2021 Tesla Model Y complaints

Using autopilot adaptive cruise control, the vehicle on several occasions but mostly on non median highways the car for no apparent reason brakes hard. vehicles around me especially behind are put in danger by my sudden, hard braking for no apparent reason

I was driving to and from mammoth lakes California. Middle of the day, clear weather, with no other cars within thousands of feet if me. I put my vehicle into adaptive cruise control (not autopilot) and several times during the drive the brakes would slam to the point of reducing my speed from around 70 mph to roughly 40 mph very quickly. It was extremely happened and was repeatable but with no known reason.

When autopilot, it’s sudden breaks with no reason. My wife got neck injury.

During our trip from San Jose, CA to Park City, Utah, we experienced number time phantom break while the car was in autopilote mode. All of the incidences were on the highway and there were no traffic. The car came to a sudden slow down.

Unexpected and rapid slowing/braking of vehicle since new in November of 2021. Occurs when on cruise control usually at highway speed, more often on open highways and have possibly (though not always) related it to cresting a hill, distant reflective “water mirage” on our western roads, passing large trucks, two lane highway having large oncoming trucks +/- on curves. On one occasion while passing a semi truck with car on my tail came within a foot or so of being rear ended. Many other occasions where got to point I do not feel safe using the cruise control. We have driven it from Denver to Tucson in November and back in May, both times was worse on wide open western roads, sometimes tho not always with bright sun, pretty unpredictable and random but often to point of not using any of our autopilot or cruise control functions with confidence of safety. No warnings, lights or prehappening signs. Reported and examined in Tucson on arrival there in Nov/21. Told would “get better with time” and further hardware updates. Hasn’t happened with city driving (tho rarely use cruise control. Happened a couple times on highway drives in Arizona while on cruise and thought maybe better until recent trip to Denver when it was as severe as November. Again contacted Tesla and told would lengineers are aware of problem and would be fixed with hardware app fix at end of June. Recontact them in July if still an issue. When serviced in November for this issue tech said he could see in computer l

The vehicle braked and slowed down on the highway for no reason when on autopilot. The speed of the vehicle was around 55 mph when suddenly it stated to decelerate for no reason. Ot resume speed after 100 ft or so

This is a supplement to NHSTA Safety Issue ID 11467902. I requested service from Tesla. Attached is the service center's response writing that it is software subject to updates. This is unacceptable to me as the car is not driveable with this safety issue.

Car consistently slows down to 25 MPH in 60MPH zone on i4 with Auto-Pilot enabled.

The vehicle phantom breaks spontaneously upon an interstate drive for 1.5 hours on cruise control it will slam on the breaks between 3-5 times when there is no car or object near the vehicle. This has been reported to Tesla and they do nothing and pose no solution to the problem. It is dangerous and going to cause accidents.

Recently, I had a long distance trip and and Tesla Model Y braked the vehicle at highway speed when it was on Advanced cruise control 3 or 4 times with obvious reasons. I had to push the acceralator pedal to speed up in order to avoid rear ended collision in a bumper to bumper traffic.

The car had a phantom braking incident where I was on the freeway with the autopilot set and the car slammed the brakes on because it thought it saw a person in the freeway. This is what it showed on the screen. The car decreased the speed from 70 mph to 40mph. There was no notification of this decrease. This has happened before in the car, but not as drastically and it doesn’t happen very often.

I have been experiencing that my Tesla suddenly automatically slammed on the brakes while it’s on self driving mode on highway specifically I-66 and while returning from my work from Nebraska Avenue complex to Ashburn VA. This automatically phantom braking is very dangerous.

During 350 miles of driving, I experienced over 35 phantom braking events. Most were while driving at 75 mph. Some were while driving 45 mph. It did not matter whether I was in Autosteer with cruise, cruise alone or driving manually. I turned off Emergency Braking on the screen. I still had incidents. Some incidents were severe to the point that I could feel the ABS. There were no other cars, structures, signs etc. in the vicinity. Had there been a semi following me, there would have been an accident. If another car, I could only hope that they had traffic aware cruise and emergency braking. This is unacceptable as it is so dangerous.

2021 Tesla's rear-view camera and collision warning systems did not activate when backing out of a parking spot. Tesla screen showed the navigation map instead of the rear-view camera while I was backing out at low speed ~2 mph. A 2003 Honda Pilot directly behind me was also backing up at the same time resulting in a collision. After the crash, I confirmed that all safety features were enabled and I have always installed all regularly scheduled updates. After searching online forums, I found many customers reporting problems with their on-screen camera not activating. I have noticed that the camera did not consistently activate in the past. Sometimes it would, other times I would have to manually press the Camera button on-screen in order to view behind me. There were no on-screen notifications of problems before the event. However, there was one notable change I made to re-enable Sentry Mode (security) after being disabled for some time. Prior to the event, I was notified that two Sentry Camera events were available to watch but they would not load when I touched on screen. After the crash, I discovered after the crash that both Sentry and Dash Cam were not working so there was no footage at all of the crash! Nor were these Sentry events visible. This leads me to believe there is a bug with the camera system.

Driving on I-43 in Wisconsin on June 2 around 2pm CDT while in cruise control the car suddenly went into emergency braking and slowed down dramatically requiring me to override the system. There was very little traffic and a semi-truck about 200-300 yards ahead of me.

On June 2 around 3:40pm CDT while driving in cruise control on I-43 in Wisconsin around 70mph my car suddenly went into corrective lane assist with warning alerts and steering wheel action. There was no reason this should have happened.

The brakes engage during lane assist mode as if to avoid something in the road although there is nothing there. This happens many times on a road trip from Phoenix to Los Angeles on I 10. It also happened multiple times on the freeway in town in Phoenix. It is very jarring

Phantom braking. Had car on cruise control and FSD and car would brake excessively for no reason.

The Back windows go up and down when trying to roll them up.

I was driving on Auto pilot and with no obstacle in sight or the need to do so, the car AEB system get activated ( PHANTOM BRAKING) another complaint that I got is went the traffic lights changes to green and I'm on Auto Pilot and the car slower down on the middle of crossing that intersection that can create an accident because the car from behind do not expect you slower down, the AEB system get activated went it's nothing in front of you.

For the last several software versions, the car experienced “phantom breaking” when on a high speed roadway with no apparent obstacles in the road.

The car suddenly stops as if the traffic ahead is stopped. I noticed it happens when the auto pilot is on. I gave up using the autopilot because I have experienced the sudden break and I have missed having an accident. It kind of feel like the sensors from the sides get the idea that if the side lane is going slow the car has to break suddenly.

Driving on I95 in Florida. Cruise control engaged at approximately 70 mph. Problem: sudden braking without my stepping on brake pedal. Car started slowing down immediately and veering to the left almost out of lane of traffic. I immediately pressed accelerator and avoided any collision. This happened 3 times to me, always on I95 where I do most driving, always with cruise control engaged.

While the car is in “autopilot” (we did not pay for full self driving package), the car will apply braking often while at posted speeds on interstates and highways in Montana, Idaho, Nevada, California, and Utah. Our observations notice it happens when the road color transitions between older and newer road surfaces and in curved sections of roadway (especially curves to the left). We are looking for a replacement electric vehicle now due to this problem.

My Model Y Tesla, while driving on the freeway using full self driving, would abruptly slow down from 70mph to 40 mph in matter of seconds without warning and luckily there was nobody around me. I did a bug report on it many times but Tesla discounted that. Also my front windshield wipers would come on for no reason even on a sunny day. Sometime on a raining day when going into a tunnel the windshield wipers would stop and would not come back on when I get out of the tunnel and that is really scarily as I was unable to see during heavy rain. I had to manually turn it on and that took a few seconds and in the meantime I could not see anything due to heavy rain. I brought this to Tesla and they told me that the windshield wiper control and the headlight use the same sensor and there is nothing I can do except to place the windshield wiper on manual mode. The rain detection wipers are on many different model cars without issues. I am not sure why Tesla could not add an additional sensor just for the windshield wipers.

Tesla Phantom breaking issues on my Model Y. Clear roads and then sudden deceleration in perfect weather conditions with no nearby cars

While using the autopilot (not full self driving feature) on the highway, I have experienced multiple inatances sudden braking for no reason. No vehicle has been in front of me in these instances and it has occurred most often on undivided highways and highways where there is a hill. This has made engaging the autopilot dangerous as there are cars behind me and I could have been rear-ended on multiple occasions. Additionally, while driving manually on city streets where there are stop signs, there have been multiple instances where the vehicle has given me a forward collision warning because I am slowing down to a vehicle that is ahead of me at the stop sign. This has most often happened on uphill and downhill instances where there are stop signs.

I am reading about the Tesla braking for no reason & wanted to report my own experiences with this. I have not reported this before to anyone at Tesla, just told my husband. Numerous times (at least 5) over the past year I have owned my Y it has suddenly braked for no reason. It either always or almost always happened when I was going freeway speeds on a turn & there was a vehicle in the lane next to me that I think my Tesla thought I was going to hit. But I wasn't. It was a sudden brake that if I had not been in full control of the car with my feet ready to move so I had to hit the accelerator pedal quickly there could have been a big problem if there was a car behind me. This issue made me stop using the auto pilot on the highway it happened the most on - Hwy 80 between Sacramento & Truckee CA. But it has happened on other freeways too. It makes me very hesitant to use the autopilot unless I am on a straight freeway.

Driving on highway at 65 mph suddenly drive speed to 30 miles as if emergency brakes were applied.

My Tesla model Y will experience phantom braking while in Auto pilot / adaptive cruise. It happens randomly but does occur every time at one point in Tacoma on I-5 head south on a bridge just before the Tacoma dome.

Due to the NHTSA demanding the removal of the boombox feature while driving I have had SEVERAL issues which were previously avoidable. The vehicle does not make a sound when driving and often times pedestrians cannot hear the vehicle. The horn without custom sounds is aggressive and could incite road rage from pedestrians or other vehicles when previously being able to play music via the outside speakers via boombox alerted pedestrians and in extreme cases a funny sound accompanied with the horn would cause the pedestrian or other vehicles to notice but not incite road rage. I am imploring NHTSA to allow Tesla to bring back the boombox while driving and the custom horn sounds before more people get hurt! This is an NHTSA demand issue and not a Tesla issue. This is a daily issue when driving in parking lots or through neighborhoods!! NHTSA's original demand being that the PWS was not able to be audibly heard while boombox was engaged is garbage, boombox enabled an audible warning to pedestrians in conjunction with the PWS. Now with the lack of boombox while in drive or custom horn sounds there are many instances personally witnessed, told to me, and experienced where road rage has occurred and pedestrians are in the roadway unaware of a vehicle approaching. I propose the solution of returning to allow custom horn sounds and boombox while driving but when in reverse to mute the boombox and allow the PWS to be heard loudly. This will appease all sides and allow pedestrians a war

Traveling at highway speeds (70mph) while adaptive cruise control was active, the car applied the brakes suddenly with no apparent reason. No obstructions were present and no traffic was in the area.

While driving using cruise control or auto drive the car randomly brakes while at highway speeds. There are often no cars or objects in front of the car. I have almost been rear ended, because the car hit the brakes to almost stop. This happens every time the vehicle is placed in regular cruise control or auto drive.

Driving on 2 lane highway at about 70mph with auto pilot enabled in left lane. There was a large truck on the right. No vehicles in front of the car. The truck on the right remained in its lane. The Tesla suddenly applied the brakes, dropping the speed to about 50 mph very quickly and unexpectedly. I disabled autopilot and pressed the accelerator to get back to the original speed. It almost seems like the auto pilot decided that the truck was in front of the Tesla when it was actually in a different lane. No accident or problems except for the shock of the car breaking suddenly.

Phantom braking on highway when using ACC and FSD. When going 80 mph car will suddenly brake for no apparent reason. This happened over 12 times in one day on a recent trip. I sent video clips to Tesla for every event. This is the second report of this defect. I have ever had and ACC act this way. I am afraid I will get rear ended.

On Sept 2 or 3, 2021, I was using cruise control on long straight highway, with no other vehicles in sight, sunny clear weather, traveling at 65-70 mph. Suddenly brakes slammed on very hard. A short time later, same conditions, brakes slammed very hard 4-5 times in a row, rapidly. It was terrifying. I stopped driving for the day and I have never dared to use cruise control again. When I returned home I took the car to the dealer and told them time and location of incident. I assumed there was something wrong that would be corrected, like a Camera not pointing correctly. The Tesla employee checked the computer record of the incident, told me there was nothing wrong and changed the subject. This was an extremely scary thing for me, severe enough that I got a sore neck, and I have no doubt if another vehicle was following I could have been rear ended. I actually was relieved to read about other Tesla owners experiencing this, and thought there would quickly be a solution. I am disappointed there has not been. I have been driving for over 50 years, have never had an accident while driving….I am very cautious! I want to emphasize again, this was not a minor incident. It was very very frightening, and very dangerous.

We are experiencing two issues with our Tesla Y, one of which I have come to learn is common. That issue is the cruise control will suddenly "disengage" forcing the brakes on, either actively or just through the regenerative components. This has happened in several conditions from high speeds on interstates (>55 MPH) and on smaller state highways (<55MPH). The primary concern is being rear ended by cars following; effectively the Tesla is "brake checking". I am not aware of Tesla pushing updates or addressing this issue in any typeof inspection. There are no warnings, and I have noticed no pattern as to why it happens (and it happens frequently). I have notified Tesla of the issue. The second issue is that the control/infotainment screen has frozen and gone blank on at least four occasions. This as well has happened in various conditions, most recently on both legs of a long roadtrip on the highway. It effectively leaves all control of the car other than steering and velocity out of our control. It is scary. There are no warnings and I am not aware of Tesla doing anything to address the issue though I am aware that it is happening to other vehicles.

Car was on autopilot full self driving. Truck hit car and vehicle was severely side scrapped. Over 35k in damages. Autopilot did not stop or drive to the side to avoid collision. Autopilot failed Videos can be provided.

The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH with the adaptive cruise control activated, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. The contact stated that the speed was then reduced to approximately 35-40 MPH inadvertently, and then resumed the set speed. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that there were no other vehicles or objects nearby to cause the failure. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring while driving in self-driving and adaptive cruise control modes. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 10,100.

On multiple occasions, I have experienced the "phantom breaking" problem when using either adaptive cruise control or the limited self driving feature on my Tesla. I've experienced the problem when driving in traffic (me in another lane, passing a larger vehicle) when the breaking system will activate and all kinds of warning sounds given by the vehicle. I've also experienced the problem when driving alone on the highway (no traffic in either direction), usually in daylight conditions, when the breaking system activates and alarms go off. Additionally, I've experienced the problem when cruise control is activated and a vehicle turns in front of me (either in the same direction or sometimes when turning on a cross street), it's just strange for this to happen when the vehicle is about 1/4th of a mile (or more) in front of me and the turning action of the other vehicle will be complete without causing any concern for my vehicle. This has happened 30-50 times since I purchased the vehicle in late September 2021, so I don't have specific dates for each of these occurrences but it happens so frequently that I pretty much don't use the cruise control or self driving function anymore.

My Tesla Model Y has phantom braking issue. When on autopilot (not full self-driving) traveling io the freeway, it just suddenly slows down to 45MPH for no obvious reason. This problem happens every time on the southbound direction of Interstate 5 when the car passes under the overpass bridge at Valley View Blvd in Santa Fe Springs, CA. The slow down also happens without fail in the same general area on the northbound direction of the same freeway. This incident last happened on May 27, 2022 but has happened numerous other times. It has also happened randomly on other freeways.

The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving 79 MPH with the cruise control activated, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. The dealer was made aware of the failure; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

1. Pulling the car into a parking spot at a low speed (tight parking space for which you had to turn the car at a 90 degree angle, so had to be slow). 2. Applied brakes BUT the brakes didn't work. 3. Car went through very thick hedges and over a ledge (parking collision and emergency brakes didn't work). Follow up: Filed a data request with Tesla and they denied the request.

Rear undertray composite cover partially peeled off and began dragging on the road creating a driving hazard. This problem has been reported in online forums on many occasions.

The roof glass cracked with no impact and no accident. No chip or missing pieces of glass. Everything is in tack but has cracked

The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH with the adaptive cruise control activated, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact depressed the brake pedal to disengage cruise control. The contact then depressed the accelerator pedal and was able to continue driving. The contact stated that there were no other vehicles around the vehicle at the time of the failure. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred three more times while driving. The manufacturer was notified of the failure through email. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 4,300.

With AP and AS activated the vehicle will have multiple episodes of phantom braking. With no vehicle in front, next to, or behind for 100’s of feet or even visible to the naked eye on a divided highway. No flashing lights, no moon visible, no signs just a straight stretch of flat highway 70-50 hard stop before deactivated. Nothing on the driving display to indicate a need to brake.

On multiple occasions the rear hatch has opened while the vehicle was in drive stopped at traffic lights. During each event the only two users were present and neither were interacting with the phone app or the vehicle touch screen. The rear hatch should not open when the vehicle is in drive or reverse under any circumstance and it does. To close it in this situation you must place the car in park and wait for the screen that allows you to close it while sitting at a red light.

Going on highway at 70mph at around 440pm on I76 on 5/23/22 with autopilot with no cars in front. Clear weather and suddenly car brakes on the highway to almost 30mph. Thankfully there was no car behind me. It could have been a grave mishap. Have reported about this earlier also and has happened multiple times.

My son was driving my Model Y Performance Trim Tesla Model Y on May 23,, 2022 and thank god he was in a relatively safe parking lot; the vehicle had a loud thud noise coming from the rear and then it spontaneously died due to allegedly a rear motor failure (it's a dual motor Model Y). The Tesla then turned off essentially and locked itself in "Park" -- the vehicle could not be taken out of Park. Had to get it on a flatbed -- it now sits at the San Antonio, Texas Service Center off interstate 10 where allegedly it will be undergoing a diagnosis. But this rear motor failure (according to some of the indicator lights) is unbelievably dangerous inasmuch as the failure occurred without warning and without an opportunity to apply reasonable contingency protocols -- had this happened on a highway or street lane -- the complete unexpected stopping of the vehicle would assuredly be cause for grave damage and serious bodily injury or death.