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2020 Tesla Model Y acceleration problems

37 complaints (13% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 900. 13 crashes reported.

owner complaints
37
of this car's complaints
13%
typical mileage
900
crashes
13
recalls
0

Which part fails

  • Accelerator pedal
    2

At what mileage

Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.

0k-25k
25k-50k
50k-75k
75k-100k
100k-125k
125k-150k
150k-175k
175k-200k
200k+

Tesla Model Y acceleration problems in other years

2020202120222023202420252026

Specific symptoms reported on the 2020 Tesla Model Y acceleration

Phrases found in the owners' own descriptions, so one complaint can mention several symptoms.

Sudden acceleration 11

Related recalls

No recalls on record for this model year.

Related investigations

Sudden Unintended AccelerationOpened June 29, 2023, still open

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) received a petition requesting that ODI reevaluate its decision to deny DP20-001 on the basis that intermittent high electrical current demands on the vehicles' 12VDC systems may have caused some or all of the incidents examined by ODI in DP20-001. The petitioner bases this information on a review of open-source research and the DP20-001 denial. The petition and related materials can be reviewed at under the following ODI number: 11528471.

DP23002

What 2020 Tesla Model Y owners say

Most recent owner complaints, unedited.

Filed Apr 25, 2025 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · FL · crash

On Tuesday, [XXX], around [XXX] returning home and in my driveway when the following happened. Pulling into the left side of the driveway because a utility van was parked on the right side of the driveway with the rear door and driver’s side door opened with no one in the vicinity. There was not enough room to go forward into the garage. I was almost at a complete stop with the intention of getting out of the car to shut the drivers side door. That was when the car sped up at full speed and turned to the right into the van and continued in the right direction into the garage. The car was headed to the right back corner of the garage smashing into paint cans, a freezer, sink and cabinets. I had no control over the car from the time the car sped up and smashed into the back of the garage and it all happened in a matter of a few seconds. The vehicle has been totaled by the insurance company. This incident was recorded in the vehicle’s computer. The police department was called the same day and a police officer came to the house to record the incident. The car was towed to Gerber Collision & Glass, 10491 Corkscrew Commons Dr., Estero, FL 33928, phone (239) 947-6050. The car computer system should have recorded the event. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Dec 30, 2024 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · IL

On drives longer than 40 miles, camera faults cause cruise control systems to degrade in function and then when the faults are cleared, full functionality resumes without driver alerts. Side repeater camera feeds and rear camera feeds inconsistently load, or take an extended time period to load (10+ seconds). Tesla has confirmed that the autopilot computer (HW3) likely needs to be replaced, but this error/messaging is not directly accessible to the customer. The inconsistent failure behavior of the vehicle could easily lead less technical owners/drivers to incorrectly interpret how the car is behaving. The only message you receive while driving could be that 'cruise control is not available', and 'automatic emergency braking unavailable' with a message that the features may be restored later in the drive. My coworker has a 2022 Model Y and the same component failed on his vehicle and needed to be replaced under an extended warranty that was purchased from Tesla. I'm unsure how widespread the failure of this critical safety system is; we both purchased FSD and both had the same component fail and need replaced. I don't personally know others who own this vehicle with the FSD package to know for sure.

Filed Oct 16, 2024 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · NY

I own a 2020 Tesla Y with Hardware version 3 and after a few weeks of a free trial, purchased Tesla's Full Self-Driving Software (FSD) version 12.3.6. Since then, the FSD software was updated to version 12.5.4 and then 12.5.4.1. FSD version 12.3.6 had some safety issues. But version 12.5.4 and 12.5.4.1 has had more issues that have resulted in nearly having accidents that I have had to suddenly avoid. FSD version 12.3.6 issues: 1. Wandering outside of center yellow dividing stripes when on a curvy two-lane roadway 2. Failing to yield to oncoming traffic when making a left turn and oncoming traffic was not clearly in view due to a curvy two-lane road 3. Attempting to make a left turn into a busy intersection when the turn signal was still red FSD version 12.5.4 and 12.5.4.1 additional issues: 1. Attempting to enter a two-lane roadway from a stop sign, when the perpendicular traffic was active and they had no stop sign, requiring me to slam on the brakes. 2. Sudden and erratic braking on a two-lane roadway, including directly under a signal, when no objects, people or other vehicles were in front of me, which nearly resulted in the vehicle behind me hitting me in the rear 3. Software sending a tone and screen alert to grab the steering wheel immediately, due to a "System Failure." 4. Software sending a tone and screen alert that to grab the steering wheel immediately, due to "one or more cameras blocked," when no cameras were blocked.

Filed Aug 27, 2024 · Acceleration, Airbags · 68,000 miles · NY · crash

The contact owned a 2020 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while driving at 60 MPH in rainy weather, the vehicle inadvertently spun in circles, and he lost control of the vehicle. The contact took his foot off the accelerator pedal. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle crashed into an embankment and then spun twice before inadvertently driving into the forest and coming to a complete stop. The air bags did not deploy. A police report was filed. The contact and his father, who was a passenger, were uninjured. There was no medical attention received. The vehicle was first towed to the tow yard, and then the insurance company had it towed to the salvage yard, where it was deemed totaled. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to contact the local dealer for the computer data. The failure mileage was approximately 68,000.

Filed Feb 5, 2024 · Acceleration · 14,000 miles · CA · crash · 3 injuries

The contact owned a 2020 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while reversing at low speed from his driveway, the accelerator pedal inadvertently depressed into the floorboard, resulting in sudden unintended acceleration. The contact depressed the brake pedal, but the vehicle failed to stop immediately. The vehicle struck two other parked vehicles in another driveway before crashing into a residence. The residents were not injured. The contact sustained a fractured neck, and shoulder pain from his seat belt, and head pain from striking the steering wheel. The contact's front passenger sustained a bruised shoulder, and the rear passenger, who was laying down on the rear seats, rolled over during impact and hit the rear seats, sustaining back and leg pain. The contact and his passengers were transported by ambulance to the hospital. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard, where it was deemed totaled by the insurance company. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that after reviewing the event data recorder (EDR), the data showed that the contact had his foot depressed on the accelerator pedal during the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 14,000.

Filed Aug 30, 2023 · Acceleration, Brakes · OR

While driving in cruise control mode, not auto steer, and with no vehicle in or obvious obstruction in front, the brakes will be applied without warning (phantom braking). It has happened multiple time in the years of ownership. It has happened once or twice with a vehicle following resulting in near rear-end collision. In one case this resulted in the follower reacting with "road rage," passing with horns blaring and braking in front of my vehicle. I have this recent incident on video as it just requires me to honk the horn and the last 5-10 minutes of driving is recorded.

Filed Aug 3, 2023 · Acceleration · 23,000 miles · CA · crash

The contact owns a 2020 Tesla Model Y. The contact was driving approximately 3 MPH as she was parking the vehicle, front end first, the vehicle independently accelerated as she removed her foot from the accelerator. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact's vehicle crashed into the vehicle's front end that had already been parked, the vehicle was not occupied. The contact stated that she depressed the brake with force. The contact stated that the force of the crash had moved the other vehicle out of the parking spot and into the lot. The contact's vehicle had a crushed front bumper and the other vehicle also had damage to the front bumper. The contact's vehicle was drivable. There were no injuries and the police were not involved. The contact had not been taken to a local dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle had not been diagnosed and had not been repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 23,000.

Filed Jun 20, 2023 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · CO

While driving at highway speeds (50mph-80mph), on 2 lane or 4 lane highways, in the day or night, in sunny conditions and overcast sky's, while using the cruise control (auto-pilot), the car will suddenly and unexpectedly apply the brakes. It happens between 8 and 10 times on every road trip, each way. Not only is it a shock to me as there is never a visual obstacle that seems to be causing the hard braking, but it is a dangerous safety issue to other motorists too. This has caused cars behind me to take evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision. Other motorists have mistaken this hard braking as me "Brake-Checking" them and very nearly cause a road-rage incident. I've had the car for about a year and have opened several service appointments with Tesla. Each time they close the case before the service appointment with a version of the reply "this is normal" and "there is nothing to repair". They also claim that the car will learn how the react next time by my reaction to the incident this time. I have reacted the same way (by pushing the accelerator pedal until it regains forward motion) each time this has happened in the 8-10 times on each of the 6-8 road trips I've made in the last year. Clearly, the car isn't learning anything from my reaction to the sudden and unexpected braking. My safety is worth my time to make them take this seriously as they don't seem to be concerned with my safety!

Filed Jun 20, 2023 · Acceleration, Electrical · IL · crash

During phone calls, the system would start making sparking noises and stall the calls. While navigation was input parts of the screen would disappear. While backing up, the rear cameras would freeze and stall. The rear camera freezing had caused us to get into an accident, and caused us to have 4 near misses. When I was trying to download the latest software release, the software download froze and never downloaded. I started to drive to the Tesla dealership and as I was doing so, the screen picture of my vehicle disappeared along with the gear shift indicator, the surrounding cameras failed. Then when I put on my turn signal, the sound disappeared. Then eventually the indicator disappeared. The entire screen froze with no information, and then went black while I was driving to the Tesla dealership. The system was black and finally did a reboot after 4 minutes, all while I had no display of my speed. I took it into the dealership, and the checkin girl was concerned about the safety and gave me a loaner. The technician was not really concerned and said it was not able to replicate the issue and said there was no safety issue as you can still drive the car. This is not correct as you do not have the speed indication when your screen freezes or goes black. I sent them pictures as the screen kept doing one thing after the other in a matter on one drive from my home to the dealership in 15 minutes. This is similar to the other recalls that Tesla had to make on the model S and the Model X and some model Y's. This should have been taken care of under the current recalls for the infotainment system that the other models years were facing as it is giving the same issues on my model.

Filed May 20, 2023 · Acceleration · MA

Car accelerated on its own, with no pedal pressure. My right foot was on the mat

Questions about the 2020 Tesla Model Y acceleration

Does the 2020 Tesla Model Y have acceleration problems?

Owners have filed 37 complaints about the acceleration of the 2020 Tesla Model Y, 13% of all its complaints.

At what mileage do 2020 Tesla Model Y acceleration problems start?

The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 900 miles.

Was there a recall on the 2020 Tesla Model Y acceleration?

There is no recall for this problem on this model year.

What year does the Tesla Model Y have the most acceleration problems?

The Tesla Model Y model years with the most acceleration complaints are 2023 (168 complaints), 2021 (163 complaints) and 2022 (140 complaints).

Other 2020 Tesla Model Y problems

Driver assistance 129Brakes 37Suspension 32Electrical 28Steering 27Visibility 18Airbags 17Body 14Seat belts 12Wheels 12Lights 9Seats 7Transmission 6Fuel system 4Engine 1Locks 1Tires 1

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