2021 Tesla Model Y complaints

Please see attached PDF

Last year Tesla switched to a heat pump system for heating the interior of the car. Since that change the 2021 models are regularly loosing heat when the temperature gets below zero. Sometimes restarting the car will bring it back but not always. This can lead to drivers being stranded with no heat in potential dangerous temperatures. Tesla was aware of the issue last winter and it has still not been addressed and the issue is persisting in newly built cars.

Heat did not work in -15F temperatures.

Heat stops working when it gets to cold. Windows can fog up and make visibility almost impossible. Unsafe as well for passengers in freezing temps. No news or update from Tesla

The heat stops working when the ambient temperature reaches 0 degrees. This is a safety risk in cold temperatures, especially for young children that can’t wear coats in the car due to car seats. This has happened in newer models that have a heat pump as the heating system, per social media accounts. The service center is inspecting tomorrow. A warning message appears when the heat stops working on the car screen. There is also an error on the phone app when preconditioning cannot start (preconditioning is supposed to mitigate the error, but it gets too cold to precondition).

The car's adaptive cruise control system will suddenly and dangerously brake in random situations on multiple occasions. It presents a very dangerous condition should there be cars behind that can't brake in time

Multiple occasions of the vehicle's heat/ac system failing in cold weather.

I was driving from Bend Or to Boise Id on January 1st 2022. The temperature was about 7 degrees out that evening and the heater stopped working. We bundled up and kept the blower on the windshield so that we could see, but by the time we reached Boise it was 22 degrees inside the car. We were very cold. Due to the remote area we were in we did not want to stop.

I was driving on interstate 285 Atlanta in rain. All of a sudden the screen froze. Wipers won’t work. Had poor visibility. Could not even put on emergency lights. Had to do hard reset and pull over. Before I could get them to work again. This was extremely dangerous in the middle of the road. Similar issue happened with my wife in a brand new model 3 a few weeks ago and we were told it was a software issue and resolved with an over the air update. I have the UpToDate software in my model y. Feel Tesla softwares should be approved by NHTSA before being sent to customers.

The new user-interface design removed the defroster icon from the home screen. the driver now has to swipe up on climate controls then select the defroster. this is significantly unsafe, especially when you are having difficulty seeing due to unexpected fog. recommend they add the defroster icon to the home screen.

The software was updated and I am no longer able to access control for the window defoggers or windshield wipers with one button press. This creates a hazardous driving situation when I need to focus on driving the car. Additionally, the seat will automatically adjust itself to other driver profiles and I am unable to quickly control it, once again creating potentially dangerous conditions.

The backup warning system did not work when I backed out of a driveway on a dark night. I knew there was a black car (sedan I believe) parked along the curb across from the driveway, and could partly see it in the backup camera when the tail lights would turn on (i.e., when I stepped off the drive pedal), but was unable to tell exactly how close I was to the car. There were no beeps from my car to warn me. My car stopped abruptly as the edge of my trunk lid hit what I guess was the corner of the other car. All damage appears to have been to my car - a dent in the trunk lid. I reported all of this to Tesla through their service app, and received a list of places from which I can get an estimate to repair the damage, but never received an explanation from them of their evaluation of the car's records I want to point out that I believe my Tesla includes all camera sensors - a change they apparently made over the summer. My car was ordered in June 2021 for September delivery.

Tesla recently overhauled the firmware to their vehicles, however the newest update removes much of the ease and functionality. They have removed defogger buttons into the background, and other settings as well, causing the user to have to use multiple touches to work something that previously was quick. I believe this to be a safety issue. Drivers are now unaware where certain settings are and causes drivers to become distracted from the road to a degree that is unsafe while driving.

With Tesla’s new software version 11.0 (Firmware 2021.44.25.2), the enabling of the front and rear window defogger is not readily accessible (they are buried in a menu). In the previous version of the software, there was a dedicated button on the screen to enable each of them. This is a safety issue because of the following scenario that happened to me today, comparing to my experience just the day before: I was driving in the mountains of Colorado, where it was below freezing and snowing. On the 22nd of December, BEFORE the software update, my front window started fogging up VERY quickly. I was able to turn on the front and back window defoggers with one tap. Today, I was driving back and the same thing happened — the window started fogging up. With the new software you had to tap twice, taking away your attention from the road in order to locate the defrost ON button. This is incredibly dangerous. I opted to move to the side and put my flashers on while I did that.

When driving on a two lane road and approaching an oncoming 18 wheeler the cruise control consistently slams on the brakes and I am concerned about the well-being of my 5 and 4 year old in the back seat. It whips them forward. I am also concerned about cars following me and getting rear ended with the force it is applying this phantom braking. I called Tesla and they said this is expected behavior and it might be fixed in a future firmware but no guarantees. I think this is an unacceptable answer regarding the safety of my family.

Traffic Aware Cruise Control is just about useless on 2 lane highways. Once enabled it is plagued by frequent decelerations for absolutely no obvious reason. What is more concerning is the application of emergency braking when meeting an oncoming truck, even on a well marked highway where the truck is centered in it’s lane. Fortunately this has not happened to me while I was being followed by a vehicle, but it is highly likely that a large truck or inattentive driver would have rear ended me in this scenario. Tesla service has looked at my car, and told me that everything was working properly, that it was a common complaint and they did not have a fix.

On Monday November 22 at around 6:15 PM CST, I was driving my model Y and had Tesla's Full Self Driving Beta software engaged. A right banked curve on a two lane road in a rural area came up with a vehicle coming around the curve the opposite direction. The Model Y slowed slightly and began making the turn properly and without cause for concern. Suddenly, about 40% of the way through the turn, the Model Y straightened the wheel and crossed over the center line into the direct path of the oncoming vehicle. I reacted as quickly as I could, trying to pull the vehicle back into the lane. I really did not have a lot of time to react, so chose to override FSD by turning the steering wheel since my hands were already on the wheel and I felt this would be the fastest way to avoid a front overlap collision with the oncoming vehicle. When I attempted to pull the vehicle back into my lane, I lost control and skidded off into a ditch and through the woods, causing significant damage to the vehicle. I was able to retrieve the dashcam footage of this incident and it is attached here. I did analyze the footage myself briefly. You can see the vehicle leave the lane, and within about 10 frames, I had already begun pulling back into the lane before losing control and skidding off the road. Since this video is recorded at about 36 FPS, this would mean I reacted within 360ms of the lane departure. I understand it is my responsibility to pay attention and maintain control of the vehicle, which I

When cruise control or Autopilot systems are active, the car will often slam on the brakes and sound an alarm as if there going to be an imminent collision, even thought the lane is clear in front of the car. This happens most likely often when cresting small hills or on curves. There may be a car in coming in the opposing lane, but there is no danger as the opposing car is fully in their lane. The adapative cruise control or Autopilot system decreases the speed very quickly, often reducing the speed by 10-20mph within seconds. This causes panic for the driver and any cars behind us have to suddenly slam on their brakes, creating a dangerous situation. I own both a 2021 Tesla Model Y and a 2021 Model 3 that both have the Tesla Vision Camera based cruise/Autopilot/collision detection system. This problem has gotten worse as Tesla has released new firmware updates in recent months. Many Tesla owners are reporting that they are having the same issues recently. Tesla's response is that the systems are under development and that they will improve over time. The problem is that this is a safety issue NOW! They seem to be overly focused on developing and testing their full self driving systems that they are ignoring a huge safety flaw in their current cruise control and Autopilot systems.

I am experiencing phantom braking when using both the features listed below * Adaptive Cruise Control * Tesla Auto-Pilot I have experienced this safety issue when 1. I would be crusing on the road using either of these featuers. All of a sudden, and without warning, the car has applied brakes, even when there's no object / human in the same lane or attempting to come to the lane. 2. I'm cruising in the middle lane of a 3 lane highway, with no vehicles around. This has happened even when vehicles are following behind my car. 3. In both daylight and at night.

While driving my Tesla Model Y using cruise control, the vehicle will continuously brake suddenly for unknown reasons. In several instances, I was worried that the car following me would either hit my car or be forced to take other actions, possibly causing an accident. The system is dangerous and useless. When I contacted Tesla regarding my concern, they said something about the software program evolving…no fix available. I have had my Tesla Model Y in their service center three times and have had numerous phone conversations with them and their customer service department regarding this issue. They said they simply cannot do anything about it. Again, the cruise control system is extremely dangerous. Please require Tesla to resolve this problem immediately. Thank you.

My wife and I purchased our Tesla model Y back in February 2021. We picked it up back in May 2021. The selling point for us was how it drove in the winter since we live in central WI. When we test drove the car in a snow snow at the highland park dealer. The car handled great in the ice and snow due to the car having the winter driving option. My wife nearly got into an accident due to no longer having the option for winter driving. The regenerative braking option is great until you drive in winter conditions. Ice and snow will cause the vehicle to slip and slide whenever letting off the throttle. The safety concern is that if a line of vehicles is in front of you and one person slams on the brakes letting off the throttle is essentially the same thing as slamming on your brakes. Which you never do while in a snow storm. We essentially bought the vehicle with and for this option to to control the vehicle better based on weather conditions. Removing the the winter driving option was not only wrong but a law suit waiting to happen due to the safety issue it brings.

On two occasion, our brand new Tesla model Y lurched forward from a complete stop. The first time, on 2021/10/09 at 4:36pm I was at a car wash and trying to put the car in neutral. Fiddling with the gear selector, the car jumped forward without me touching the pedals. I hit the breaks and neither the car or anyone else was injured. The second time, on 2021/10/25 at 8:10 am, my wife was dropping off the kids at school. At full stop the car lurched forward again without her touching the pedals or the speed controller. The car hit the car in front of it 3 times with force. The car as well as the two other cars in front of it got seriously damaged. My two year old son was on board, there was many middle schoolers around but thankfully no one was injured. Incidents were reported to Tesla right away who has assured us they would investigate but we have had no update since despite contacting them multiple times. They assured us they have the ability to download telemetry remotely but I am concerned that as time goes by data will no longer be available. We later got an alert on the app that the emergency braking system had been disabled at the time of the second incident. I have videos files, recorded by the car itself of both incidents as they are happening available. The body damage of the car is fully repaired but the car is otherwise available for inspection/data downloads.

I was driving on Interstate 80 in NJ this morning. I was in the middle of three lanes. In the lane to the right of me were two tractor trailers. Adaptive cruise control was engaged. For no apparent reason my vehicle suddenly braked hard, startling me and making me wonder what I might have missed in my surroundings. There was no hazard...this was frightening and a major flaw in the system that I have seen referred to as "phantom braking." It has happened to me a couple of times before but never on such a crowded roadway...I could have been rear ended. This component of the vehicle has not been subjected to a service call...the car has 5,000 miles. There was no warning.

While driving on an interstate highway (75 mph) at about 12am (little traffic) on four separate occasions, with cruise control engaged, the brakes were unexpectedly applied without warning, no forward traffic, no wildlife, no vehicles on the side of the road. Had there been a vehicle behind us, it could have resulted in a rear end collision. Several days later, on a two lane road (55 mph), cruise engaged, with oncoming large delivery/semi vehicles, again, the brakes were applied as if it was an imminent collision - which it was not. We have not seen any warning lamps, messages, warnings - however, we are new to this vehicle and not sure where we would see such a warning. After the latter event, I contacted Tesla service but was told it is an issue being looked at however there were no fixes available at this time. I have not driven with cruise control since as I am very afraid of being rear-ended.

Tesla's autopilot / adaptive cruise control / emergency braking is defective. On multiple occurrences I have had incidents where the vehicle's adaptive cruise control and automatic emergency braking systems have activated inappropriately. In one occurrence I was driving on I-17 through Phoenix in the middle lane. I was beginning to pass a pickup truck pulling a trailer (my front bumper was just behind the trailer) when the car detected this as an imminent collision and applied significant braking. I had to use the accelerator to disable the emergency braking, and this triggered a number of cars behind me having to brake as well. In a second occurrence I was driving on SR-74 westbound in phoenix between I-17 and Lake Pleasant Parkway. This is a two lane road in many sections, and at one point I had a semi truck and trailer coming towards me in the opposite lane and my car detected this as infront of me and applied emergency braking. Thankfully there was no one behind me as the vehicle reduced speed from 65 to 40 before I was able to push the accelerator and resolve the issue. There have been other incidents of it braking in ways that were unexpected and dangerous. What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Auto pilot / adaptive cruise control / automatic emergency braking How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? See Above Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service cente

Have a recurring issue with phantom braking, without apparent issue, causing the car to suddenly brake (hard) without warning. (60 mph to 30 mph). This happens when using adaptive cruise control. Dealer has been contacted and their response is that this is perfectly normal, it happens to everyone, and that the car and systems are in beta. They indicate all that mechanical components are in working order and my software is up to date. Over time this may be fixed. Meanwhile, I’m concerned about being rear ended caused by my car's sudden phantom braking. This issue is prevalent in other Teslas and reports on the internet are numerous.

When traveling down a clear road with no obstructions, the Tesla will unexpectedly put the brakes on, sometimes mildly and sometimes severely when the Speed Sensitive Cruise Control OR the Autopilot is engaged. This is not Tesla full self driving, just standard cruise. This is a known problem that Tesla is aware of and has not addressed. The problem has become much more pronounced in recent software updates. This happens frequently and sometimes causes an unsafe condition causing me to not want to use this feature while driving at all.

Every time I drive on a two lane undivided highway with traffic aware cruise control or AutoPilot engaged, the car will slam on its brakes when a large vehicle is passing in the oncoming lane, even if the passing vehicle is safely passing. Phantom braking with vision only.

Adaptive Cruise Control breaks hard for no apparent reason. If there had been any cars trailing close behind I could easily be rear-ended. Happens at least once every time I turn on cruise control. On a recent longer highway trip of about 90 miles it happened three times. One time on that trip it happened while passing under a bridge, did it pick up the lower speed from the bridge above? The other times it seemed to happen for no reason. All these times our hearts dropped (2 passengers in car). Note that I do not have full self driving, so I’m talking about adaptive cruise control being the problem.

While using autopilot (adaptive cruise control) and driving on two lane highways the car will suddenly apply braking. The braking is abrupt and aggressive. The concern is being rear ended even for vehicles following at a safe distance. The abrupt braking happens randomly and more consistently when there is an oncoming car, especially around turns or hills.

The autopilot randomly applies the brakes. Sometimes it applies the brakes on a 2 lane highway when a truck or large vehicle approaches in the oncoming lane. Other times nothing is in the lane and it slams on the brakes. Other times the forward collision warning starts making noises and nothing is in front of me. I took the vehicle in for service, but of course the Tesla tech could not duplicate. Although the invoice says "autopilot will improve as firmware is released."

While driving on a two lane highway at 70mph with adaptive cruise control on, every time a semi would approach the car, the car would brake really hard with no notice. Not one car caused this issue. It was only large semis trucks or trailers.

Car is frequently emergency braking when autopilot is enaged and large trucks or semi tractor trailers merge from the right. Car will also unnecessarily and prematurely emergency brake when cars are climbing a hill. The unexpected braking has nearly caused several accidents and we have discontinued use.

When driving with Cruise Control engaged, the car repeatedly brakes VERY HARD. Sometimes the braking is when there is a car in the opposing lane and is approaching but not over the line. Sometimes the sudden hard braking occurs for no apparent reason. But on a two lane highway this occurs VERY regularly. It occurs several times an hour. This is a serious problem because if there is a car behind me the sudden hard braking may cause that car to crash into me from behind. You can submit a bug report to Tesla by pushing the right hand steering wheel button, saying "Bug Report" and then describing the report verbally while driving. This will include all sorts of driving data being sent to Tesla. I have done this dozens and dozens of times. Each time I get a message on the screen thanking me for sending in the bug report. Never once have I ever heard back from Tesla other than the instantaneous message on the screen saying that the bug report has been submitted. I believe that Tesla has had a recall for a very similar problem with the Model S and Model X with Full Self Driving. This recall was fixed almost immediately with an over-the-air software update. However my problem does not relate to Full Self Driving (which my car does not have). This relates only to cruise control. I have spoken to several other Model 3 and Model Y owners who ALL report the exact same problem. A quick search online will reveal hundreds of other similar reports for Model 3 and Model Y owners who do NOT ha

When placed in cruise control (which is called TACC: traffic aware cruise control), and driving on 2 lanes road, the car frequently (more than 10 times over 20 miles) slams on the brakes when incoming large vehicles on the other lane. This is generating dangerous situation with following cars being surprised for sudden (and unwarranted) braking occurs. I have a dash cam video of one such incidents

Vehicle will brake hard when approaching oncoming large trucks. This may result in a rear end collision of the following vehicle and possible chain reaction incident. The vehicle has not been inspected and is two months old. This is an ongoing issue and common with this make and model.

When driving on cruise control the car will suddenly and randomly decelerate and/or break for no reason. I have had this happen on empty two lane highways and on 4 lane highways with cars around me. It's incredibly stress full and if cars are following too close very dangerous.

Driving I5N near Delmar with auto pilot in daylight, car suddenly braked while there was no obstacle, or any other car in front of it. Luckily no one rear-ended me. Max cruise speed was set to 75 MPH, and speed suddenly dropped below 45 MPH. The maximum cruise speed I set to also automatically changed to 45 MPH as well.

When on Cruise Control or using Autopilot mode, there are frequent phantom breaking issues. On a long trip, we experienced phantom breaking consistently on the Highway both at night and during the day. These phantom breaking issues would sometime be significant and immediately drop speeds 10 miles an hour creating a danger of surprising people behind us. On a 2 lane country road, the issues are GREATLY compounded. The breaking would constantly trigger with oncoming traffic in the other lane and break VERY hard with the auto break alarm sounding. At night on a country road, it occurs with almost EVERY oncoming car. It is amazing to me that this made it through quality control because it is easily reproducible. The auto braking feature should just be turned off for country roads if this can't be fixed. At one point, I was right next to an older Model 3 on a mountain passing lane when an oncoming car was coming. The Model 3 was in the left lane closer to the 'danger' and my car phantom braked with the auto breaking alarm coming on and the model 3 just continued on, no issue. No idea if they were on cruise or auto pilot etc.

On September 26, on our first long distance trip with our just delivered (9/17/2021) Tesla Model Y, during daylight nice weather driving with Adaptive Cruise Control switched “On”, on at least 6 occasions (strait roads, freeway and non-freeway driving), the car suddenly, without any reason, violently slammed on the brakes. These events are hair raising for me and passengers, let alone for a driver behind me. If he/she does not pay attention at that very moment, the result could even be disastrous. I would never have expected such a serious safety issue with a Tesla. Suffice to say that this is absolutely unacceptable to me. When checking out the web, many people reported similar issues with their Model Y vehicle. I had the car checked-out at the Tesla Lynnwood, WA, Service Center on September 30, 2021, and when picking-up the car I was informed that no anomalies had been found. At later dates, similar emergency braking occurred without any reason, while driving with Adaptive Cruise Control. Obviously, I do not trust this Cruise Control system one bit anymore, and no longer use it. I have written a letter to Tesla (11/12/2021) requesting a time frame when a solution can be expected, but so far, I have not received any word from them. I sincerely feel that Tesla should temporarily disable this Adaptive Cruise Control feature on ALL Model Y vehicles currently on the road and those still to be delivered (to unaware new owners), until this serious safety issue has been resolved.

Repeated automatic breaking in the assisted driving mode when the road is clear and there are no other drivers or obstacles. The other day my speed was dropped from 55 to 45 mph. It was fortunate no one was behind me.

I have been having inconsistent behavior from the autopilot system. The vehicle has hit the breaks hard when no obstacle was present. I have not had this problem verified by a dealer/service center. It happens seemingly randomly. There was no warning before the breaking started.

The latest version of Autopilot has very serious phantom braking issues. It will brake hard frequently for no apparent reason. Other times it will slow down, but not braking hard, also for no apparent reason. It will also beep at me frequently when cars are approaching in the opposite lane, again for no apparent reason. In short, the latest version of AP is all but unusable and more importantly is not safe for us b/c of the phantom braking issue. Luckily no car has been close behind me when the hard braking has occurred but it certainly could be and could cause a serious accident.

Driving across the country in Model Y. Passed semi in left lane, and when merging back into right hand lane vehicle applied full brakes dropping the vehicle speed from 80mph to 60mph, right in front of semi. I was forced to take over and accelerate to avoid serious rear end collision. It wasn’t just the one time, vehicle continued to perform aggressive braking actions many times. Autopilot was unusable for majority of trip. Tesla needs to make autopilot able to be disabled, and standard cruise control possible. Tesla vision is not safe, and is a major liability. It’s very clear Tesla vision is an attempt to remove radar to get around supply chain issues, at the cost of consumer safety.

I have 13987 miles on the car. 2 times in 1 month on a 2 way highway that has lane markers on the left side of the road. While using cruise control once and the second time was in auto drive mode going about 60. Hard braking with no notice, good thing no one was right behind me. I took control with no issue but this is really a safety issue. I see others reporting it maybe cars coming toward you. But in one case I was alone no on coming cars. Like I said the road has safety markers that are about 3 ft high.

Using basic Autopilot (adaptive cruise control without auto-steer), the car randomly slams on the brakes putting me at risk of being rear-ended by any vehicles following me.

A recent vehicle software update now has a speed limit alert stuck right in the middle of the touch screen display. It's unnecessary, annoying and intrusive. Tesla service said to get rid of the alert I need to TURN OFF the speed limit setting!!! Discouraging us from using the safety features is not an improvement. I recommend the NHTSA reqiure Tesla to locate the alert in another area of the display that will be visable but not distracting and annoying.

The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would brake independently without warning. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to a local dealer to be inspected. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 970.

Vehicle braked suddenly on the exit lane of a highway around noon time, when there was no car ahead of me. There was a large truck passing on the adjacent lane. My car gave a red color warning of imminent collision and braked hard. Fortunately, I avoided having an accident with cars following me by pressing on the gas peddle and moving ahead. Tesla service remotely reviewed and determined that at that time emergency brakes were applied because the car detected an object. Tesla said it could have been a reflection, the sun, or any number of things that could have triggered the false detection causing the vehicle to brake.

The contact owns a 2021 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated that while driving at 60 MPH, the lane assist feature operated independently as he attempted to merge into the right lane. Due to the failure, the vehicle pulled back into the left lane which caused the vehicle to spin in a circle and crash into a median. The air bags did not deploy upon impact. The contact was not injured as a result of the accident. A police report was not filed. The vehicle was initially towed to the dealer where he was informed that the vehicle would be towed to an independent body shop for repair. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was 24,300.