2021 Tesla Model Y complaints

This is an ongoing issue. When using autopilot, I experience phantom braking, usually with large oncoming trucks on 2 lane highways. The problem is worse with logging trucks, but I've had it happen with vehicles as small as school buses. In the worst cases, the collision alarm sounds and the car slows up to 30mph immediately. I have this happen at least twice every morning on my 7 mile drive to town. I have videos that capture this event. Photos don't work

When we were driving in cruise control and auto pilot on two different trips, the car would brake for no reason We experienced dramatic breaking -Frequently up to 20 mph. These incidents would occur when a car was approaching us on a 2 Lane Highway but often for no apparent reason. We feel this poses a high risk of rear end collision if a car is behind us when it breaks

I was driving on a 2 lane highway using cruise control and the car suddenly aggressively slowed down. I have owned the car since October 2021 and this is probably the 15th phantom breaking event that has occurred. Cruise control on this car is not trustworthy nor safe on a 2 lane non-divided highway.

When using cruise control on two lane secondary roads the brakes are activated when a large truck approaches from the opposite direction causing vehicles behind me to have to brake unnecessarily. The cruise control is virtually unusable when not on a limited access highway.

While traveling at night on a 2-way highway at about 65-70mph my vehicle incorrectly thought every semi-truck I encountered was in my lane and would apply hard braking. This has happened 10+ times.

On February 1st, 2022 I was driving with my wife from the Naperville, IL area to Holland, MI. We were on I 94 headed east, approximately 20 miles west of Michigan City Indiana headed east. I was driving around 65 miles per hour. We were on a 4 lane highway- all the cars on those 4 lanes were headed in the same direction. There was a truck in front of us ( headed in the same direction ) that was located to the right of us in the lane to our right and it was about 60 or 70 feet in front of us. All of a sudden the car, that had been operating on Autopilot, braked suddenly. We went from 65 to almost 0 in a split second and if my wife and I weren't wearing seat belts we would have been very seriously injured. My neck suffered a whiplash and I'm still in pain several days later.

Phantom braking hard braking on freeway with no cars or objects around

FSD, the design of FSD using the safety score is designed to defeat failure reporting to government agencies. If you allow the FSD system to drive on its own, it will crash, run into things, fail to stop, or stop at green lights constantly. What the driver score system does is force human beings to manage and mitigate its failures leaving a on paper result that the system is more safe than drivers driving on their own. This is 100% false, if you allow FSD to drive, it will fail almost 100% of the time in very quick succession. From lane change mistakes, to turning mistakes, not staying within its lane in a consistent manner, not putting the car into left turn lanes or stopping at green lights, which in itself is dangerous. The safety score system MUST be eliminated as it cherry picks those drivers willing to spend the time and energy to ANTICIPATE the failure/weakness of the software and mitigate its failure before it fails, thus providing the government with false "safety" numbers... Grab a car and drive it, it will not be long before it fails left and right!

I commonly will experience phantom breaking driving on two-lane roads, particlualy when meeting oncoming traffic. This occurs most commonly at the crest of a hill or when meeting trucks. It occurs nearly 100% of the time when meeting trucks at the crest of a hill. There are also random occurrences on flat roads with no other vehicles and no shadows or bridges. It also occurs on bridges and occasionally with shadows. Performance has been better on four lane roads with more traffic. It's as if the system needs to have other traffic to gauge itself. With no traffic on four lane roads, phantom braking will rarely occur. There is no single date of this occurrence. It happens ALL THE TIME.

I am driving down the highway and the car brake checks hard 3 separate times one one occasions for no reason while using Auto Pilot.

While driving in my car on a highway in cruise control, my car will break very hard for no reason. It’s as if it is detecting a car in front of us and it disengages cruise control very abruptly. It can be very scary especially if there are cars behind us. I no longer dare to use cruise control because it has happened multiple times. I have not discussed this issue with the dealer and there were no warnings in the car at the time.

The Tesla has been doing phanton breaking. For example on the highway using dynamic cruise control or autopilot. When a truck is merging to the right lane it will apply quite the break force. Almost got rear ended cause of this on the highway. Observed this a few times on drive from Ga to NJ. I also noticed going up and down hills with dynamic cruise control it will sometimes trigger the front collision warning or phanton break. This seems to be sporadic and doesn’t like one lane back roads. Last and it least I also noticed that using auto pilot the car forces you to use auto high beans. On the highway at night it will go off and on a lot to the point drivers on opposite side of the road would flash their lights to let me know about the high beans. The model teslas doesn’t use radar or laser sensors like previous year. It does seem to have a lot of impact cause I did not see these issues with my Lexus RX350 With dynamic cruise control, lane keep assist, auto high beans, and front collision warning.

Since the v11 upgrade, my backup camera has dropped frames and lags while backing up to the point that I have almost hit bollards while backing up. If a child walked behind the car, I would not know it.

This car is exhibiting random “phantom braking” incidents when cruise control or auto pilot is engaged. In EVERY incident the road is clear ahead and in the adjacent lanes, with no other vehicle traffic. The car will appl full emergency braking for no reason, and with no warning

Phantom braking

When cruise control is active, the car slams on the brakes for no apparent reason. This happens basically every time I drive the car. I’m always concerned it will cause me to be rear-ended.

The car experiences phantom braking when adaptive cruise control is engaged. Happens most often when going under an overpass but has happened on clear open roadway as well (no cars around).

Phantom braking. I can’t use the cruise control at all because it constantly brakes and swerves when nothing is in front of the car. I took the car to the device center and was told they can’t do anything.

When driving with Adaptive Cruist Control on, the car will randomly slam on the brakes (phantom braking) for no reason. It can be with a shadow on the road or, VERY commonly, when any car or large truck passes on a 2-lane highway or road. It's extremely dangerous to any cars behind and to myself.

The vehicle brakes out of no where when on autopilot. Phantom braking

When cruise control (TACC) enabled the car will brake on 2 lane undivided roads when oncoming vehicle is a semi or other large vehicle. Vehicle may suddenly slow 5-15mph causing unsafe condition if being followed closely. Problem is easily reproducible on any 2 lane road. Will also occur when autopilot engaged as autopilot is simply TACC with lane keeping. The features otherwise seem safe on interstates and divided highways.

The defroster system is not able to keep the windshield clear of ice buildup when driving even in light snow. This is because this is an electric vehicle, so there is no engine heat from underneath the hood to radiate towards the wipers. Between wiper cycles, the wipers rest below the area of the windshield that is heated by the defroster. During snowfall ice builds up on the wipers from their resting position between cycles and that ice then propagates to the rest of the windshield as the wipers move. This is an extremely dangerous situation. I heard Tesla is installing a heater beneath the resting area of the wipers on the 2022 model year of this vehicle. However, NHTSA should issue a recall and require this heating plate be retrofit onto earlier model years. The country of Canada is aware of this issue as well and currently investigating it.

From June, 2019 to June, 2021 we owned a Tesla Model 3. We have had the Model Y since June, 2021. The current Model Y has a significant phantom braking problem. Worse than the Model 3 that we owned. Our Model Y relies on "Tesla Vision" without radar. Last week we drove 1,400 miles from Montana to Southern California. On more than a fifteen occasions phantom braking occurred, to the point that we were reluctant to use it. Driving on an Interstate at 80 mph, the car would suddenly brake. The 1st reaction is to overcome the braking with acceleration. On one occasion when there was no traffic behind, I didn't accelerate until 45 mph. From 80 mph to 45 mph suddenly. Dangerous. On city streets we also experienced phantom braking, yet not so dramatic. Some thoughts on what causes this issue: pavement glare, a change in pavement color, concrete barriers on an overpass, reflection from on coming traffic. Traffic Assisted Cruise Control is an important feature for me and now I'm reluctant to use it.

Vehicle abruptly applied automatic braking as I was cruising at 40 mph. Went to an almost complete stop in a short distance. No one was behind me but if there were it would have been dangerous. Also, there were patches of ice in the road which made it even more dangerous.

Frequent phantom braking when in cruise control. The vehicle unexpectedly brakes often while in cruise control when there is an oncoming vehicle in the oncoming traffic lane, despite the fact that both my vehicle and the oncoming vehicle are in their respective lanes (in other words there is no apparent danger of collision). The phantom braking also sometimes happens apparently at random, in other words when I can't see anything in the vehicle pathway that could be interpreted as dangerous. I am entering a date under "Additional Details" below, but this has happened repeatedly on many different dates.

When using AutoPilot, the car will without any basis or immediate need brake most abruptly without any due cause, as there is no traffic or cars around it. It’s usually when passing over overpasses but not always. This sudden deceleration has almost caused accidents. Only me being wary and cognizant has saved the car from being rear ended. Sometimes there’s no cars around but it still can be very dangerous. This has been happening over almost a year and Tesla has not done anything to address this widespread issue.

Tesla slams on brakes for no reason. Causes a safety hazard with cars behind me. Was almost hit when my model y applied the breaks for no reason.

Sudden, unexpected breaking multiple times while using autopilot cruise control.

On multiple occasions when auto pilot engaged, car will suddenly brake with extreme force. I have not been rear ended because of it, but it could very well happen. On Jan 30, as an example, travelling on divided 4 lane highway, no one in front of back, autopilot engaged, for no reason, it tried to come to a sudden complete stop while going 70mph. There was nothing in the road whatsoever. MULTIPLE other instances of this. On 2 lane roads, this happens even more frequently, I would estimate once every mile, though not always as severe.

Phantom breaking issues on 2 lane roads.

Traveling at 70mph on a highway with no cars in front using Autopilot with steering assist. The car suddenly braked hard and came to almost 35mph before quickly regaining speed. Had a car behind me that could have rear ended me on the highway. This was one of many times has happened but this was the most severe.

Chronic problems with phantom breaking. We’re deathly afraid of getting rear-ended on the interstate. It’s a scary situation - we’re terrified.

Experienced "Phantom Braking" several times when cruise control is activated on a highway.

I was driving north on I-5 in southern Washington on a sunny Sunday morning with low traffic in October 2020. I had only had the car for a few days and was using the autopilot and cruise control for the first time. As I approached an overpass that was casting a shadow across the highway, the car suddenly braked hard. Fortunately there were no vehicles immediately behind me. If there had been, I likely would have been rear-ended. About 15 minutes later, while driving in the middle of the three northbound lanes, a motorcycle passed me on the left and then cut across my lane to get to an exit. Again, the car braked suddenly. When I next stopped to charge the vehicle, I went online and read on various Tesla user chatrooms that this was a widely experienced problem. I immediately stopped using the autopilot and cruise control. I have not used them at all in the past 15 months.

Vehicle will randomly reduce speed when using the adaptive cruise control.

I have consistently experienced “phantom braking” when using cruise control. (I do not use full driver assist). I drive frequently on two lane highways and the braking occurs seemingly randomly, sometimes even when no other vehicles are close enough for concern, but usually when a large truck is approaching on the opposite side. I don’t recall having the problem while driving on divided highways. Each time this has occurred I am startled by the warning beep and am in fear of a rear-end collision, so I have stopped using cruise control except on multi-lane, divided highways. I read about “phantom braking” in the Washington Post and was surprised that there were not more similar complaints.

On numerous occasions while using cruise control the the Model Y brakes would be suddenly applied in the following situations. While in the inside lane of a curve in the road when several approached from the other direction the brakes would be suddenly applied when the front of the Model Y was pointing at one of the middle vehicles in the line of approaching vehicles. This sudden braking does not happing when traveling down straight sections of roadway or when traveling in the outside lane of a curve.

I just want to add my name to list to complain about phantom braking. You can't trust the adaptive cruise control to maintain correct speed as it will at random times brake hard when there is nothing in front of you. Maybe 20% of the times I use it.Sometimes it looks like a shadow on the road will cause it, maybe at night and when the weather is bad. It brakes hard too and you have to be ready to compensate. I think it is from using just cameras and no radar in my newer model

When driving on divided interstate highways using adaptive cruise control the car would suddenly without warning brake heavily. This is happening up to five times a day on long trips. Weather was clear, no other cars in front and no obstacles on the road. The only recourse was to slam the accelerator to the floor and hope no one was tailgating. This has also been happening on two lane roads when a truck or other large vehicle approaches. This was so dangerous we can no longer use the feature on two lane highways.

Driving a 4 lane road with not other vehicles in site the car suddenly braked to the point of locking up the seat belts and throwing items around the cabin. I reported this to the manufacturer and they were able to review logs and confirm that the car mistakenly saw something and applied the brakes. I would have been hot from behind if a car was following. I was told not to use this feature on certain roads. But I asked how to disable it I was told there is no way. This needs to be addressed before there is an accident. I was not using full self driving. I only had cruise control on.

While using cruise control, aka “Autopilot,” the brakes automatically engage, even with no reason to. It’s happened so many times at high speed, and while passing, that I am now scared to use “autopilot.” While using autopilot, I have to be ready to mash the accelerator peddle at any moment, due to unwanted breaking and it feels very dangerous. It can also be traumatic for passengers when the vehicle suddenly brakes hard at high speed. I’m worried it could also cause an accident if someone were right behind me and also traveling at a high rate of speed.

Unexpectedly slamming on my brakes in response to imagined hazards, such as oncoming traffic on two-lane roads. This happens often and I have to shut off this feature to avoid a spin out on icy roads. Very hazardous. overly sensitive to trucks in the opposite lane. Car lurched from 50 mph to a near-stop in response to a large truck. Is this phantom braking?

The contact owns 2021 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 MPH with the vehicle on auto pilot, a large commercial truck in the opposite lane passed the vehicle, which then applied the brakes and slowed from 55 to 35 MPH. The contact stated that this should not have happened and was an instance of "phantom braking". The contact reported that once the commercial truck passed the vehicle went back up to speed within seconds. The contact stated that he did not notice if a warning light was illuminated, but the contact stated that he heard the vehicle sound an audible beep. The contact did not take the vehicle to a local dealer to be diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure; however, the contact went to the dealer to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 1,000.

(1) My car dangerously and aggressively applies the brake dropping the speed of the car between 3 to 30 mph within a second or two (phantom breaking) EVERY SINGLE TIME I drive the car in adaptive cruise control or auto steer. This happens on 2 lane roads, on divided highway, driving on straight and curvy roads, when there are shadows, frequently when a truck or car is coming toward me, and even on overcast days when driving on a freeway when there are no shadows and no traffic in either direction. The car seems to be sensing an object that is going to cause a collision and applies the brake even when no object, threat, or shadow is anywhere in view in any direction. I frequently have to immediately step on the accelerator to keep from getting rear-ended in what could be a severe or fatal accident. (2) On a 225 mile drive to the Tesla Service Center to correct the phantom braking problem, my car inappropriately applied the brake 40 times, including aggressively dropping the car's speed from 63 mph to 35 mph in a second or two. (3) My car dangerously and aggressively applies the brake whenever a car is turning in front of me that is sufficiently far enough away that there is no absolutely no threat whatsoever of a collision. I then have to quickly step on the accelerator to keep from being rear-ended. (4) I have taken the car into the Tesla Service Center twice to correct this problem. I even gave them a list of dozens of times/dates I experienced phantom braking and the # of m

In short: Phantom Braking While driving on single lane highways with Autopilot enabled my car slams on the brakes and alerts whenever a semi is safely approaching. What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? - I assume the Tesla Vision System + Autopilot are what fail in this scenario. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? Immediately this puts us in risk of a rear end collision. Alert fatigue from false alarms creates a long term risk as drivers are trained to ignore / cancel alerts. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? Not explicitly. We have mentioned it to a dealer and said it was a common complaint. Also it is a well known (under addressed) issue amongst Tesla owners. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? No, given the lack of property or personal injury it doesn't seem right to alert those institutions. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? No, all systems appear to be functioning correctly. That is a large part of the problem - if the Tesla Autopilot is unable to function reliably on one lane highways it should at least warn drivers.

I drive on the highway from Dallas to Austin to Houston every week. Every trip I have about 2-4 phantom braking incidents at full speed. It seems to occur at similar points every time. It is incredibly alarming and I have to slam on the accelerator to not cause an accident. This needs to be repaired.

When using cruise control. My car will phantom brake. Most of the time it is when oncoming traffic is present… but a few times there are no cars around me… a few weeks ago, the car phantom brakes on an ice patch almost causing a wreck.

Automatic Emergency Braking. Known also as "phantom braking." Tesla is aware of the problem. Regardless of whether or not I'm using the standard cruise control or the more advanced full self driving feature, the car routinely hits the brakes even when there is no obvious obstruction in front of it. If the car suddenly brakes on the highway with another car behind it, it risks a rear end collision. No other warnings appear. The car simply brakes for no reason. This automatic emergency braking system should be removed for standard cruise control. It's more of a hazard than a benefit.

Phantom braking, my car have driven 13.6K miles in the last 1 years. It happened once on the city street (early morning with no cars on the road and twice on the freeway, both time I was next to a big trailer truck, and no cars behind me, lucky.

While using adaptive cruise control the vehicle will suddenly brake. I thought it would get better after it’s system learned but still happens when a large vehicle or even a pedestrian is in an adjacent lane. Car has 3940 miles on it now. Last highway trip of 100 miles it happened five times. I don’t know how badly it brakes now because I keep my foot on the gas pedal while in adaptive cruise control so I can react quickly to it. We previously owned a 2018 Tesla 3 with radar enhanced “auto pilot” and did not experience this problem.