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2025 Tesla Model 3

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

How this year compares

Owner complaints by model year

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Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.

What owners reported most

All reported categories

Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.

When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

Limited mileage data: 7 of 115 reports include usable mileage. There isn’t enough coverage to show a useful chart.

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Forward Collision Avoidance. Review the 29 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Steering. Review the 25 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Electrical System. Review the 20 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

25 crash reports0 fire reports7 injury reports

What owners actually said

115 reports
Mileage unknown · Sep 28, 2025
SteeringSuspension

The vehicle has loud creaking and groaning noises when turning the wheel at low speed or at a standstill, I’ve taken it to a Tesla service center where they claimed that this is just a characteristic of the vehicle yet I myself and a mechanic and understand that the fundamentals of suspension are the same regardless of what type…

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The vehicle has loud creaking and groaning noises when turning the wheel at low speed or at a standstill, I’ve taken it to a Tesla service center where they claimed that this is just a characteristic of the vehicle yet I myself and a mechanic and understand that the fundamentals of suspension are the same regardless of what type of vehicle it may be and know that this is actually a known issue with Teslas especially with Model 3s. My vehicle is at 10,683 miles and still within the warranty, on Friday, September 26 at 8 AM. I dropped off my vehicle for repairs later that day at around 1645 or as known as 4:45 PM. I was messaged saying that my vehicle is ready for pick up as I read the service notes, I saw that they did not do any repair on my suspension. This is concerning to me because this is a safety issue and I highly believe that the vehicle needs to be repaired. The service center is located in Santa Clarita, California.

NHTSA ODI #11690145

Mileage unknown · Sep 27, 2025
Power Train

Description of Issue: The car displayed error code DI_a137 and unable to drive/pull over safely. The vehicle became undrivable and had to be towed to the Tesla service center. The service center diagnosed a rear drive inverter failure and replaced the entire inverter assembly. Safety Concern: It is alarming for a critical drivet…

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Description of Issue: The car displayed error code DI_a137 and unable to drive/pull over safely. The vehicle became undrivable and had to be towed to the Tesla service center. The service center diagnosed a rear drive inverter failure and replaced the entire inverter assembly. Safety Concern: It is alarming for a critical drivetrain component to fail completely within the first year of ownership and at such low mileage. A sudden loss of power while driving poses a serious safety risk to the driver and passengers.

NHTSA ODI #11690077

Mileage unknown · Sep 26, 2025
Electrical SystemService BrakesCrash

The reason that I'm currently writing you this letter is to report an incident that happened on Sep. 16th, 2025. This is the date that I was very excited because I got my first EV - Tesla Model 3 new car. Me and my wife went over to the delivery plant in Fefe, Washington. The address is 3701 20th St. E., Fife, WA 98424. We took …

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The reason that I'm currently writing you this letter is to report an incident that happened on Sep. 16th, 2025. This is the date that I was very excited because I got my first EV - Tesla Model 3 new car. Me and my wife went over to the delivery plant in Fefe, Washington. The address is 3701 20th St. E., Fife, WA 98424. We took the car and I myself drove it back home around 2:45ish (-3 :00 pm the latest). It was just two blocks away from the plant outbound to the eastward trying to get to the entry of the highway. I stopped my car on my brake, and suddenly my car went forward by itself. This unintended acceleration caused me to hit the car in front of me. We had to stop in the next parking lot on my left side as soon as we passed the traffic light. This intersection happened right at the intersection of 54th Ave. E (Northbound) and Pacific Highway E. I hit the car in front of me. My front bumper got some damage. The car is still drivable and I have put the photos and maps for your understanding. 

NHTSA ODI #11690013

Mileage unknown · Sep 19, 2025
Electrical SystemStructure

The contact owns a 2025 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that after inspecting the vehicle, the contact became aware that the turn signal buttons on the steering wheel used to activate the turn signals were designed with a flaw that might cause an accident if depressed intentionally. The contact was a retired Service Technician…

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The contact owns a 2025 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that after inspecting the vehicle, the contact became aware that the turn signal buttons on the steering wheel used to activate the turn signals were designed with a flaw that might cause an accident if depressed intentionally. The contact was a retired Service Technician for over 40 years. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure.

NHTSA ODI #11688310

Mileage unknown · Sep 11, 2025
Forward Collision AvoidanceService BrakesVehicle Speed ControlCrashInjury

On September 7, 2025 at ~7:53 PM, my 2025 Tesla Model 3 operating with Full Self-Driving (FSD) engaged performed an aggressive, uncommanded turn while under computer control. The maneuver occurred so abruptly that I could not safely override steering before impact, and a crash resulted. The Tesla app Trip View for Trip 3 (7:34–7…

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On September 7, 2025 at ~7:53 PM, my 2025 Tesla Model 3 operating with Full Self-Driving (FSD) engaged performed an aggressive, uncommanded turn while under computer control. The maneuver occurred so abruptly that I could not safely override steering before impact, and a crash resulted. The Tesla app Trip View for Trip 3 (7:34–7:53 PM) shows “Vehicle on FSD” for 18 min 54 sec and records an “Aggressive Turning” event at 7:53 PM (2.0 sec) immediately before the trip ended (screenshot attached). This reflects a steering/driver-assist control defect in FSD’s turning behavior and a failure of collision-mitigation to prevent the crash. I sustained bodily injuries and the vehicle incurred significant damage. I request that this incident be treated as a safety-critical malfunction warranting investigation and corrective action.

NHTSA ODI #11686758

Mileage unknown · Sep 5, 2025
Electrical SystemUnknown Or Other

The Horn does not work in the rain. I reported this. they sent a technician to replace it. the issue is not resolved. this is extremely dangerous.

NHTSA ODI #11685290

Mileage unknown · Sep 2, 2025
Electrical SystemForward Collision AvoidanceSteering

The car was parked in a campground for a night and several systems issues came up, including traction control disabled, steer assistant disabled, staibility control disabled, and the car was keeping accelerating even though I did not step on the accelerate pedal. The acceleration was out of control. This was happening in a remot…

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The car was parked in a campground for a night and several systems issues came up, including traction control disabled, steer assistant disabled, staibility control disabled, and the car was keeping accelerating even though I did not step on the accelerate pedal. The acceleration was out of control. This was happening in a remote area when we drove half way out of the campground to a city. We called the Tesla roadside help and they just told us they could not help because it was too late to find a toll provider and we were left in the middle of nowhere and no help. We searched Google and found a few very similar issues on Tesla cars that had been reported. We don't know what happened but those issues just disappeared themselves in the next morning and we have not get the chance to send it a service center for further investigation. We are certain that this is very serious safety issue and the car was basically out of control.

NHTSA ODI #11684553

Mileage unknown · Aug 28, 2025
Electrical SystemEngineVehicle Speed Control

On [XXX], at just 9,526 miles, my brand-new 2025 Tesla Model 3 (VIN: [XXX] ) suffered a front motor/inverter failure. The vehicle displayed the warning “Front Motor Disabled.” Tesla Vallejo Service confirmed this and replaced the front drive inverter (3DU). A catastrophic drivetrain failure at under 10,000 miles is unacceptable …

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On [XXX], at just 9,526 miles, my brand-new 2025 Tesla Model 3 (VIN: [XXX] ) suffered a front motor/inverter failure. The vehicle displayed the warning “Front Motor Disabled.” Tesla Vallejo Service confirmed this and replaced the front drive inverter (3DU). A catastrophic drivetrain failure at under 10,000 miles is unacceptable and raises serious concerns about reliability and safety. It still doesn't not accelerate as before. In addition, since delivery on [XXX], this vehicle has had persistent rattling and vibration issues in the cabin. I have returned to Tesla Vallejo multiple times (April, June, July, and August 2025). Each time, the service manager, Steve McNerney, dismissed or minimized my concerns, blaming “seatbelt rattling” or claiming the issue could not be replicated. After July, I even sent three separate videos clearly documenting the noise, yet the most recent service invoice still instructed me to “provide a video,” showing Tesla ignored or failed to record my evidence. This ongoing defect has been reproduced and confirmed at Tesla service but remains unresolved. Tesla’s dismissive handling and failure to fix the defects create both safety risks and loss of confidence in the vehicle. A front motor failure while driving could result in loss of power, reduced acceleration, or unsafe driving conditions. Tesla has failed to provide a reliable or safe resolution despite repeated repair attempts and clear evidence. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ODI #11683804

Mileage unknown · Aug 22, 2025
Service BrakesSteering

On 08/20, while driving to work, I experienced a serious safety failure with my vehicle. The brake pedal became completely firm and unresponsive, making it impossible to press. At the same time, the steering wheel became very difficult to turn, severely limiting control of the car. Multiple warning messages appeared, including:…

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On 08/20, while driving to work, I experienced a serious safety failure with my vehicle. The brake pedal became completely firm and unresponsive, making it impossible to press. At the same time, the steering wheel became very difficult to turn, severely limiting control of the car. Multiple warning messages appeared, including: •Regenerative Braking Disabled •ABS Fault •Traction Control Fault •Limited Power I was able to carefully maneuver the vehicle into a nearby parking lot and safely exit. After restarting the vehicle, the warning lights disappeared, and the car resumed normal operation. I immediately brought the vehicle to the Tesla Service Center the same day (08/20). As of now, there has been no resolution provided.

NHTSA ODI #11682354

Mileage unknown · Aug 20, 2025
Structure

While driving at highway speed, the air conditioning system suddenly failed without warning. The system began blowing hot air and making a loud squealing noise. Shortly after, the vehicle abruptly went into limp mode and lost normal driving power, creating an unsafe situation on a major highway. The vehicle was towed by Tesla R…

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While driving at highway speed, the air conditioning system suddenly failed without warning. The system began blowing hot air and making a loud squealing noise. Shortly after, the vehicle abruptly went into limp mode and lost normal driving power, creating an unsafe situation on a major highway. The vehicle was towed by Tesla Roadside Assistance. Both roadside associates inspected the vehicle at the scene and confirmed there was no body damage. The vehicle was then transported to a Tesla service center, where Tesla later claimed there was body damage and denied warranty coverage. This contradicts the inspection at the time of failure and my own video evidence. The problem has not been repaired. The vehicle remains at the service center and is available for inspection. The failure put my safety at risk by causing sudden loss of drivability in highway traffic. No warning lamps or error messages appeared before the failure. The only symptoms were sudden AC failure followed minutes later by limp mode.

NHTSA ODI #11681858

Official recalls

3

25V690000 · Electrical System:propulsion System:fuses, Relays, Contacts, And Shunts

Oct 10, 2025

Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain 2025 Model 3 and 2026 Model Y vehicles. The battery pack contactors may fail, causing a loss of drive power.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: A loss of drive power can increase the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Tesla Service will replace the battery pack contactors, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 9, 2025. Owners may contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752. Tesla's number for this recall is SB-25-16-005.

25V002000 · Back Over Prevention:software; Electrical System

Jan 6, 2025

Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain 2024-2025 Model 3, Model S, 2023-2025 Model X, and Model Y vehicles. The computer circuit board may short, resulting in the loss of the rearview camera image. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 111, "Rear Visibility."

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: A rearview camera that does not display an image reduces the driver's rear view, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Tesla released an over-the-air (OTA) software update, free of charge. Tesla will also identify any vehicles that experienced a circuit board failure, or stress that may lead to a circuit board failure, and replace the affected computers, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 7, 2025. Owners may contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752. Tesla's number for this recall is SB-25-00-001.

Additional source detail variants (2)

Back Over Prevention:software

Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain 2024-2025 Model 3, Model S, 2023-2025 Model X, and Model Y vehicles. The computer circuit board may short, resulting in the loss of the rearview camera image. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 111, "Rear Visibility."

Consequence: A rearview camera that does not display an image reduces the driver's rear view, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Tesla released an over-the-air (OTA) software update, free of charge. Tesla will also identify any vehicles that experienced a circuit board failure, or stress that may lead to a circuit board failure, and replace the affected computers, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 7, 2025. Owners may contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752. Tesla's number for this recall is SB-25-00-001.

Electrical System

Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain 2024-2025 Model 3, Model S, 2023-2025 Model X, and Model Y vehicles. The computer circuit board may short, resulting in the loss of the rearview camera image. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 111, "Rear Visibility."

Consequence: A rearview camera that does not display an image reduces the driver's rear view, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Tesla released an over-the-air (OTA) software update, free of charge. Tesla will also identify any vehicles that experienced a circuit board failure, or stress that may lead to a circuit board failure, and replace the affected computers, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 7, 2025. Owners may contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752. Tesla's number for this recall is SB-25-00-001.

24V935000 · Tires:pressure Monitoring And Regulating Systems

Dec 17, 2024

Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain 2024 Cybertruck, 2017-2025 Model 3, and 2020-2025 Model Y vehicles. The tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) warning light may not remain illuminated between drive cycles, failing to warn the driver of low tire pressure. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 138, "Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems."

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: Driving with improperly inflated tires increases the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Tesla released an over-the-air (OTA) software update, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed February 15, 2025. Owners may contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752. Tesla's number for this recall is SB-24-00-018.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

4

EA26002 · Fsd Collisions In Reduced Roadway Visibility Conditions

Opened Mar 18, 2026 · No close date supplied

Status: open (inferred from source dates) · Electrical System:adas

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) is opening this Engineering Analysis to evaluate Tesla’s Full Self Driving Beta and Full Self Driving (Supervised) (collectively, FSD) degradation detection system. The focus of this investigation will be to assess the system’s ability, when encountering reduced roadway visibility conditions, to detect degradation and alert the driver with sufficient time to respond. ODI will evaluate the performance of FSD in degraded roadway conditions and the updates or modifications by Tesla to the degradation detection system, including the timing, purpose, and capabilities of the updates, and Tesla’s assessment of their safety impact. Tesla’s FSD is an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) that relies exclusively on vision-based cameras and the related FSD software to detect and respond to the roadway ahead, projecting a path forward based on traffic control devices, vehicles, pedestrians, and the roadway itself. When Tesla began transitioning away from using both cameras and radars to an exclusively camera-based approach, known as Tesla Vision, in mid-2021, it developed and implemented a degradation detection system that it deployed by a software update to existing and new Tesla vehicles. On June 28, 2024, the day after Tesla submitted the SGO report of the November 28, 2023 fatal crash listed in this document, Tesla began developing an update to the degradation detection system. At this time, ODI does not have information on when the update was deployed and which vehicles have the updated system. ODI discussed individual incidents and its initial findings during the PE phase of its investigation with Tesla. As part of those discussions, Tesla’s post-incident analysis indicated that the update to the degradation detection system, had it been installed on the vehicles at the time, may have affected 3 of the 9 incidents identified by ODI. Tesla also described internal data and labeling limitations that prevented a uniform identification and analysis of crash events with the subject system engaged. ODI believes this limitation could have led to under-reporting of subject crashes over portions of the defined time-period. Available incident data raise concerns that Tesla’s degradation detection system, both as originally deployed and later updated, fails to detect and/or warn the driver appropriately under degraded visibility conditions such as glare and airborne obscurants. In the crashes that ODI has reviewed, the system did not detect common roadway conditions that impaired camera visibility and/or provide alerts when camera performance had deteriorated until immediately before the crash occurred. Review of Tesla’s responses revealed additional crashes that occurred in similar environments and where the system either did not detect a degraded state, and/or it did not present the driver with an alert with adequate time for the driver to react. In each of these crashes, FSD also lost track of or never detected a lead vehicle in its path. In upgrading PE24031 to an Engineering Analysis (EA), ODI will gather further information on the updated degradation detection system, including the status of updating vehicles and scope of compatible vehicles, the system’s visibility degradation detection capability, and alerts or warnings to the driver. Lastly, ODI will conduct analysis on six recent potentially related incidents. These incidents can be found at NHTSA.gov under the following SGO report identification numbers: 13781-11937, 13781-13211, 13781-13569, 13781-13633, 13781-13693, 13781-13788. The crashes included in the failure report summary can be found at NHTSA.gov under the following SGO report identification numbers: 13781-8004, 13781-7181, 13781-7381, 13781-7767, 13781-7964, 13781-8977, 13781-9267.

PE25012 · Traffic Safety Violations While Full Self Driving ("fsd") Is Engaged

Opened Oct 7, 2025 · No close date supplied

Status: open (inferred from source dates) · Electrical System:adas

The Office of Defects Investigation (“ODI”) is opening this Preliminary Evaluation (PE) to assess the scope, frequency, and potential safety consequences of FSD executing driving maneuvers that constitute traffic safety violations. This investigation concerns versions of FSD that Tesla has labeled as "FSD (Supervised)" and "FSD (Beta)." Tesla characterizes FSD as an SAE Level 2 partial automation system requiring a fully attentive driver who is engaged in the driving task at all times. Level 2 partial automation systems are designed to support and assist the driver in performing certain aspects of the driving task, requiring a driver to supervise and intervene as necessary.  The driver remains fully responsible at all times for driving the vehicle, including complying with applicable traffic laws. ODI’s investigation will therefore focus, in particular, on whether certain driving inputs within the control authority of FSD forestall the driver’s supervision when they are unexpectedly performed. ODI has identified a number of incidents in which the inputs to the dynamic driving task commanded by FSD induced vehicle behavior that violated traffic safety laws. Although reports of this nature span a variety of behaviors, the reports appear to most commonly involve two types of scenarios. The first type of scenario involves a vehicle operating with FSD proceeding into an intersection in violation of a red traffic signal. The second type of scenario involves FSD commanding a lane change into an opposing lane of traffic. With respect to the first type of scenario, ODI has identified 18 complaints and 1 media report alleging that a Tesla vehicle, operating at an intersection with FSD engaged, failed to remain stopped for the duration of a red traffic signal, failed to stop fully, or failed to accurately detect and display the correct traffic signal state in the vehicle interface. Some complainants also alleged that FSD did not provide warnings of the system's intended behavior as the vehicle was approaching a red traffic signal. ODI has identified six Standing General Order ("SGO") reports in which a Tesla vehicle, operating with FSD engaged, approached an intersection with a red traffic signal, continued to travel into the intersection against the red light and was subsequently involved in a crash with other motor vehicles in the intersection. Of these incidents, four crashes resulted in one or more reported injuries. At least some of the incidents appeared to involve FSD proceeding into the intersection after coming to a complete stop. ODI's pre-investigative work, including coordination with the Maryland Transportation Authority and State Police, indicated that the problem may be repeatable, given that multiple subject incidents occurred at the same intersection in Joppa, Maryland. NHTSA understands that Tesla has since taken action to address the issue at this intersection. With respect to the second type of scenario, ODI has identified 2 SGO reports, 18 complaints, and 2 media reports alleging that a Tesla vehicle, operating with FSD engaged, entered opposing lanes of travel during or following a turn, crossed double-yellow lane markings while proceeding straight, or attempted to turn onto a road in the wrong direction despite the presence of wrong-way road signs. Likewise, ODI has identified 4 SGO reports, 6 complaints, and 1 media report alleging that a Tesla vehicle, operating with FSD engaged, proceeded straight through an intersection in a turn-only lane or executed a turn at an intersection in a through lane despite the presence of lane markings or signals. Complaints also alleged that FSD did not provide warnings of the system's intended behavior. Some complaints alleged that more than one of these failures occurred and, as such, the numbers are not cumulative. Some of the reported incidents appeared to involve FSD executing a lane change into an opposing lane of travel with little notice to a driver or opportunity to intervene. ODI’s review will assess whether there was prior warning or adequate time for the driver to respond to the unexpected behavior or to safely supervise the automated driving task. This review will assess any warnings to the driver about the system's impending behavior; the time given to drivers to respond; the capability of FSD to detect, display to the driver, and respond appropriately to traffic signals; and the capability of FSD to detect and respond to lane markings and wrong-way signage. NHTSA's review will also consider any updates or modifications to the system(s) that may affect the performance of FSD with respect to obeying traffic safety laws and signals. This assessment will focus, in particular, on the types of traffic safety violations described above, as most reports identified thus far have centered around those behaviors. While the behaviors under investigation appear to occur most frequently at intersections, NHTSA’s investigation will encompass any other types of situations in which this behavior may arise, such as when traveling adjacent to a lane of opposing traffic or when approaching railroad crossings. If other evidence received during this investigation involve other types of traffic safety violations, those may be considered as part of this assessment as well. To review the ODI reports cited in the Opening Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov. The SGO reports cited in this Resume are listed below by report ID and are available for download at NHTSA.gov/laws-regulations/standing-general-order-crash-reporting. 13781-8739-1, 13781-8995-1, 13781-9623-1, 13781-10333-1, 13781-10872-1, 13781-10930-1, 13781-10939-1, 13781-10941-1, 13781-11069-1, 13781-11305-1, 13781-11579-1 Media reported allegations included as a separate attachment.

AQ25002 · Compliance With Standing General Order 2021-01 Reporting Requirements

Opened Aug 20, 2025 · No close date supplied

Status: open (inferred from source dates) · Electrical System:adas

The Office of Defects Investigation (“ODI”) has identified numerous incident reports submitted by Tesla, Inc. (“Tesla”) in response to Standing General Order 2021-01 (the “SGO”), in which the reported crashes occurred several months or more before the dates of the reports. The majority of these reports involved crashes in which the Standing General Order in place at the time required a report to be submitted within one or five days of Tesla receiving notice of the crash. When the reports were submitted, Tesla submitted them in one of two ways. Many of the reports were submitted as part of a single batch, while others were submitted on a rolling basis. Preliminary engagement between ODI and Tesla on the issue indicates that the timing of the reports was due to an issue with Tesla’s data collection, which, according to Tesla, has now been fixed. NHTSA is opening this Audit Query, a standard process for reviewing compliance with legal requirements, to evaluate the cause of the potential delays in reporting, the scope of any such delays, and the mitigations that Tesla has developed to address them. As part of this review, NHTSA will assess whether any reports of prior incidents remain outstanding and whether the reports that were submitted include all of the required and available data. The SGO reports cited in the Opening Resume, can be found at NHTSA.gov/SGOCrashReporting under the following SGO 2021-01 report IDs: 13781-11020-1 13781-10844-1 13781-10843-1 13781-10530-1 13781-10160-1 13781-10159-1 13781-10157-1 13781-10146-1 13781-10122-1 13781-10098-1 13781-10097-1 13781-10096-1 13781-10095-1 13781-10094-1 13781-10093-1 13781-10023-1 13781-10022-1 13781-10021-1 13781-10020-1 13781-10017-1 13781-10016-1 13781-10015-1 13781-10014-1 13781-10013-1 13781-10012-1 13781-6047-1 13781-9930-1 13781-9917-1 13781-9928-1 13781-9925-1 13781-9924-1 13781-9923-1 13781-9922-1 13781-9835-1 13781-9834-1 13781-9833-1 13781-9832-1 13781-9831-1 13781-9830-1 13781-9829-1 13781-9827-1 13781-9818-1 13781-9780-1 13781-9779-1 13781-9778-1 13781-9777-1 13781-9775-1 13781-9774-1 13781-9773-1 13781-9772-1 13781-9771-1 13781-9770-1 13781-9728-1 13781-9688-1 13781-9715-1 13781-9714-1 13781-9713-1 13781-9712-1 13781-9711-1 13781-9710-1 13781-9709-1 13781-9696-1 13781-9695-1 13781-9694-1 13781-9693-1 13781-9692-1 13781-9691-1 13781-9690-1 13781-9687-1 13781-9686-1 13781-9342-1 13781-9319-1 13781-9019-1 13781-8910-1 13781-8732-1 13781-8712-1 13781-8310-1 13781-7897-1 13781-7895-1 13781-7835-1 13781-7798-1 13781-7797-1 13781-7758-1 13781-7757-1 13781-7756-1 13781-7755-1 13781-7667-1 13781-7399-1 13781-7398-1 13781-7397-1 13781-7396-1 13781-7395-1 13781-7394-1 13781-7393-1 13781-7389-1 13781-7388-1 13781-7387-1 13781-7386-1 13781-7385-1 13781-7383-1 13781-7187-1 13781-7186-1 13781-7185-1 13781-7184-1 13781-7181-1 13781-7023-1 13781-6399-1 13781-6389-1 13781-6388-1 13781-6387-1 13781-6386-1 13781-6379-1 13781-6378-1 13781-6377-1 13781-6375-1 13781-6214-1 13781-6172-1 13781-6155-1 13781-6154-1 13781-6122-1 13781-6120-1 13781-6118-1 13781-5800-1

PE24033 · Actually Smart Summon Sessions Resulting In low-speed Impacts.

Opened Jan 6, 2025 · Closed Apr 3, 2026

Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Electrical System:adas:autonomous/self Driving

On January 6, 2025, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation 24003 (PE24033) to investigate Actually Smart Summon (Summon) sessions resulting in crashes during active sessions. According to Tesla, Summon is a short-distance SAE Level 2 system, controlled by the user from a cell phone within a certain distance and intended for use in parking lots and on private property. ODI analyzed complaint data provided by Tesla as well as complaints submitted to ODI from consumers to identify Summon incidents resulting in crashes. ODI's analysis indicates that almost all Summon reported crashes involved minor property damage claims with no reported incidents involving a vulnerable road user, injury, fatality, or major property damage as indicated by an air bag deployment or vehicle tow away. Out of millions of Summon sessions, a fraction of 1% resulted in an incident. Almost all those incidents took place where, typically early in a Summon session, the system or person using the app failed to fully detect or respond appropriately to vehicle surroundings resulting in minor impacts. Incidents took place when app users did not have a complete 360-degree view of the surroundings in the app to assess situational awareness. This limited the app user’s ability to determine whether an impact was imminent during initial vehicle maneuvers such as reversing in close proximity to an obstacle or a curb. ODI found that the impacts most often occurred with parking gates, adjacently parked vehicles, and short parking bollards. During this investigation, ODI identified two Summon crashes related to camera blockages. In both crashes, Summon attempted to navigate a snowy parking lot with snow partially or fully obstructing the forward-facing cameras. Summon did not detect the camera blockage and the vehicles collided with unoccupied parked vehicles while navigating the parking lot. App users in both instances did not command a vehicle stop or pause despite the obstructed camera visible in the camera stream in the app. On January 15, 2025, Tesla released Over-the-Air (OTA) Software (SW) Update Action numbers 578998 and 579185 for vehicles in service to implement a camera blockage detection condition. Both OTAs improve camera blockage detection mechanisms. Additionally, on January 20, 2025, and January 30, 2025, Tesla identified additional system requirements associated with camera visibility checks and released OTA SW-578752 and SW-580322, respectively. These firmware updates reduce false negative camera blockage detections due to snow or condensation. In its investigation, ODI identified one Summon incident where the vehicle did not yield for a gate arm blocking a garage exit lane and the app user did not command a vehicle stop or pause, resulting in an impact. On February 6, 2025, Tesla deployed OTA SW-578839 to improve vehicle reaction to dynamic gates. This OTA update upgraded vehicle perception systems through a high-fidelity occupancy determination network, which uses data from vehicle sensory systems to improve reconstruction of field objects with high accuracy. On November 20, 2025, Tesla further improved vehicle performance by adding object detections from a separate neural network through OTA SW-580514. Owners of the affected vehicles received all six OTA SW updates. Tesla also released these SW updates to production vehicles. See online public file for detailed descriptions of all six OTA SW updates. Due to low incident occurrence and low incident severity, this preliminary evaluation is closed. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding that a safety-related defect does not exist. The agency reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by future circumstances. For additional information regarding this investigation, see the complete online public file.