2018 TESLA MODEL 3 Complaints

Car randomly brakes very hard when using driver assistance systems. This has happened on wide open roads on clear days, multiple times.

I drive twice a week from Washington DC to Charlottesville, VA, a distance of 117 miles each way. 35 miles are on an interstate and 82 miles are on a divided 4-lane state road. Since I restarted this commute in September 2021 after Covid shutdowns and summer break, I have experienced recurring, frequent problems with the car's vehicle warning system, adaptive cruise control, and forward collision notification system. When I drive on the interstate (where there is currently a great deal of construction), the adaptive cruise control keeps automatically adjusting my speed when there is no speed limit change. So I might be traveling at 65 mph when my speed is suddenly lowered to 30 mph. There are no warnings, either visual or audio. The speed just changes. This is incredibly dangerous and requires me to be hyper-vigilant to avoid a rear end collision, or to turn off the cruise control system. When I travel on the state road, I receive frequent visual notifications of a collision risk ahead of me. I received four of them yesterday, and there was nothing in front of me at all. But sometimes, all automated systems disengage, a visual warning appears on my vehicle screen, and a loud klaxon sounds. This happened twice yesterday. It often occurs when I'm driving on a hilly stretch of road, when I'm ascending towards a crest in the roadway. It happens more at night than in daylight, but it happens without warning under a variety of conditions. The car also has an automatic lane change feature, which used to work reliably, but now seems more capricious, for no apparent reason. I engage the system, the screen shows it's safe to change lanes, the vehicle initiates the lane change, and then the car suddenly lurches back into the lane I'm leaving, saying the function isn't available. This has happened in all traffic conditions, from an empty highway to one with moderate traffic. I don't use the system when there's a lot of traffic.

When using autopilot on the freeway there are multiple incidents where the brakes are aggressively applied for no apparent reason

Many times when I am driving using the adaptive speed control the vehicle will suddenly brake very hard, slamming on the brake, scaring the driver and all passengers in the car. When this happens, there were no other vehicles near our vehicle at the time. If another car was behind mine at this time,I feel that it would surely have caused an accident. I have documented these occurrences each time and brought to the attention of Tesla Service department.

1) What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? answers: the automatic emergency braking system was incorrectly activated on several occasions, yes 2) How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? answer: my Tesla braked unexpectedly in the driveway of my home 3) Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? answer: no 4) Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? answer: no 5) Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? answer: no

I have been plagued with Tesla’s phantom braking for *years*. For all that they do, this seems like a problem they are not willing to invest enough resources to combat the problem. Some releases have been better than others but for last batch of releases, it has gotten far worse than ever before. The car is afraid of bridges and slows down unreasonably. The car is afraid of overhead signs (carpool ones especially) The car is afraid of cars riding on or near the lines of an adjacent lane. The car is afraid of oncoming traffic on the left while driving. What is ironic is these events of aggressive braking is all for nothing. 90% of the time,. The car brakes and does drama without actually having enough time or space if what it was afraid of actually happened. The car has a rear facing camera - why can’t it adjust behavior based on tail gating? Would the car rather have a rear end collision or be afraid of a bridge? It is straight dangerous. The fact there aren’t a lot more accidents is auto pilot/fsd drivers be a large majority pay attention. But, I have had close calls and *many* angry drivers around me get frustrated when it happens. It’s been happening for 4 years…. I realize navigating a complex intersection is a tough problem to solve. They have prioritized this over the fundamentals of driving in a sane way on the freeway in a straight line. It’s ridiculous and I for one am very tired of this problem lasting so long. What chides me is that, “car, why are you braking when a car right in front of you magically went through the bridge you are afraid of?” It is basic logic and simple/obvious clues to help avoid this. They choose not to use it. Also - being in technology myself, I have to rake Elon over the coals. No one smart chooses to not use available data. Elon calling ultrasonic data to be ‘noise’ to turn to vision only is a sign of great hubris over being pragmatic. His ego regarding Lidar is a problem.

When the vehicle is in autopilot, it sometimes (once every couple of months or so) will suddenly engage automatic braking as though there is an obstacle detected in front of the vehicle. In nearly every instance, this has happened at one particular location on an interstate where an overpass casts a shadow on the interstate on which the vehicle is located. The problem seems to be that the vehicle senses an object in front of it and the collision avoidance system is engaged; however, that "object" is only a shadow. This has happened in a few other locations (not simply this where this one overpass is).

The side repeater cameras become very hazy with a pink shade at nights and the camera view when the turn signal is turned on displays this. This is quite dangerous if we rely on camera view for blink spot checks at nights.

Tesla has upgraded the visual interface of the Model 3 to version 11 of their software. My vehicle is now running version 2021.44.30.7. The new interface hides critical functions of the vehicle required for safe operation of the vehicle, such as windscreen wipers, front and rear window defoggers behind the multiple menus of the user interface meaning unfamiliar drivers are unable to safely operate the vehicle. Previously these items were on the bottom status bar of the display. Telsa have placed entertainment options as the priority for the display versus safety options. Charging rates and associated energy safety options are similary hidden behind multiple menus or require the charge port to be opened to access functionality. The user interface of the vehicle is now more like a smartphone with attention to entertainment versus attention to safety. Critical controls need to be permanently on display on the top or bottom of the display so unfamilar drivers can readily access functionality for safe vehicle operation in all weather conditions. My wife, who drove the vehicle using the previous interface with controls clearly displayed on the bottom bar of the display, now feels completely unsafe in the vehicle, as multiple clicks through menus on the display are required to activate devices versus the single click on a function in the previous version. She now has to concentrate on the menu and divert her attention from the road to the display to active a function such as window defogging or wipers, presenting a serious hazardous situation for her and other road users. NHTSA and Tesla need to address the now unsafe condition of Tesla vehicles running this new user interface. Tesla in Europe has been subject to safety sanctions by government agencies for concealing critical vehicle functions including these.

The Dec 2021 software update changed the touchscreen drastically making it dangerous to use while driving. More time must be spent taking one's eyes off the road to find the icons, and more icons must be touched to control the component (e.g., turning on the defogger). I worry there will be an accident. Tesla customer service has been unresponsive. The chatbot told me to watch videos (which I did and which were unhelpful). No person has responded to my complaints and queries about how to revert the touchscreen to the previous version.