2018 Tesla Model X acceleration problems

Filed Aug 3, 2026 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · WA · crash · 2 injuries

While driving on FSD (Full Self Driving) the vehicle was turning off the road into a parking lot and sped up and hit a vehicle while I was pressing the brake to the floor! I had to brace for impact when I hit the vehicle. I have requested the data and telemetry logs from Tesla. Everything was fine before the crash. Husband had a similar incident a few weeks ago where he was turning with FSD engaged and the vehicle stopped in the middle of the turn with a vehicle coming right at him, he had the gas floored to get out of the way but was completely stopped, could not move for 15 seconds or so.

Filed Feb 4, 2026 · Acceleration, Brakes · AZ

During a recent incident where a tire issue caused damage to the wiring harness for the parking brake, resulting in a Parking Brake Failure notification on the screen, the vehicle would not stop or turn off. The vehicle displayed N for neutral on the dash, but the vehicle would drive forward unless the brake was depressed. In addition, we were unable to place the vehicle in Park, which meant that we were unable to shut it off. The only way to stop the vehicle from driving on its own and crashing into something was to place concrete blocks under the tires! Unplugging the 12v battery also had no effect! The vehicle kept driving as if it was in drive, and there as no way to stop it without placing the foot on the brake pedal the entire time or placing the blocks I referenced. The only way I was able to shut it off, was to pull what's known as the Fireman's Loop, which I'm guessing firemen pull in the case of an accident. I wasn't aware of this mechanism, and only learned of it after posting on numerous social media apps regarding this issue. This is a Major issue, as we are talking about a moving and unstoppable car! Tesla needs to build some mechanism that allows the car to be shut off by the driver or to override the screen and place the car in park. Pulling this firemans loop and unplugging the 12v battery, required me being in front of the vehicle, risking my life, as the vehicle could've easily moved if the concrete barriers didn't stop it, and also required me taking 30+ minutes to remove components from the Frunk, just to access these components!!

Filed Jun 3, 2022 · Acceleration, Brakes · CA

While on cruise control (autopilot) on the highway, the vehicle occasionally violently slows down. The majority of the time, this happens near or just before an exit/entrance ramp and if the car is in the rightmost lane. It happens regardless of traffic conditions and even if there are zero cars around, it will still "hiccup" and hit the brakes. I've noticed that the cruise control system sometimes automatically changes the maximum speed for the cruise control to 35-45 MPH which explains the sudden braking. It is semi-replicable by setting the cruise control to a comfortable highway speed (say 65 MPH) while the car is in the rightmost lane, then driving past a (normally) heavily trafficked entry/exit merging area. If requested, I can probably find a safe time and area to replicate this and send in my dashcam footage of the incident.

Filed Apr 10, 2022 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · VA

While driving at speed approximately 4:20PM EST April 9th, 2022 on I95 near the Georgia/South Carolina border the onboard computer froze and became unresponsive, including the speedometer, the radio, navigation system, etc.. I became aware of the issue because the car started to slowly slow down but the display continued to show 70 MPH. I forced the computer out of Autopilot but the car continued to show it was in autopilot. shortly after the display behind the steering wheel went blank then rebooted, followed by the center console. thankfully I was paying attention and did not panic, had I panicked I could very easily been in an accident as I did not know what was going on with the car. I reached out to tesla multiple times following the incident and the agents and agents were non-caring and treated it as no big deal, and acted as if I should not be concerned about it. I could not even get assistance from them on getting service for the car. they kept pointing me to the Mobile app on the phone which would not function properly and after typing the incident into as I wrote above 3 times I gave up.

Filed Mar 17, 2021 · Acceleration, Brakes · 38,500 miles · NJ

On march 1, 2021, wife and I was driving east bound on route 80 highway in ohio. Twice the vehicle braked while driving in cruise control. It was a clear day. There were no cars around. No bridges or obstacles. And the road lines where clear. The first braking occurred while we were on right lane on a two-lane highway. The second braking occurred (around 5:15pm) while we were in the middle lane of 3-lane highway. We were driving approximate 65mph. At both braking, my wife was driving. When I happen, we both confirmed there was no cars or obstacles around us. We contacted tesla, who after reviewing their logs says it was working in "normal". That the vehicle saw something and braked. Even though both myself and wife can confirm there was nothing around us, particularly since covid has significantly reduced any traffic. There has been a history of issues. On other occasion, one of my side doors indicated there was something there, even though I was the only vehicle in completely empty parking lot. Only after many complaints an attempts did they finally replace the sensor. It seems that they are repeating their denial of claims by two eye-witnesses of the issues.

Filed Feb 26, 2021 · Acceleration, Electrical · MA

All screens in the car shut down while driving and there is no access to your speed, blinkers, control of lights, control of car safety features, wipers, etc. Tesla was notified multiple times and each time they tried to correct the issue, it was not resolved. It has been a year since the issue started and has happened over a dozen times, resulting in unsafe driving conditions. Tesla keeps stating they "remotely diagnose" the problem and told me to keep an eye on it and see if it happens again, although they told me less than 2 weeks prior to call immediately if it happened again. They have refused to fix the problem and it has become a safety issue with driving the vehicle.

Filed Mar 26, 2020 · Acceleration · 10,400 miles · CA · crash

The car suddenly accelerated on its own as I was slowly entering a parking space in a supermarket parking lot and hit the car that was parked in the space in front of me.

Filed Feb 4, 2020 · Acceleration · 31,000 miles · TX · crash

As the vehicle self driving system was active it came to a full stop in a red light. The vehicle stopped behind an 18 wheeler. As I was in a full stop, I stopped looking to the front of the car and looked for a document and checked messages. Suddenly the vehicle accelerated fully, impacting the 18 wheeler in front of me. My reaction was not fast enough as I was very confused, eventually I hit the breaks and activated ABS system but not with enough time to stop before impact. This has been confirmed by the tesla report that the vehicle acceleration occurred with out drive input. They seem to ignore the fact that I was at a red light and state it is operator error not to be attentive, but regardless, accelerating at full speed with no input towards another vehicle is a hazard to the population. They have not shared the report from engineering, only read the statement over the phone once and have not been able to ask for the written report. Significant avoidance in occurring from the company.

Filed Jan 27, 2020 · Acceleration · 12,000 miles · CA

Edit/additional note to my earlier complaint number: 11300604, this sudden acceleration with tesla happen when using with/without auto pilot, I observed many times during (a).this unintended acceleration happen even when driving normally without auto pilot, though I am not pressing gas pedal, especially observed in the city road speeds around 30-45 MPH, whn using auto pilot on freeways, this happened arounbd 55-70mph speeds too. (b). Also this unintended acceleration happen when battery is at 20-40% of range. (c). Also happen whenver there is a new software update, this unitended acceleration popped up many occasions(don't remember exact times) as if some software bug resurfaced and I used to take control of the vehcile having been alert all the time. Reported this over email, talked to service center, but no concrete action from tesla end.

Filed Jan 22, 2020 · Acceleration · 11,297 miles · CA · crash · 2 injuries

My model x was traveling at low speed as it was near home. Before entering the curve, the x suddenly accelerated out of control. It first crashed into my other parked car in front of my house, pushing the parked car into my garage. Then it continued to hit a city light pole, breaking it at the base. The x continued to hit my next door neighbor's two cars parked outside of their home, damaging their garage. The car finally stop when it hit the wall of third neighbor' that divide up her driveway. Tesla roadside support contacted me on the day of the incident because they were able to see my airbag was deployed and may require assistance. I requested tesla to review the log of the car and explain why the car suddenly accelerated out of control. When I followed up that first week they acknowledged my request in an email and told me that the request is with their engineering team and it may take a while before they will have any response. However, as of today, I haven't heard from their engineering team.