2018 Tesla Model S acceleration problems

Filed Oct 16, 2026 · Acceleration, Electrical · TX

On October 15, 2026, at about 9:09 AM, I was driving my 2018 Tesla Model S to work. I had the car up to the 65 mph speed limit and let off the accelerator. Instead of slowing down from regenerative braking like it normally does, the car kept speeding up slowly to about 70 mph without me touching the pedal. Regen had stopped working completely. Then an audible alarm went off, the PRND lights on the dash lit up, the screen told me to pull over immediately, and the car lost drive power completely. My work was only about a mile away, so I kept going. After about 30 seconds the alert cleared, power and regen came back, and the car drove normally the rest of the way. When I parked and checked the car's alert log, it showed a long list of battery and drive faults at 9:09 AM: BMS_f003, BMS_f017, BMS_f098, BMS_w003, BMS_w098, BMS_u018 (maximum battery charge level reduced), DI_f137 (unable to drive – pull over safely), and TAS_a218 (air suspension unavailable). The car had installed an over-the-air software update the night before, and this happened on my first drive after the update. The next day, October 16, the car showed new alerts and would not drive: DI_u014 (unable to drive – voltage supply too low), BMS_f107, BMS_w107 (vehicle may not restart), BMS_u008 (acceleration and top speed reduced), GTW_w018, and GTW_w157 (vehicle systems shutting down). It is currently not drivable and parked at my workplace. Tesla ran a remote diagnosis and told me the fault is internal to the high-voltage battery. They quoted $16,232.05 to replace it with a remanufactured pack. The 8-year battery warranty had ended on September 20, 2026, 25 days before the failure, and Tesla declined any goodwill help. My concern: at highway speed the car lost regen, gained speed with my foot off the pedal, then lost drive power completely. In heavy traffic this could easily have caused a crash.

Filed May 22, 2026 · Acceleration, Brakes · CA · crash

I pulled my Tesla Model S in a parking lot, and as I turned the car into a parking spot, the car suddenly accelerated, jumped the curb next to the parking lot and hit a tree. The car speed when I pulled into the parking lot and then into a parking spot was very low. so I was very surprised and startled to see the car suddenly on its own accelerating and jumping the curb.

Filed Feb 12, 2026 · Acceleration, Brakes · CA · crash · 2 injuries

I was entering my drive way waiting for the garage to open suddenly my car just accelerated and hit the wall.

Filed Oct 22, 2023 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · TX

While driving using cruise control, in the space of 9-10 miles, the vehicle had 14-16 instances of sudden, unexpected braking for no reason. Most were moderate braking incidents slowing the car 15-30 mph before I hit the accelerator to get the car back up to speed. 2 incidents were where the car slowed 5-10 mph then resumed speed. Very disconcerting. There was little to no traffic on the road and in every case, there was no other car within a 1/2 mile or more to the front. Finally got fed up with this and turned off cruise. Left cruise control off as I passed through a city then decided to try it again. Soon after engaging cruise at 72 mph, the car suddenly and violently braked for no reason. It was such a hard braking that one of my dogs in the back seat crashed into the front seat. The hard braking continued until the speed was about 20 mph at which point, I hit the accelerator in order to resume speed. Note that no other car was visible on the roadway which was a 4 lane highway. Conditions were clear and dry. Soon after this incident, while still on cruise, the car suddenly braked moderately hard. Since the road was clear before and behind me, I decided to see what would happen. The car slowed to 38 mph and stayed at that speed for 3-4 seconds then slowly resumed the set speed. A short time later 1-2 miles further, the exact same sequence happened again. Again, note the road was clear with zero traffic ahead of or behind me. I then turned off cruise and decided to drive manually the rest of the way. This car is dangerous and should be removed from the road

Filed Mar 12, 2023 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · CA

On freeway in traffic, autopilot is enabled. Vehicle is running perfectly fine in start stop traffic slowing down and speeding up as needed. Traffic starts to clear up, and as vehicle speeds up, there is a sudden slowdown again. Instead of braking/slowing down, autopilot turns off without an additional audible alarm (just the standard sound for turning off autopilot), instead the forward collision warning alert goes off. Able to brake in time to prevent accident.

Filed Dec 18, 2022 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · WI

Driving down an interstate at the speed limit, with light traffic. No cars immediately or in ahead of me. The car put on the brakes, or what is commonly referred to as "phantom braking" as I understand it. It has done this on prior occasions and I am familiar with it. It generally seems to be triggered by inconsistent pavement coloring or shadows. The car rapidly braked until I took over (I was using "Navigate on Autopilot" which was managing the speed and lane-keeping). There were no injuries or dangerous situation created during this event, besides being quite abrupt and startling. There are no known failures or issues in my vehicle that would have been likely to contribute. This occurred on Nov 24 in the late afternoon, driving westward. Weather was overcast.

Filed Dec 17, 2022 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · CO

While driving out 2018 Model S, it will brake hard while in adaptive cruise control of full self-driving mode for no reason. This happens frequently, whether driving on the highway or on city roads. It is terribly unsafe. I'm afraid eventually someone following too close will hit me.

Filed Nov 10, 2022 · Acceleration, Brakes · NM

Apparent software issue with Adaptive Cruise Control causing unexpected hard braking at highway speeds. Random hard braking occurs on open road when road is clear, flat, and no other vehicles nearby. Narrowly avoided being 'rear-ended' during several occurrences by car behind. I drove the car this week on a two day road trip from Palm Springs to Santa Fe and this issue must have occurred 18-20 times during the 750 mile trip. I also tried using difference settings and nothing seemed to eliminate the issue.

Filed Sep 27, 2022 · Acceleration · CA · crash · 1 injury

The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while pulling into a parking space, the vehicle accelerated at high speeds without any warning, causing the vehicle to run through a construction site and collide with a building. The air bags were deployed, and the passenger in the vehicle was injured and sought medical attention. The contact was unsure if a police report was filed. The vehicle was towed. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was unknown.

Filed Apr 26, 2022 · Acceleration · 38 miles · CA · crash · 1 injury

The contact owns a 2018 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that while driving down an inclined driveway the vehicle suddenly experienced unintended acceleration causing the driver to lose control of the steering and crash into the nearby RV garage. During the incident, the airbag was deployed and the driver sustained injuries to both knees and left hand. No police report was taken. The cause of the failure was not determined. The contact indicated that the failure had previously occurred in 2018. The manufacturer and local dealer were not notified of the incident. The failure mileage was 38,000.