There are 50 owner-reported speed control & cruise complaints for the 2022 Tesla Model Yin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
On January 9th my wife got into an accident in our 2022 Tesla Model Y vehicle. She reported that as she was backing out of a prking spot in a strip mall, the vrhicle suddenly accelerated backward involuntarely which resulted in colliding with a vehicle which was approaching from the rear side. My wife reported the speed was so violent that she felt dizziness. When she took the car bto the Tesla shop for repair by the insurance, the Tesla repair people discounted her reporting and did not do any follow-up to investigate the issue. Note the onboard camera recorded the swift movement of the vehicle and I will try to upload it. We have read that such problem was looked into by the NTHSA in the past and that it is being revisited again. Note that that Tesla has determined the vehicle as being totalled and has kept it at their shop. Please let us know your thoughts on this matter so if this is a serious problem that it can be addressed so it won't happen to others. My wif was lucky she didn't get hurt and also she didn''t heart others. Please note I am currently traveling out of the country and will be be back in the US on March 12, 2026. You can contact me via my email or I will be available for phone conversation on the indicated date. Also please note I could not upload the recording of the on board camera because of the format incompatibility. THe phone number included is my wife's and please feel free to contact her.
On [XXX], while using Full Self-Driving (FSD) to drive to a hospital in Oak Park, Illinois, the vehicle experienced sudden unintended acceleration during the disengagement of FSD. As the vehicle approached the hospital area, I initiated disengagement of FSD to manually enter the parking area. During—or immediately after—the disengagement, the vehicle suddenly accelerated at full power without warning, causing an immediate loss of control and a collision with a nearby fixed structure. No system warnings or alerts were issued prior to the event, and the acceleration was so abrupt that manual intervention was not possible. This occurred in a low-speed, street-level environment where no acceleration was intended or expected and does not correspond to any normal driver input. Based on review of preliminary incident data provided by Tesla, there appear to be irregularities during the FSD-to-manual control transition, including missing or invalid input values, gaps in accelerator/brake/steering signals, and speed readings inconsistent with the crash severity. These indicators suggest potential instability in the real-time control system during disengagement. This report is submitted due to concern that sudden unintended acceleration during FSD disengagement may represent a safety defect with potential risk to drivers and the public. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
In 9/2025 I noticed that the vehicle software was defaulting to a speed limit of 55 mph. I noticed that when in any form of autopilot and FSD it would accelerate to that speed. This happens in any situation before the car encounters a sign or an area that it's internal map corrects it, which is not common outside of major routes in Idaho. This includes paved marked roads, graded roads, single track dirt roads, my driveway and garage. Sometimes the car controls it's speed consistent with conditions, sometimes not. It can happen unexpectedly, and that's the issue. Where I have learned this is a problem, I of course turn off the AP or FSD and drive myself, however, if I am in driver assist mode and things are going well and the speed limit in the vehicle changes suddenly to the default 55 mph, it can take a moment for me to react. In October 2025 I reported this to my Tesla Service center as well as Tesla's over the air and on line email reporting options (from which I got no response). The service center entered a ticket directly with Tesla, and told me that that Tesla was aware. The explanation that came back was that it was due to a mapping update for the internal map of the car. They said it was the result of Google Maps setting the default speed limit in Idaho, which is where I live, to 55 and that this was due to a September 2025 update. They said it might be corrected with the next update, which has not occurred at this point (January 2026). This speeding behavior can happen suddenly and unexpectedly and seemingly randomly, and has the potential to injure pedestrians, the driver, and property, not to mention that it is also exceeding by far the legal speed limit. Drivers from other areas that may not be aware of the issue are likely to be caught unaware. There is absolutely no reason for the default speed to be 55, ever. It's unsafe, and unnecessary. It is rare to see a speed limit of 55 at all in Idaho. Most of the roads are above or below that speed limit.
After installing the most recent Tesla software update, my vehicle immediately displayed multiple alerts: traction control disabled, stability control disabled, and reduced steering assist. Cameras were disabled, navigation was disabled and my vehicle location was wrong. The vehicle lost core safety systems that are critical to safe driving The car functioned normally before the update. Immediately afterward, these safety systems were disabled. Tesla Service has since diagnosed and confirmed, They state “an internal short within the drive assistance module (computer). The internal short is causing excessive current draw, resulting in loss of driver assistance features. The latest software has revealed the underlying root issue within the car computer.” This indicates that the vehicle was operating with a latent defect that Tesla’s diagnostic update exposed. The update did not cause wear-and-tear failure; it surfaced a hidden safety defect inside Tesla’s own hardware. Why This Is a Safety Concern Loss of traction control, stability control, and steering assist creates a significant risk of loss of vehicle control. If this had occurred while driving at speed, the sudden loss of these systems could have led to an accident. Attempting a reboot while driving (Tesla’s standard troubleshooting suggestion) would have created further distraction and risk. luckily when the car catastrophically failed and was unable to turn, I was in my driveway and not on a highway or any other roads.
Tesla's FSD functions slowly has been reduced in the last years. Firts Tesla disabled the double pull function, resulted taken away the standard cruise control function. Lately, the fully paid ($12000) FSD is not recognizing streetsigns anymore, which worked perfectly before. This function is crucial to manage speeds, lanes, pedestrians and school zones or just attend in public roads! Tesla service center refuses to fix this issue or offer any additional solutions! This is very concerning and those vehicles with full FSD are not safe to operate on public roads anymore! Thank you
On [XXX], traveling westbound from [XXX] on [XXX] using adaptive cruise control. Pick-up truck rapidly pulled up behind and cruise control shut off, stated "unavailable" and Tesla started to brake...manually overrode. Travelled another 1/4 mile and reengaged cruise control after pulling away from following pickup. Pickup caught up and cruise control shut off again. At 4-way stop on [XXX] , rechecked system and then headed for [XXX] on adaptive cruise control. Pickup came up again and cruise control shut off. At next intersection I turned right and pickup turned left...had "electronics" sign on side of truck. Not able to get full name. Question: Is there electronic systems "out there" that can take control of Tesla adaptive cruise controls? I tried to pass this on to Tesla, but wouldn't or couldn't take the above message. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
I was performing a 3-point turn on a residential street. While reversing during the turn the Automatic Emergency Braking enabled and slammed on the brakes, bringing the car to a complete halt instantly. This caused my head to hit the headrest with enough force that I have headaches and brain fog the next day, indicating a concussion. I was 10 feet from the nearest parked vehicle when reversing; the AEB kicked in erroneously. This is not the first time that Tesla's AEB has erroneously and dangerously engaged while I was driving.
Tesla has failed to provide a software update to address both recalls, and has made it impossible for me to get support to have this rectified. They cancelled a service appointment I made and are no longer responding to my inquiries.
On the highway I set my cruise control. It registers as the max speed on the tesla screen. Regularly the max speed changes very suddenly and the vehicle brakes. For my most recent trip drove on the highway and this happened 3 times. The max speed changed from 78 mph (the speed I set it at) to 40 mph. Another time it changed to 45 mph and a third time to 55 mph. Sometimes there are cars directly behind me when this happens. The sudden change in speed on a highway is very dangerous. I have also reported this to Tesla.
While driving with the adaptive cruise control engaged, the car has suddenly braked (hard) when the associate optical system encountered a shadow or some anomaly on the road ahead. This "phantom braking" has occurred numerous times on our vehicle, and speaking with our son who also has a Tesla Model Y, he has experienced the same behavior. To date, I have not contacted Tesla, due to the intermittent nature of the problem, and trouble getting a response from their website. For the time being, I will not use the adaptive cruise control if there is another car within several hundred yards behind me in order to avoid a rear-end collision incident. My understanding is that Tesla removed the radar input component of adaptive cruise control, which would have prevented this type of behavior. A prospective fix is to restore a radar sensor input to the system.
While using cruise control on the highway, the car suddenly decelerated twice. Each time the cruise control was set around 78mph, and it decelerated to approximately 70mph. No warnings were issued before, during, or after the decelerations— the car continued as if nothing had happened.
PHANTOM BRAKING issue at highway speeds with autopilot engaged. The car will harshly start braking suddenly on highway to a near complete stop.
While using cruise control at highway speed, the car suddenly slams on the breaks causing major panic. Oversteering onto incoming traffic and cars following are affected slamming on their breaks to avoid contact. Have contacted Tesla Service Center multiple times addressing the problem (Phantom breaking problem). What they keep on telling me is that there is no fix to the problem at this time. The cruise control intermittently turns off and on by itself with no warning or obstruction. No lamps warning or messages prior to failure. My Tesla 2022 Model Y (Performance) has been inspected at the Tesla Service Center many times, but to no avail problem still exists.
I was driving on the highway with autopilot activated. There were no cars in front, beside or behind me. A car did come up behind me at a fast speed. My car suddenly started to brake (phantom braking). The car coming up behind me sped around me. There was no reason for the car to brake like that.
Car randomly slams on the brakes while cruise control is active. Happen most frequently mid-day while the sun is out. Most frequent when coming over and overpass or small hill on the interstate. ~5 time in a day and of travel. Brake are apply and vehicle slows from 80 to sometime as slow as 60 in a couple seconds. No visible hazards or vehicle on the road at the time. Very scary and dangerous. Contacted Tesla about it and they said a software update would fix it, still happening since I purchase last June and reported in July.
UNKNOWN
On Saturday, 3/4/2023, I stopped at a supercharger lot to charge my car during a trip. As I entered the lot, I noticed that the road conditions were poor, almost like a gravel road. To be cautious, I drove slowly towards the three empty parking spaces in the middle of the lot, intending to park in the middle spot. I noticed that the road conditions were even worse in front of the parking spot, but it looked wide and not too deep, so I didn't think it warranted serious concern. I carefully maneuvered the car around to prepare for backing up. I've been using the HOLD braking mode, which allows for one-pedal driving, for more than five months. Just as I lifted my foot off the accelerator, the car jerked forward from a small pothole. I still expected the car to come to a stop, as my foot wasn't touching the pedal. I made a comment to my passenger that I was puzzled why the car was still moving as I looked down at my foot far above the pedals. Suddenly, there was a really loud sound (like revving if I remember correctly) that I had never heard before, which surprised both me and my passenger. We exchanged a puzzled look just as the car suddenly jumped forward at full power and hit the car in front of us before I could do anything to stop it. I believe that this was a software issue related to overcompensation of losing traction control on both sides as the car came to a stop. It's important to note that I did not purchase Tesla's Full Self Driving and was not using any driving assistance features at the time of the accident. In addition, I believe you can request more data from Tesla. I do not have access to the camera recording of interior scene. Luckily, both me and my passenger as well as the two people in the front seats in the other vehicle (also same white Tesla Model Y) were not injured. I can't get Tesla insurance to even investigate the accident. After the accident, I noticed that the Tesla App reported that Automatic Emergency Brake is disabled (only occur)
Periodically while using cruise control, most often on toll lanes with a different speed limit than the non-toll lanes, the car slows down rapidly and unpredictably. There are no warnings, and the braking is can be quite considerable (10-15 mph). This only happens when using cruise control.
I had engaged Tesla’s “Full Self Driving” feature in a 25 MPH zone. As the speed limit changed to 35 MPH the vehicle correctly adjusted to 35 MPH. However, right after that I entered a school zone marked by a flashing yellow light. I used the brakes to slow down to 18 MPH, which disengaged the “Full Self Driving” feature because the vehicle did not adjust on its own. Once I was at 18 MPH I re-engaged “Full Self Driving” and the vehicle immediately started accelerating to 35 MPH again, in spite of the fact that I was in a school zone still. It seems the ”Full Self Driving” feature cannot detect school zones, even when marked by flashing yellow lights. The onboard visualizations appears to have detected them as stop lights.
The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model Y. The contact stated while driving 75 MPH with the cruise control activated, the vehicle decelerated independently and started shaking. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact deactivated the cruise control and the vehicle started operating as designed. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was contacted or notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 3,413.
Showing 1–20 of 50 complaints
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026