Tesla Model S stalling problems

Filed Mar 29, 2026 · Lights · CA

Vehicle lights turned off while driving home with my family. Pulling over and turning off and on the car reset the problem. When lights turned off I received a warning light identifying a faulty right headlight and faulty left headlight. No accident and vehicle is currently outside manufacture warranty.

Filed Feb 27, 2026 · Brakes, Electrical · 108,000 miles · MD

The contact owns a 2013 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that the parking brake seized while leaving a charging station, and the vehicle screeched into oncoming traffic and stalled. The parking brake warning light was illuminated. The local dealer was contacted, and an appointment was scheduled. The vehicle had not been charged prior to a snowstorm, and the battery became fully drained. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was determined that the main battery and 12-Volt battery needed to be replaced before the diagnostic test. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure reoccurred. The vehicle failed to shift into drive or move. The jack mode was disengaged. While driving, the rear wheels were screeching. The contact stated that the failure was related to TSB: SB-21-33-002). The vehicle was towed to another local dealer, Tesla Service Arlington-Glebe Rd (2710 S Glebe Rd, Arlington, VA 22206). The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The battery was at 19 percent. The manufacturer was contacted, but no additional assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 108,000.

Filed Apr 23, 2024 · Electrical, Steering · TX

I was driving on the [XXX] to for a work meeting on Monday [XXX], 2024, at about [XXX] (central). My 2018 Tesla Model S shut down while driving on the freeway. The power steering went off and so did the hazard lights. I pulled over to the shoulder. Unfortunately, the shoulder is not too wide on [XXX]. I was driving at 70 mph or so when this happened. The only warning that popped on the Tesla Screen was “Vehicle Shutting Down Pull Over Safely”. The battery still had about 175 miles left to empty. So, this was an unusually unsafe incident that could have been life threatening. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Aug 29, 2023 · Acceleration, Brakes · NM

From Aug 23 to 28, 2023, we traveled in our 2020 Tesla Model S Long Range Plus vehicle from Santa Fe, NM to San Diego, CA and back, for a total distance of approximate 2100 miles. We drove primarily interstates (I-25, I-10, I-8, I-5) where speed limits ranged from 55 to 75. We experienced numerous instances of what is known to Tesla owners as sudden, severe "phantom braking" [hereinafter PB] while the cruise control was activated (not AutoPilot, nor FSD, just cruise control). In ALL instances, no cars or other objects were visible within 1 mile ahead of our vehicle, and in ALL instances, these "phantom braking" incidents happened on absolutely flat, straight, smooth road surfaces, at all times of day, morning, noon, and night. This car has had PB problems since the day was purchased; in fact on that day, there were at least two sudden PB incidents while I drove home in the new car! At numerous times since, I've reported these problems to Tesla Service---to no avail. The problem is widely known among Tesla owners, and to my knowledge no owner has been able to get Tesla to do anything. On this most recent long-distance trip, our PB incidents happened typically at the posted speed limit of 75mph in all-clear situations---nobody else anywhere remotely nearby. The car would be operating smoothly when all of a sudden the brakes would engage and the vehicle would rapidly decelerate, throwing forward anything not fastened down inside the car. Because of the history of this problem, I NEVER activate cruise control whenever ANY vehicle is near the rear of the car, as I can never tell if my car will "phantom brake" at that moment, causing a possible accident. I consider this problem VERY dangerous. I have owned this car since 2020, and Tesla has refused to do anything to fix it, always coming up with one or other stalling technique or excuse. I consider this an extreme safety flaw of this car and hope the federal safety agency can help to force Tesla to fix it once and for all.

Filed Aug 28, 2023 · Driver assistance, Electrical · ID

The screen that shows the rear view camera turns on intermittently when engaged. It will often not turn on when shipped to reverse. The sentry system has stopped working as well as the main screen will shut off while driving from time to time, which removes the ability to turn on any heat or air, defroster etc... This was a previous recall and I am a new purchaser of the vehicle. I notified Tesla, they stated that they see where it is having issues but it was already recalled and fixed and any new fixes are no longer under the recall.

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 Oct 6, 2022 · Steering · NV

I was recently nearly involved in a traffic accident when I wasn't able to blow the horn on the Tesla steering wheel. I was backing up out of a parking stall in a parking lot and at the same time another car in the stall next to me was also backing up. I tried went to blow the horn on the steeling wheel and I was not able to find it quickly enough because it is very difficult to find the button in an emergency. Fortunately, the other driver in the car saw me just in the nick of time and was able to stop. The problem in my opinion, and many others on social media, is that Telsa chose to not put a horn in the normal place on the steering wheel where most other car manufactures place their horns. Another area of concern about this Yoke steering wheel are the turn signals. Unlike most cars, the directional signals on this model Tesla are located in a small area on the steeling wheel. These buttons are hard to find and use when attempting to turn at a street corner or to change lanes on the roadways. Consequently, sometimes it's just easier not to use the turn signal. I personally believe that this is also a safety concern for this car.

Filed Apr 6, 2022 · Electrical · 73,000 miles · WA

The contact owns a 2015 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle took 5 – 10 minutes to be started. The contact stated that the doors and apps were inoperable. The contact stated that there were several error messages displayed. The contact was concerned about the vehicle stalling. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 73,000. The VIN was not available.

Filed Mar 9, 2022 · Driver assistance · TX

The 3 rear-looking cameras display 3 images to the center display, when the car is in reverse. I rely on them as I pull my car into the narrow opening of my garage stall at home. The opening is for a single car, & has pillars on either side, allowing 8-9", total, clearance with mirrors folded. Even with mirrors extended, I have limited visibility to the clearance of the sides of the car, as they pass the pillars. The repeater cameras, in the front fenders, are a great support to see the garage as I back into my garage. However, the UI, immediately upon selecting 'Reverse' while near the home garage, conceals 50% of these side images from view with a pop-up rectangular user interface (UI) -- ruining any advantage I have to see the rear as I pass these obstacles. As a result, I have to dismiss the pop-up UI & avoid triggering the controls within it, by making a sliding motion on the center display, with my fingers applied to the UI. This is a problem because: 1) the UI displays the option to trigger one of my 3 garage doors, each of which have an associated homelink rectangular button. This is useless when the garage is already open. 2) I'm in reverse, so I'm trying to back-in to the garage in one motion. Adding an extra steps, by clearing this obscuring UI distracts. 3) With tight clearances added problems are: trash might lie outside the garage; items can be left in my garage stall; people could be nearby. Distractions mess this up. Tesla likely fails: a) that the garage could already be activated to be open (or even opening) -- & therefore, tends to prompt the user multiple times, while parking; b) that 3 homelink garages are at the home. They didn't budget screen real-estate to show the homelink buttons without obscuring the backup display-screens assigned to each of the 3 rear-ward facing cameras; c) that a driver prefers to back-in to the parking space, relying on views of the 3 cameras to avoid obstacles. Tesla counted on people to forward to park.

Filed Dec 30, 2021 · Body, Electrical · 45,000 miles · CA

The contact owns a 2013 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that while driving at 70 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive and electrical power. A warning message stating that the vehicle was about to shut off was illuminated. The contact swerved to the right, attempting to veer to the side of the road on the right lane; however, the vehicle stopped midway and a semi-truck almost crashed into the rear passenger’s side of the vehicle. The contact pushed the vehicle into a nearby parking lot with assistance. The vehicle was towed to the dealer who diagnosed that the battery had failed and needed to be replaced. The dealer advised the contact that they had replaced the battery with a new battery; however, the failure reoccurred, and the battery was replaced for a second time. The Department of Auto Motor Repair of California investigated and informed the contact that the dealer had kept his original battery and the third battery that the dealer installed in the vehicle was not new. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer who replaced the third battery with the original one; however, the failure reoccurred. The dealer replaced the original battery with an upgraded battery. The contact also stated that the hood would not close securely. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not repaired. The vehicle was towed to a second dealer; Tesla (7077 W Sahara Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89117) who repaired the vehicle. The contact stated that the rear passenger’s side door would fail to close. The vehicle was towed twice to the second dealer and was finally repaired. The contact stated that the center display of the vehicle would inadvertently turn off while driving. The contact stated that the failure had prevented him from using the rearview camera or have control of the door switches and some features of the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 45,000.