2021 Tesla Model Y complaints

With cruise control on, when large vehicles (in their respective lane), would approach in opposite direction, the car would brake. Sometimes lightly, once (tour bus approaching) at 60 mph, the brakes were slammed on, with the car behind us nearly rear ending us

Phantom braking, rapid deceleration occur without warning and randomly.

Car rapidly brakes when in cruise control and auto pilot. Will also rapidly brake when a car passes by. It will always be random and sudden. Also, occasionally the screen will turn off and I will lose the screen completely and not know my speed.

Two phantom braking incidents on loop 202 Wednesday night

The display of the rear view camera on the screen is not synched. Sometimes it shows something that happened moments earlier. For example, it may show me as I am walking toward the car. Then it “lags” as you back up, meaning that it shows you in an earlier position than where you really are. This is super dangerous as it may not show the real time presence of another car, a pedestrian who is crossing behind your car as you back up, or an object. It also give the driver the false sense of being in the wrong place. We have two Teslas, this is a model Y and the other is a model 3. We have experienced the same problem in both since Tesla pushed a software update in January. I notified Tesla and asked for a repair. The response was that a software patch would be forthcoming. That was weeks ago. Again, this is a super dangerous flaw in the software for the display of the back up camera. I am worried that a pedestrian will get run over by a Tesla driver who does not “see” that pedestrian in the back up screen, or a crash.

When using basic Tesla Autopilot (AP) on side roads or highways the car will experience “phantom braking” with no other vehicles around. Phantom braking is where the car will slam on the brakes because it sees a safety issue ahead. I was driving on a highway at 60mph and engaged AP after about 5 miles the car brakes hard and fast down to around 40mph and then sped back up to 60mph after about 50 yards. It did this twice on the drive home. If we have an 18 wheeler behind us and they’re not paying attention they would definitely rear end our car.

The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving with the cruise control activated, the vehicle erroneously applied the brake. The contact stated that the brakes were immediately released independently of driver assistance. There were no warning lights illuminated. The failure had occurred approximately 6 - 10 times. The contact had not taken the vehicle to the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 1,000.

The adaptive cruise control and lane assist on the Tesla Y models are defective and pose significant risk to drivers, occupants and surrounding traffic. Phantom braking and sudden slowing are common place and many times unpredictable. Countless times when oncoming traffic in the other lane approaches, sudden braking and aggressive slowing will occur especially if this happens to be a logging truck or larger vehicle. Coming under any overpass or bridge will also produce phantom braking. This will happen countless times in a single trip rendering the adaptive cruise useless. I complained to Tesla and was called by the corporate office in Denver and told that this is a reality and it was my responsibility to "teach the neuro-net" that it's phantom braking was an error by accelerating aggressively during those episodes and producing "bug reports" to Tesla! I have had this Tesla 3 months now and have stopped using the cruise control and lane assist because of safety concerns. My attempts at "teaching" the computer the correct response has utterly failed. I have had 3 episodes that I know of that someone following closely behind me had to take evasive action which precipitated "road rage" type behavior on their part for no fault of my own. Tesla has made no effort to correct this defect and have even cancelled my repair appointments stating it was"not needed". Every Tesla owner I discussed this issue with has a similar experience. Eventually someone will get injured or killed due t

The cruise control on my Model Y frequently slams on the brakes for no apparent reason (no obstacle or vehicle in my lane). This happens at all speeds (from 30mph to 75mph). The cruise control is so unsafe and scary that I will not use it at all with other passengers in my car or when I have a car following me. My car slams on the brakes so hard it makes it completely unsafe for me and the people following me. In my opinion, it drastically increases the chances of being involved in a rear-end collision. There is no ability in the Model Y to use cruise control that is not adaptive-based. Until this problem is fixed, Tesla needs to offer a cruise control option that is 100% controlled by the driver (standard cruise) where the speed and brakes cannot be changed by the car. My car has not been inspected by the manufacturer and this has not been reported to the manufacturer because it is a widespread and known problem, and Tesla is not currently doing anything to help others who have reported the issue.

When driving with cruise control on I experience issues with sudden braking. Sometimes it seems like it may be an error due to on coming traffic (particularly trucks), but sometimes it’s due to blind curves or small humps (such as an interstate bridge/overpass) where the pavement is a different shade. Typically I’ll be at cruising speed 60-75mph and braking will be sudden and aggressive, to about 45mph. This has happened numerous times since purchase in June 2021.

I've been having problems with phantom braking, primarily on highways. This problem has gotten much worse in the last month or two. The car will unexpectedly brake while either autosteer or adaptive cruise control are engaged while driving on the freeway, and typically (although not exclusively) when my speed is approx. 70-80 MPH (where speed limit is 75-80 MPH). This will happen approx. once every half hour, although it is sporadic and often happens in spurts. Until about 1 month ago this would happen only while autosteer was engaged. However, during the last month or so ago this has also been happening while adaptive cruise control is engaged (without autosteer engaged). It happens most often when I am in the left lane passing a semi-truck which is in the right lane, although it happens other times as well. Always without any warning. It has happened a total of probably 20-30 times in the last 2 months (approx. 5,000 miles). Sometimes it manifests as a gentle, almost tentative tap on the brakes, whereas other times it is a fairly jarring with sudden hard braking. It has not caused any accidents or incidents, but I am concerned about it happening when a car may be behind me. Because of that, I will often disengage cruise control or autosteer if other cars are close behind me. My car software is equipped with Full Self Driving, but the FSD (beta) has not been downloaded.

While driving on C-470 in Colorado, eastbound approaching the Quebec St. exit, I was in the right lane. A car was exiting the highway while I continued straight. I was 2 sec behind this car and the car was in the exit lane, while I continued on the right lane. However, the highway curves to the left here. A straight forward view shows this car mostly in front of me. The Model Y braked excessively, from 65 to 45-50 before I could press the accelerator to continue forward. I would be worried of a rear end collision if there were a car behind me.

When the traffic aware of cruise control or auto pilot is engaged, particularly on two-lane roads with opposing traffic, phantom breaking occurs with about 90% of the approaching semi tractor trailers, and perhaps 25% of the approaching automobiles.

Phantom braking at all speeds both on city streets and on highways. On the highway 138 between Palmdale and Victorville California I was unable to use cruise control because the car would continually brake. I was the only car on the road at the time.

My Tesla Y suddenly decelerates while in cruise control at the same location on a highway. It occurs when I am passing an exit ramp, but not exiting. The car reads the exit ramp speed of 45 and suddenly decelerates from. 65 to 45. It never reads exit ramp speed when I am not using cruise control and am exiting.

The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving at highway speeds with the cruise control activated, the vehicle had erroneously applied the brakes causing the vehicle to reduce the speed. The failure had occurred on multiple occasions. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 10,000.

I have had issues since i purchased this vehicle in march of 2021 where driving down the highway with Adaptive Cruise Control enabled and it will suddenly slam on the brakes at highway speeds with no other vehicles around. This sudden braking is so severe at times that everyone in the car is thrown forward and bracing for a false impact. This has caused several close calls for vehicles following me. Also the severity of the braking in winter weather causes the vehicle to lose traction and potentially place all the occupants and others on the road at risk. During my time in the FSD Beta program i was able to report all of these events, sometimes dozens of times a day. Eventually I asked to be removed from the program as it seemed worse in the program than when on a standard build version of the software.

Our Tesla started last month braking suddenly and hard when cruise control was enabled. This is happening at night when cars are passing us going in the opposite direction. At no point did the braking occur due to cars actually being in our lane or potential accident. These braking errors happen when normal driving conditions under or at the speed limit with clear visibility.

While driving at highway speeds I have recently had repeated unexpected breaking events occur while using adaptive cruise control. It happens without warning and for no apparent reason. The breaking is significant and could easily result in a rear end collision.

I too have had an issue were without warning or provocation when on cruise control, whenever a semi-truck approached in the oncoming lane, or on four-lane divided highways, my car decelerated from 75 miles per hour to 40 miles per hour in a matter of seconds. I have also had the car phantom break when going under a overpass on a highway and while crossing 2 lane bridges. Luckily no accidents so far but definitely terrifying.

This car is subject to frequent "phantom braking" . Using adaptive cruise control or full self driving, the car will occasionally brake hard for no logical reason. This happens every time I drive the car on two lane roads, i.e., with vehicles approaching from the opposite direction in the opposite lane. It happened from the time I took delivery until the present. It happened today (2-17-22). In 90% of cases, the phantom braking is triggered by a large vehicle - semi truck or bus, approaching from the opposite direction. In 10% of cases, the cause is either not clear, or caused by a smaller vehicle. The phantom braking occurs in all lighting conditions - right sunlight, overcase, night. The vehicle has not yet been inspected by Tesla.

The vehicle sometimes brakes dangerously hard at highway speeds, nearly causing the vehicle behind me to nearly rear-end me.

On 2021 August 18 Wednesday at approximately 2:40 pm (Eastern time USA) and again at 2:59 pm, my Model Y braked severely while driving at high speed. Weather: Moderate to heavy rain due to passage of the remnants of Hurricane Fred. Location - incident 1 (about 2:40 pm): Pennsylvania Turnpike eastbound, just west of the Somerset exit. Location - incident 2 (2:59 pm): PA 219 South (limited-access expressway) near Meyersdale, PA. Situation/speed - incident 1: (2:40 pm): Driving in the passing lane traveling at approximately 70 mph. Cruise control was engaged. Situation/speed - incident 2: (2:59 pm): Driving in the passing lane traveling at approximately 70 mph. Cruise control was engaged. Description of incident (2:40 pm): The incident happened on a downhill curve while passing another vehicle when the Model Y braked suddenly and sharply. The speed dropped from approximately 70 mph to approximately 40 mph. The area was a construction zone but not an active construction zone at the time. There were construction barrels and flags on the shoulder of the left lane. There were concrete Jersey barriers/K-rails in the median strip between the eastbound and westbound lanes. The lane markings were visible but may have become obscured by rain/mist and a vehicle in the right lane. There was no vehicle behind the Model Y. Description of incident 2 (2:59 pm): While passing another vehicle the Model Y braked suddenly and sharply. The speed dropped from approximately 70 mph to approximately 55

Phantom breaking while driving with cruise control.

The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving 55 MPH in autopilot mode, a truck in the middle passing lane going in the opposite direction, approached the vehicle, and the vehicle stopped abruptly. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact continued to drive the vehicle. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred while driving. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 300.

On almost all my long highway trips (about 4 hours long), if I have traffic aware cruise control (TACC) enabled on my Tesla Model Y, I experience one or more episodes of phantom braking. The first time it occurred I had owned the car for only a few weeks and was not yet accustomed to its fast acceleration. I was driving at about 70mph on a clear day with no one in front of me when the car suddenly braked. My first impulse was to hit the brake to disengage TACC, but I realized that would slow down the car more, increasing the chance I might be rear-ended. So I hit the accelerator and rocketed back up to 80mph before settling back to normal speeds. I was fortunate to be on a straightaway with no one ahead of me. Since then I have experienced phantom braking with TACC enabled under similar circumstances, i.e., with no cars or trucks in front of me and in clear weather in daytime. With more experience, I have noticed that the problem happens more often when I am passing a truck on the highway, especially when doing so around a curve. In past years I have driven numerous rental cars with adaptive cruise control and have never experienced anything like the phantom braking of the Model Y. This is not normal behavior and I hope you can get Tesla to fix it.

While driving in autopilot the car will randomly slam on the breaks multiple times at all speeds from 30-60mph even when the road is empty. This can increase if a large bus/truck is on the other side of the road in the opposite direction.

Anytime we are using the adaptive cruise in our Model Y, we have experienced "phantom braking" issues where the car suddenly brakes for no apparent reason, decreasing cruising speed from 60-70 mph by as much as 20 mph all at once. This mostly occurs on two lane highways and with oncoming vehicles that are larger (truck, etc.). Also sometimes occurs cresting a hill. It happens so often that we do not use the crusie control feature unless we are on an interstate with dividers between oncoming traffic and ourselves. Any rural two-lane highway causes multiple incidences of "phantom braking" every time we use it. Literally happened dozens of times at this point.

I’ve had this vehicle since June 2021 and experienced times when it would automatically brake abruptly, as if I were about to hit the vehicle in front of me. The first couple of times, I thought it was something I had to calibrate within the digital dashboard, but realized that it wasn’t something that could be adjusted — it was just the vehicle’s way of using it’s sensors to prevent me from colliding with the vehicle in front of me. The problem is that I wasn’t ever in danger of hitting anything in front of me. There were even times when I was gradually braking, but the vehicle automatically took over and broke for me. The painful part of it is that when this happened, it was so sharp and abruptly braking that I could feel my head jerk forward. It wasn’t until recently that I learned that this is actually a very big problem experienced by many other Tesla Model Y owners — called “Phantom Braking”. I’ve also had many other issues with the vehicle’s operating system, and have had to bring the vehicle in for Tesla service 5-6 times within a period of 7 months of taking lease of the vehicle.

We are familiar with managing the controls which, in my experience, operate similarly to other vehicles with similar safety and driver-assist features. Unfortunately, in regards to the effectiveness and ease of operation of the TACC, our Tesla is by far the worst of the 5 vehicles with which I'm familiar. The experience of managing TACC with oncoming traffic is frustrating, distracting and sometimes unsafe. Autosteer, because it builds on TACC's systems, is similarly deficient although the features it provides would be extremely welcome when TACC is improved. Nearly every oncoming large truck (including many pickup trucks) caused TACC to brake the car TACC assisted braking was inconsistent. Sometimes an immediate, slight reduction in speed (5-10mph) and other times it was an immediate major reduction in speed, on the order of half-speed within 3 - 5 seconds. It was common to have the car brake from 65 - 35 for no other reason than a large, oncoming truck. After 3 or 4 occurrences of heavy braking, I would turn off TACC and manually maintain speed with the accelerator. This in itself is fatiguing and I would eventually resort to a system in which I would disengage TACC when approached by a truck, usually 200 - 300 yds away and then reengage when traffic was clear Heavy braking was severe enough that, if a there had been a closely following/unaware car, it would have rear-ended our vehicle TACC (and Autosteer) seem "happiest" when following other vehicles and, even on 2 lane hi

Several times over the past 6 months the car suddenly slowed down without any reason while driving on autopilot with nothing ahead of it on highway (there was no change of speed limit so that can’t be an explanation). Also known as “phantom breaking”

I’ve been driving my Tesla mostly under autopilot about 90% of the time over the past 4 months. During that time, I’ve experienced about 30 or more phantom braking issues where the automatic braking system will engage when there is no object in front of the car. It’s all happened when autopilot was engaged. It happens during the day, generally on a single lane road, and also at night when on coming traffic lights are blinding. Each time it causes the car to rapidly slow down and causes the car behind me to slam on their brakes, potentially causing an accident. This needs to be fixed since it’s safety risk.

Traffic aware cruise control frequently hard brakes / emergency brakes on 2 lane roads when large vehicles such as semis and dump trucks approach in the opposite direction even though all vehicles are properly in their respective lanes. This presents a serious risk of being rear ended as well as heart attack for startled passengers. TACC is so bad it's not just unusable it is unsafe.

While using TACC ( traffic aware cruise control) the car would suddenly break and beep warning sounds. Happened randomly and at various speeds but seemed to correlate most with trucks in the left lane. Some colors seemed to be picked up more than others. Bridges and shadows also triggered it. It was my first long trip in the Tesla Y and so experienced these horrible, unpredictable episodes around 40 - 60 times during an 8 hour drive mostly on highways - many of them two way

Please see attached pdf complaint letter regarding relentless phantom braking in my 2021 Tesla Model Y. Let me know if there is a problem reading this letter. Thanks

When using the cruise control (and, by extension, Autopilot) feature, the car often brakes unexpectedly and in some cases dramatically for no obvious reason. I often use cruise control on single lane undivided roads that have speed limits between 35-50mph. When using cruise control in this scenarios the car will often automatically apply the brakes for no obvious reason, often applying the brakes hard enough that the car slows down quickly. Many times the forward collision warning sound is played but there is nothing in front of me in my lane or in the opposite lane. Other times this happens when a car is approaching me in the opposite lane. There have been several cases where the car applied the brakes for no obvious reason so hard that had I not intervened (by pressing the accelerator) the car behind me would have been at risk of hitting me. It has gotten to the point where I am becoming somewhat conditioned to override the automatic braking anytime it happens. That is dangerous and can lead to an issue where the car legitimately has a reason to decelerate but I override it thinking it is braking for no reason. I see this behavior in both cruise control (which Tesla calls Traffic Aware Cruise Control) or in Autopilot. I don't currently have the Full Self Driving feature of the car. It occurs most often when I'm on a single lane undivided road using either cruise control or Autopilot. When I'm using cruise control or Autopilot on a traditional divided highway the unexpected

While using adaptive cruise control driving at the I-25 speed limit in northern New Mexico on Feb. 5, 2022, when I went to pass a tractor-trailer rig on a left-turn stretch of freeway, the brakes suddenly slammed on hard (phantom braking), though there was no endangerment in the driving situation. This happened twice on this trip. In both instances, it was while legally passing a big rig on the interstate at the speed limit, with our car in the left lane and the truck in the right. We've taken this vehicle on long interstate road trips through the Mountain West before, and never encountered this problem before in similar circumstances. There must have been some software upgrade that made the car more dangerous and unreliable to drive while using cruise control on freeways with tight bends. Now I don't trust the vehicle and won't be using cruise control until this problem is remedied.

First, the car was not in auto pilot mode or cruise control. The car was driven into the garage, 22 inches from the landing and put in park. The “P” was lit so it was in park when it suddenly lurched forward and hit the landing and the four way flasher came on. Damage has been repaired but was $2500. Per Tesla, the car was not at fault and the car functioned as intended but it was driver error. With all the safety features that this car has, why did it not sound a warning or apply brakes to prevent this from happening. I have read about hundreds of thousand’s of incidents of sudden unintentional acceleration but yet nothing has been done about it. There is another problem with phantom braking when the car suddenly stops if you use the cruise control. I do not use cruise control because of this problem. Tesla continues to add games and other nonsense but have done nothing to fix these problems. I reported this to the Minnesota Attorney Generals office and they suggested that I contact the nhtsa. Their response from Tesla was also that it was driver error and it was not, the car was in park.

Slams on the brakes without warning. Almost caused semi to hit me from behind. This is very dangerous and must be fixed.

Car on cruise control slammed on brakes and did so every time I lifted got off accelerater until I disengaged and reengaged cruise control

PHANTOM BRAKING When cruise control is engaged (not auto steer or full self driving) the vehicle will intermittently slow down or apply corrective braking when no hazard exists. This happens more frequently on 2 lane roads but also happens occasionally on multi-lane freeways. On a 2 lane road, my vehicle will either slow down, brake or break HARD when anything larger than a SUV is coming from the other direction at normal speeds and in his lane. I have also experienced this when there is nobody for 1+ mile in front of behind me. If there are cars behind me, I find myself covering the accelerator and ready to floor it in case my car suddenly slams on the breaks. This make cruise control very unsafe and stressful. I have another Tesla vehicle doing the same thing and will post separately on that one. Thank you. [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

In September 2021 I was driving my Tesla Model Y on I-84 in Connecticut at around 8:30PM, when all of a sudden I felt like I was about to faint, started experiencing dizziness and felt like everything was spinning around me. Luckily I was able to pull over safely. I called for an ambulance, everything checked out fine. After that I went to an ER, everything checked out fine again. I thought I was having a heart attack or a stroke, but all the tests came back negative. Initially I thought maybe it's because the Tesla drives, that it accelerates so fast that I wasn't used to the speed. Weeks later I started to see various specialists, ENT, allergist, ophthalmologist, optometrist, neurologist, they all checked me out and said nothing was wrong with me. I had two MRIs and and MRA done on my brain and neck, nothing wrong with me. After that I started thinking if there might be something wrong with the Model Y, so I Googled to see if other Tesla owners experienced the same thing. Then I found that some Teslas (Model X and Y) are known to have distortions and in some cases can cause headache or even vertigo for people. I then looked through my Model Y's windshield, then I noticed several areas of distortion. This led me to believe that my near-fainting was caused by the distortions in the windshield. I have other cars and I have driven highways at high speeds and I have never experienced any kind of dizziness or fainting. I took my Model to Tesla service center, they agreed and admi

Issue #1 When on autopilot, vehicle can suddenly brake on its own (phantom braking) without warning. This happens frequently on major highways and in some instances I have to respond quickly to prevent rear end accidents. Issue #2: Vehicle only alerts when another vehicle is suddenly stopping in front and does not automatically brake as required.

This is another incident of "phantom braking" that affected my wife and I- which occurred on Feb. 7th, 2022. We were returning from a trip to Michigan and headed back to Chicago-area at about 2 PM ET. The same exact scenario unfolded as the incident on Feb. 1st ( when we were driving TO Michigan. ) This time we were on I 94 headed WEST toward Chicago. There was a truck approx. 150-200 ahead of us and in the lane to our right. I was driving in Autopilot. All the cars on my highway were headed in the same direction all headed west to Chicago. So the phantom braking was not triggered by a truck in an opposite-headed lane. It was triggered by a truck headed in the same direction and to the lane to my right- the same exact scenario as what happened on Feb. 1st. Almost identical configuration. I was doing about 60- frankly paranoid that the car could stop throughout our whole trip home. Sure enough, when we approached the arrangement where a truck was ahead and to the right of our lane, the car suddenly braked. Luckily there was no vehicle tailgating us. So that's it. It happened again. All told, this is about 8th incident of phantom braking on the expressway.

Car brakes while on autopilot whenever a truck comes in opposite lane, especially in single lane roads, more prominent on cloudy days. near collision by following cars due to unanticipated brakes.

On the 2022 Model Y, they have an Emergency Braking issue when the cruise control is set and you meet an oncoming car the Model Y will slam on its brakes.

The vehicle will randomly brake with no traffic in broad daylight (shadows cast by trees?), or always at the same area (e.g. when entering or exiting Sumterville, FL from the south), or when a large vehicle is approaching from the opposite direction (such as a semi rig), often producing an audible alert but at times without any warning. My previous vehicle, a Model 3 equipped with radar and the old software still relying on it for input, would also produce phantom braking events, but only in small numbers. The new Model Y with vision only is unreliable and dangerous, and practically useless when adaptive cruise control is engaged. This has been occurring since day one. Never before have I experienced such dangerous behavior in any prior vehicle, let alone one as modern and expensive as a Tesla.

Numerous phantom breaking incidents. Dangerous

Blind spot warning on the lower left corner of the screen, which is covered by the right hand when driving. With the turn signal, it is impossible to the blind spot warning video without taking the right hand off from the steering wheel. A dangerous situation trying to turn the vehicle with one hand! Also Tesla model Y phantom breaks every time I used autopilot on interstate. Fortunately, no vehicles were behind me. An accident waiting to happen.

Like many other Tesla owners, I’m having daily problems with phantom braking when using my adaptive cruise control.