2018 Tesla Model X Speed Control & Cruise Problems

During a recent incident where a tire issue caused damage to the wiring harness for the parking brake, resulting in a Parking Brake Failure notification on the screen, the vehicle would not stop or turn off. The vehicle displayed N for neutral on the dash, but the vehicle would drive forward unless the brake was depressed. In addition, we were unable to place the vehicle in Park, which meant that we were unable to shut it off. The only way to stop the vehicle from driving on its own and crashing into something was to place concrete blocks under the tires! Unplugging the 12v battery also had no effect! The vehicle kept driving as if it was in drive, and there as no way to stop it without placing the foot on the brake pedal the entire time or placing the blocks I referenced. The only way I was able to shut it off, was to pull what's known as the Fireman's Loop, which I'm guessing firemen pull in the case of an accident. I wasn't aware of this mechanism, and only learned of it after posting on numerous social media apps regarding this issue. This is a Major issue, as we are talking about a moving and unstoppable car! Tesla needs to build some mechanism that allows the car to be shut off by the driver or to override the screen and place the car in park. Pulling this firemans loop and unplugging the 12v battery, required me being in front of the vehicle, risking my life, as the vehicle could've easily moved if the concrete barriers didn't stop it, and also required me taking 30+ minutes to remove components from the Frunk, just to access these components!!

While on cruise control (autopilot) on the highway, the vehicle occasionally violently slows down. The majority of the time, this happens near or just before an exit/entrance ramp and if the car is in the rightmost lane. It happens regardless of traffic conditions and even if there are zero cars around, it will still "hiccup" and hit the brakes. I've noticed that the cruise control system sometimes automatically changes the maximum speed for the cruise control to 35-45 MPH which explains the sudden braking. It is semi-replicable by setting the cruise control to a comfortable highway speed (say 65 MPH) while the car is in the rightmost lane, then driving past a (normally) heavily trafficked entry/exit merging area. If requested, I can probably find a safe time and area to replicate this and send in my dashcam footage of the incident.

While driving at speed approximately 4:20PM EST April 9th, 2022 on I95 near the Georgia/South Carolina border the onboard computer froze and became unresponsive, including the speedometer, the radio, navigation system, etc.. I became aware of the issue because the car started to slowly slow down but the display continued to show 70 MPH. I forced the computer out of Autopilot but the car continued to show it was in autopilot. shortly after the display behind the steering wheel went blank then rebooted, followed by the center console. thankfully I was paying attention and did not panic, had I panicked I could very easily been in an accident as I did not know what was going on with the car. I reached out to tesla multiple times following the incident and the agents and agents were non-caring and treated it as no big deal, and acted as if I should not be concerned about it. I could not even get assistance from them on getting service for the car. they kept pointing me to the Mobile app on the phone which would not function properly and after typing the incident into as I wrote above 3 times I gave up.

THE CAR SUDDENLY ACCELERATED ON ITS OWN AS I WAS SLOWLY ENTERING A PARKING SPACE IN A SUPERMARKET PARKING LOT AND HIT THE CAR THAT WAS PARKED IN THE SPACE IN FRONT OF ME.

AS THE VEHICLE SELF DRIVING SYSTEM WAS ACTIVE IT CAME TO A FULL STOP IN A RED LIGHT. THE VEHICLE STOPPED BEHIND AN 18 WHEELER. AS I WAS IN A FULL STOP, I STOPPED LOOKING TO THE FRONT OF THE CAR AND LOOKED FOR A DOCUMENT AND CHECKED MESSAGES. SUDDENLY THE VEHICLE ACCELERATED FULLY, IMPACTING THE 18 WHEELER IN FRONT OF ME. MY REACTION WAS NOT FAST ENOUGH AS I WAS VERY CONFUSED, EVENTUALLY I HIT THE BREAKS AND ACTIVATED ABS SYSTEM BUT NOT WITH ENOUGH TIME TO STOP BEFORE IMPACT. THIS HAS BEEN CONFIRMED BY THE TESLA REPORT THAT THE VEHICLE ACCELERATION OCCURRED WITH OUT DRIVE INPUT. THEY SEEM TO IGNORE THE FACT THAT I WAS AT A RED LIGHT AND STATE IT IS OPERATOR ERROR NOT TO BE ATTENTIVE, BUT REGARDLESS, ACCELERATING AT FULL SPEED WITH NO INPUT TOWARDS ANOTHER VEHICLE IS A HAZARD TO THE POPULATION. THEY HAVE NOT SHARED THE REPORT FROM ENGINEERING, ONLY READ THE STATEMENT OVER THE PHONE ONCE AND HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO ASK FOR THE WRITTEN REPORT. SIGNIFICANT AVOIDANCE IN OCCURRING FROM THE COMPANY.

NOTE: I AM NOT A TESLA SHORT SELLER, I AM REAL OWNER, DRIVER OF TESLA FOR THE LAST 19 + MONTHS. 1.SUDDEN ACCELERATION HAPPENED MANY TIMES DURING AUTOPILOT, VEHICLE DOESN'T DECELERATE EVEN WHEN ANOTHER VEHICLE IS IN FRONT, I HAD TO TAKE CONTROL FROM AUTROPILOT WITH THIS SUDDEN ACCELERATION AND I APPLY BRAKE. THIS HAS BEEN MANY MANY TIMES AT DIFFERENT LOCATIONS (FREEWAYS ~65MPH, EXPRESSWAYS ~45/50MPH SPEEDS). I DID NOT APPLY ANY GAS PEDAL/OTHER TECHNIQUES TO INCREASE THE SPEED, BUT THE VEHICLE SUDDENLY WITHOUT ANY INTERVENTION SPEEDS UP, I WAS TERRIFIED WITH THIS AND TOOK CONTROL FROM AUTOPILOT. CONTACTED TESLA EARLIER REGARDING THIS, BUT THEIR POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE, SERVICE CENTER DID NOT HELP MUCH. 2.AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING...WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO STOP IF ANY OBJECTS INFRONT, DOES NOT STOP. ITS JUST THE VISIBLE CLEAR OBJECTS, VEHCILE DOES NOT STOP EVEN AT LOWER, HIGHER SPEEDS. I REQUEST NHTSA TO KINDLY TAKE NOTE OF THESE ISSUES WITH TESLAS AND APPRECIATE YOUR ACTION IN THIS REGARD.

WE HAD AN ACCIDENT 2DAYS AGO. WE WERE IN THE SCHOOL LOOP TO DROP OFF OUR SON TO SCHOOL. MY HUSBAND WAS DRIVING AND WAS HEADING TOWARDS THE DROP OFF AREA WHEN EVERYTHING JUST HAPPENED SO FAST, THE NEXT THING I KNEW IS THAT WE HIT ONE OF THE IN-GROUND INSTALLED BASKETBALL HOOPS. THE IMPACT WAS HARD AND DEPLOYED ALL THE AIRBAGS ON THE PASSENGER SEATS AND THE SIDE AIRBAG OF THE DRIVER AND THE 2ND ROW PASSENGER SEATS WHERE MY SON WAS SEATED AND ALSO SAW SOME SMOKE FROM THE FRONT WHERE I WAS SEATED AND I DO NOT KNOW WHERE IT WAS COMING FROM THAT I THOUGHT THAT THE CAR WAS ON FIRE BUT MY HUSBAND INFORMED ME THERE WAS NONE. RECALLING NOW, IT HAS BEEN A MYSTERY TO US AS TO WHY AND WHAT REALLY HAPPENED. I WAS SEATED ON THE FRONT PASSENGER SEAT AND SUSTAINED A FRACTURE IN THE RIGHT SCAPULA AND GENERALIZED CONTUSIONS IN MY BODY AREA. MY SON WHO WAS SEATED ON THE 2ND ROW ALSO SUSTAINED CONTUSIONS ON HIS FACE AND A FEW LACERATIONS. WE WERE COMING INTO THE SCHOOL LOOP AND WAS RUNNING ON A SOMEWHAT 20MPH SPEED, I WAS WONDERING IF THE VEHICLE DID ACCELERATE IT'S SPEED CAUSE WHY WOULD WE HAVE SUCH A HARD IMPACT AND SUSTAINED THOSE INJURIES THAT IT EVEN DEPLOYED ALMOST ALL THE AIRBAGS? HOPE SOMEONE CAN LOOK INTO THIS SO AS NOT TO HAVE ANYONE BE ON OUR SAME FATE AND FOR EVERYONE'S FUTURE SAFETY. THANK YOU.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNED A 2018 TESLA MODEL X. THE CONTACT STATED THAT AS HER HUSBAND WAS PARKING IN A SPACE, THE VEHICLE MADE A LOUD NOISE AND ACCELERATED INDEPENDENTLY. AS A RESULT, THE VEHICLE CRASHED INTO A TREE AND A CEMENT PLANTER, CAUSING THE PLANTER TO MOVE ABOUT 10 FEET AWAY. THERE WAS NO WARNING LIGHT OR CHIMES. THE CONTACT WAS ASKED ABOUT AIR BAG DEPLOYMENT AND CONFIRMED THAT NO AIR BAGS DEPLOYED. THE CONTACT WHO WAS THE FRONT PASSENGER AND AT THE TIME OF THE FAILURE WAS BENDING OVER TO GRAB HER PURSE FROM THE FLOOR MAT SUSTAINED A BRUISED RIB AND LATER DROVE HERSELF TO THE DOCTOR FOR MEDICAL ATTENTION. THE POLICE WAS CALLED TO THE SCENE BUT THE CONTACT WAS NOT SURE IF A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOTALED AND TOWED TO A SALVAGE LOT. THE CONTACT CALLED THE TESLA MOTORS DEALER (650-681-5800, LOCATED AT 4180 EL CAMINO REAL, PALO ALTO, CA 94306) AND WAS TOLD TO EMAIL THE INFORMATION. THE CONTACT EMAILED THE INFORMATION BUT DID NOT GET A RESPONSE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 8,000.

EDIT/ADDITIONAL NOTE TO MY EARLIER COMPLAINT NUMBER: 11300604, THIS SUDDEN ACCELERATION WITH TESLA HAPPEN WHEN USING WITH/WITHOUT AUTO PILOT, I OBSERVED MANY TIMES DURING (A).THIS UNINTENDED ACCELERATION HAPPEN EVEN WHEN DRIVING NORMALLY WITHOUT AUTO PILOT, THOUGH I AM NOT PRESSING GAS PEDAL, ESPECIALLY OBSERVED IN THE CITY ROAD SPEEDS AROUND 30-45 MPH, WHN USING AUTO PILOT ON FREEWAYS, THIS HAPPENED AROUNBD 55-70MPH SPEEDS TOO. (B). ALSO THIS UNINTENDED ACCELERATION HAPPEN WHEN BATTERY IS AT 20-40% OF RANGE. (C). ALSO HAPPEN WHENVER THERE IS A NEW SOFTWARE UPDATE, THIS UNITENDED ACCELERATION POPPED UP MANY OCCASIONS(DON'T REMEMBER EXACT TIMES) AS IF SOME SOFTWARE BUG RESURFACED AND I USED TO TAKE CONTROL OF THE VEHCILE HAVING BEEN ALERT ALL THE TIME. REPORTED THIS OVER EMAIL, TALKED TO SERVICE CENTER, BUT NO CONCRETE ACTION FROM TESLA END.

MY MODEL X WAS TRAVELING AT LOW SPEED AS IT WAS NEAR HOME. BEFORE ENTERING THE CURVE, THE X SUDDENLY ACCELERATED OUT OF CONTROL. IT FIRST CRASHED INTO MY OTHER PARKED CAR IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE, PUSHING THE PARKED CAR INTO MY GARAGE. THEN IT CONTINUED TO HIT A CITY LIGHT POLE, BREAKING IT AT THE BASE. THE X CONTINUED TO HIT MY NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR'S TWO CARS PARKED OUTSIDE OF THEIR HOME, DAMAGING THEIR GARAGE. THE CAR FINALLY STOP WHEN IT HIT THE WALL OF THIRD NEIGHBOR' THAT DIVIDE UP HER DRIVEWAY. TESLA ROADSIDE SUPPORT CONTACTED ME ON THE DAY OF THE INCIDENT BECAUSE THEY WERE ABLE TO SEE MY AIRBAG WAS DEPLOYED AND MAY REQUIRE ASSISTANCE. I REQUESTED TESLA TO REVIEW THE LOG OF THE CAR AND EXPLAIN WHY THE CAR SUDDENLY ACCELERATED OUT OF CONTROL. WHEN I FOLLOWED UP THAT FIRST WEEK THEY ACKNOWLEDGED MY REQUEST IN AN EMAIL AND TOLD ME THAT THE REQUEST IS WITH THEIR ENGINEERING TEAM AND IT MAY TAKE A WHILE BEFORE THEY WILL HAVE ANY RESPONSE. HOWEVER, AS OF TODAY, I HAVEN'T HEARD FROM THEIR ENGINEERING TEAM.

ON NOV 17, 2018 AT 4:50 PM, I WAS DRIVING MY TESLA X SLOWLY WITH AUTO PILOT OFF AND AUTO STEER OFF ON A SURFACE STREET IN SAN CLEMENTE, CA. I WAS TRYING TO DO A U TURN. I VERIFIED THAT THERE WAS NO TRAFFIC, THAT THERE WAS AN AREA WHERE CARS WERE NOT PARKED ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE STREET AND COULD USE A PARKING DRIVEWAY ON THE RIGHT THAT WILL ALLOW MORE SPACE TO PERFORM THE U TURN. I GENTLY PRESSED THE BREAK TO FURTHER SLOWDOWN AND THEN VEERED A LITTLE TO THE RIGHT INTO THE DRIVEWAY AT LESS THAN 5 MPH. I STARTED TO TURN TO THE LEFT WHILE STILL GENTLY PRESSING THE BREAK. AS SOON AS THE FRONT RIGHT WHEEL LEFT THE DRIVEWAY AND BEFORE I HAD COMPLETED THE U TURN, THE TESLA ALL OF A SUDDEN, ON ITS OWN SPONTANEOUSLY ACCELERATED TO FULL POWER (A TESLA X CAN GO FROM 0-60 MILES IN APPROX. 4 SECONDS). MY FOOT WAS STILL ON THE BREAK, I DID NOT MOVE IT AND THEREFORE I DID NOT PRESS THE ACCELERATOR. THERE WERE NO OBJECTS OBSTRUCTING THE PEDALS. IN A SMALL FRACTION OF A SECOND, THE TESLA TRAVELED AT FULL SPEED TOWARDS THE TACOMA CAR PARKED AHEAD ON THE LEFT (LESS THAN 20 FEET). SOMETHING IN THE TESLA SYSTEM TRIGGERED THE SUDDEN SPONTANEOUS FULL ACCELERATION RESULTING IN THIS COLLISION. THE TESLA HAD MAJOR DAMAGE IN THE FRONT, THE AIR BAGS WERE DEPLOYED. I HAD A MAJOR BRUISE ON MY ABDOMEN AND SEVERAL SMALL BRUISES ON MY CHEST. THE TACOMA SUFFERED DAMAGE IN THE FRONT, MOVED BACKWARDS AND HIT THE CAR PARKED BEHIND IT. THERE WERE NO PASSENGERS IN THE OTHER VEHICLES. IT IS MY FIRM BELIEF THAT THIS ACCIDENT OCCURRED DUE NOT TO A DRIVER'S ERROR BUT TO A TECHNOLOGICAL ERROR WITHIN THE TESLA VEHICLE. I FOUND MORE THAN 60 COMPLAINTS FOR SPONTANEOUS SUDDEN ACCELERATION FOR TESLA VEHICLES THAT HAVE BEEN FILED TO NHTSA. WHAT THESE COMPLAINTS HAVE IN COMMON ARE THAT VEHICLES ARE TRAVELING SLOWLY TRYING TO PARK OR MAKE TURNS AT LOW SPEED WHEN SUDDEN SPONTANEOUS FULL ACCELERATION WAS TRIGGERED.

WHILE IN A PARKING LOT AT LOW SPEED AND COMING AROUND A TURN TO PARK, TESLA SUDDENLY ACCELERATED FROM LOW SPEED TO HIGH SPEED HITTING A POLE. AIRBAGS DEPLOYED. SUDDEN ACCELERATION WAS WITHOUT WARNING. SEVERE DAMAGE TO CAR. LUCKILY NO PEDESTRIANS WERE NEARBY.