2015 Tesla Model S: backup camera failure

Filed Nov 8, 2026 · Driver assistance, Electrical · IL

The center touchscreen suddenly went completely black and became unresponsive without warning. Repeated attempts to restart it using the steering-wheel scroll buttons have failed. The black screen prevents me from accessing important vehicle functions, including the rearview camera and other controls plus the sound system is affected so I do not hear any warnings. This creates a serious safety concern while driving. Additionally, the driver's instrument cluster remains black for approximately 20–30 seconds after pressing the brake pedal before the Tesla logo appears and the display becomes operational. This delays access to essential driving information. These problems have occurred during normal vehicle use. The vehicle drives normally once the instrument cluster starts, and its driving range and charging behavior appear unchanged. However, I am concerned that these electronic failures could put me, my passengers, and other road users at risk. The vehicle has been professionally inspected, and I was advised that it likely needs a replacement Media Control Unit (MCU) and 12-volt battery. These components have been identified as needing replacement to address the electronic problems. However, the repairs have not yet been completed. I respectfully ask the federal safety agency to investigate whether these failures represent a broader safety defect affecting other Tesla Model S vehicles, particularly involving the MCU, eMMC memory, touchscreen, and instrument cluster. If a safety defect is identified, I hope appropriate recall action will be considered.

Filed Apr 10, 2026 · Driver assistance, Electrical · CA

This issue involves critical safety systems, including the rearview camera, front camera, and Autopilot/driver assistance features. The vehicle was taken to Tesla for a recall related to the MCU system. Tesla marked the recall as completed, but no effective repair was performed. The rearview camera remains unavailable, the front camera system is not functioning properly, and driver assistance features continue to be disabled. Tesla returned the vehicle without resolving the safety issue. This condition poses a serious safety risk, as essential visibility and safety systems are not operational despite a completed recall.

Filed Aug 14, 2025 · Airbags, Driver assistance · CA

What happened? While driving my 2015 Tesla Model S, the main touchscreen (MCU) began intermittently going black, disabling access to essential vehicle controls, navigation, climate settings, and rear-view camera display. At times when the MCU was functioning, the rear-view camera feed would still display a black screen upon shifting into Reverse, leaving me without any rear visibility. Component or system that failed: Media Control Unit (MCU1) / eMMC memory failure Rear-view camera and/or associated wiring harness Safety risk: The intermittent blackouts of the MCU and loss of rear camera feed created significant safety hazards, especially when reversing or attempting to adjust driving settings while in motion. The loss of rear visibility increased the risk of collision with pedestrians, cyclists, or obstacles. The MCU failure also limited access to defrost/defog controls and turn signal audio feedback. Problem reproduction and confirmation: Tesla Service has confirmed both the MCU1 hardware failure and the rear-view camera malfunction. The problems occurred repeatedly before being inspected. Inspection: The vehicle has been inspected by Tesla Service Center technicians, who diagnosed both the failing MCU1 and the defective rear-view camera. Warning messages or symptoms prior to failure: For MCU: slow system performance, frozen screen, then intermittent complete blackouts while driving. For rear-view camera: black or distorted camera feed when in Reverse, even when the MCU display was otherwise operational. These issues began occurring in June 2025 and became progressively worse until Tesla inspection on July 6, 2025.

Filed Oct 27, 2023 · Driver assistance · WA

1)MCU1 flash memory failure in production from 2012 to 2018, part is available, but would require downing the car to remove/replace. 2)The symptoms of this failure include the loss of indicated gear state and reduced driver visibility from the loss of rearview camera, defrost/defog and exterior signal lighting which increases the risk of an accident. Driver display is black or booting up slowly during this time and the car can be put into gear and driven prior to the display showing DNR gear state making it a safety risk to anyone walking near the vehicle if it was accidently put into gear. 3)Issue was confirmed by Tesla and was told an update to MCU2 hardware at $2250 was needed at the customer (my) expense. The vehicle was under a full Tesla warranty, so I refused and asked them to fix this issue. Tesla Service cleared/freed up some memory but said the issue would return unless I paid to update to MCU2 hardware. The issue has returned as they stated. 4)Yes, by Tesla Service and Tesla Engineering. Both confirmed that this was a known issue with the MCU1 hardware in production from 2012 to 2018 and recommended that I (the customer) update the vehicle to MCU2 hardware for $2250. 5)There are no warning lamps or messages to inform the operator of an issue. Only the black driver display, but that doesn’t prevent the operator from putting the vehicle in gear. The symptoms start with slow driver display boot times and progressively get worse over time losing the rearview camera, defrost/defog and exterior lighting controls. The display lag becomes enough to be able to accidently put the car in drive or reverse without displaying indicated gear state on the dash making it a safety risk to anyone walking near the car.

Filed Oct 24, 2023 · VA

The driver side screen and the central touch screen developed bubbles with multiple air fluid lines and bubbles. With the sun shining in from the side or rear of the vehicle, it made the screens nearly impossible to read. This created very unsafe driving conditions, as the driver was not able to see critical information from speed, dash board warnings, rear camera view and vital air conditioning functions such as defrost/defog. This was noticed within 1-2 days of having the recall repair for the VCM to upgrade 8GB eMMC. The Tesla Repair Center said the two events were not related. Ultimately, I was left to replace both screen through and infotainment system upgrade costing $2250.00.

Filed May 21, 2023 · Electrical · MI

As I arrived home after a 50 mile trip, I pressed the homelink indicator on the central console of my 2015 Tesla model S and found it was inactive (the garage door didn't go up). I then pressed other areas on the central console and found none of them responded to the touch of my finger. This included all functions (e.g., temperature, defroster, lights, rear camera, navigation, radio, turn car off, etc.). Unlike a previous incident that I reported (reference # 11459567) , the center display did not go black, it just became inoperable. This is definitely a safety hazard. It can not be fixed while driving. One must stop the car and exit to turn the car off, or one must stop the car and press 2 buttons on the steering wheel to reboot the center console. This might be difficult to do while driving on the highway. I will reboot the center console the next time I drive the car, and I am sure it will be fixed. However, this is a problem that should not have occurred. (Present software version 2022.8.10.12, updated recently)

Filed May 10, 2023 · Driver assistance, Lights · 79,000 miles · TN

The contact owns a 2015 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that the center display screen became inoperable. The contact stated that the defroster, exterior lights, back-up camera and radio were inoperable. The contact stated that the vehicle occasionally stalled. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the center display screen needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 21V035000 (Back Over Prevention, Visibility, Exterior Lighting) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was contacted, and the contact was referred to the dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 79,000.

Filed Aug 16, 2022 · SC

With my 2015 Tesla Model S. The touchscreen component that controls rear backup camera, sound volume levels, air conditioning, mirror fold capabilities, basically all the car component settings that can be configured freezes mid drive or on car startup and the touch capabilities stop being responsive. This can also be a danger because it prevents turning sound down on radio/music in the event say EMS or ambulances are near. I have read limited other reports of this online for their MCU1 component. the federal safety agency forced them to do a recall on the daughterboard emmc memory issue and this feels similar. Tesla says they checked all my hardware components via remote diagnostics and the hardware checks out. The only "fix" right now is hard rebooting my car mid drive which can be scary as it causes center screen to blacken out and a 4-5 minute reboot cycle mid drive required. I plan to capture a video of this seeming software bug as well for my report to Tesla and could provide to the federal safety agency as well.

Filed Jun 3, 2022 · Driver assistance, Lights · 80,000 miles · NJ

The contact owns a 2015 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that the backup camera functioned intermittently and on other occasions, the image would remain frozen on the screen. The contact also stated that the MCU Unit failed and went blank on several occasions. While driving on some occasions, the MCU Unit would reboot. In addition, the defroster and turn signal chimes failed to function. The failure had gotten progressively worse. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the vehicle was serviced under the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 21V035000 (Back Over Prevention, Visibility, Exterior Lighting) however, the failure persisted. The service center offered the contact a special offer of $2,000 for an Entertainment System Upgrade (NVIDIA Tegra 3 to Intel Atom Processor). The contact declined and Tesla acknowledged that there was a known issue with NVIDIA Tegra 3 Processor in the MCU and that an upgrade to the NVIDIA Tegra 3 would resolve the known failure. The contact was concerned that the backup camera failure might result in a crash with another vehicle or pedestrian. The vehicle had been taken to the dealer on three separate occasions and on each occasion, the vehicle remained in their possession for approximately 2 weeks. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 80,000.

Filed Apr 4, 2022 · Driver assistance, Lights · 56,000 miles · MI

The contact owns a 2015 Tesla Model S. The vehicle had previously been serviced under the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 21V035000 (Back Over Prevention, Visibility, Exterior Lightning) however, the failure occurred after the recall was repaired. The contact stated that while driving at an 60 mph, the center display screen went black and then rebooted, causing the defroster, the rearview camera display, and the navigational system to become inoperable. The auto pilot function and other unknown warning messages were displayed. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 56,000. When he reported the failure to Tesla, they believe a firmware update in the near future should fix this problem.

Filed Jul 21, 2021 · Driver assistance, Lights · 49,274 miles · CA

The contact owns a 2015 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the main center display failed not allowing the contact to use the rearview camera, the turn signals, and all the electrical functions. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed with the eMMC flash memory device needing to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that a couple of days later he received notification of the federal safety agency campaign number: 21V035000 (Back Over Prevention, Visibility, Exterior lighting). The manufacturer was informed of the failure and referred the contact to the federal safety agency for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 49,274.

Filed Jul 19, 2021 · Electrical · CA

I received an “important safety recall” letter from Tesla, dated July 14, 2021. This is to replace the embedded MultiMediaCard (eMMC) in the media control unit. The instructions were to set up an appointment with Tesla to replace the VCM daughter board with on containing an enhanced eMMC. Yesterday, upon receiving the letter, I created an appointment for this Friday per Tesla’s instructions. I received confirmation of the appointment. Today I received a message from Tesla: “For this recall, unless you are currently experiencing issues with this touchscreen that we are able to verify, we will not be replacing it at this time. Please let us know if you have any other concerns, otherwise we will close this work order.” I wrote back asking for them not to cancel my appointment. I have had the main screen “blank out” with no controls. This also turns off my air conditioner, rear camera, and other controls. This screen has gone out three times over the past year. I’m concerned that they are not going to fulfill their obligation for me and others who have these cars and are experiencing the same problem. I have asked Tesla to remedy the situation and have not heard back.