slow and controlled turn, there the driver had no reason to put significant pressure on the acceleration pedal as the records show ' whether intentional or unintentional. We also feel that it would have been difficult for the driver to push both the accelerator and break pedal to such a degree simultaneously. Therefore, we believe that the car experienced an unintended acceleration, which was not of the driver's causing. There have been many similar reports of tesla model s unintended acceleration crashes in china. We feel that this is a serious safety hazard which needs to be further investigated.

Filed Sep 29, 2014 · Acceleration · 1,200 miles · CA · crash

Tl* the contact owns a 2014 tesla model s. While pulling into a parking space, the vehicle surged forward, jumped the curb, and crashed into a building. A police report was filed. There were no injuries. The vehicle was towed to an impound lot. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 1,200.

Filed Sep 29, 2014 · Acceleration · 1,000 miles · CA · crash · 1 injury

I pulled slowly in to a parking spot & my car was at a stop position just ready to push park button. Within a split of a second, my car (tesla) jumped the curb and traveled 5' of sidewalk breaking a glass wall & traveling through a restaurant breaking tables & chairs within couple of seconds w/o me accelerating the pedal. Brake pedal was applied by me half way through the restaurant before the car stopped. No serious injuries to anyone. Tesla was notified & this is the log file data word by word from them. ?at the time of the incident that resulted in damage to your vehicle, you increased the accelerator pedal position from 1% to 50% in less than one second without depressing the brake pedal. One second later, you increased the accelerator pedal to 100% without depressing the brake pedal. One second later, you continued depressing the accelerator pedal at 100% without depressing the pedal; however, the vehicle's traction control engaged & therefore limited the vehicle's torque despite the fact you were depressing the accelerator pedal at 100% until you depressed the brake pedal in the following second.? Insufficient information provided by tesla. How much was the accelerator pedal depressed? Speed of the car? Distance travel? How does this prove that this is not sudden acceleration? The log does prove that I was at a stop. My car will be totaled but is still sitting at storage with insurance company for a short period of time. Many accidents with tesla has occurred, even just like mine in to a restaurant( http://insideevs.com/tesla-model-s-crashes-through-restaurant-driver-blames-it-on-unintended-acceleration/) (http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1087171_tesla-model-s-unintended-acceleration-complaint-filed-with-the federal safety agency.) they can't all be drivers fault. The federal safety agency needs to investigate the box in the car before fatal injuries occur. Public safety should be the priority.