The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into Tesla's compact Model 3 and Model Y EVs after more than 350 owners complained of sudden and unexpected brake application by the vehicles' onboard emergency systems.
"The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has received 354 complaints alleging unexpected brake activation in 2021-2022 Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles," NHTSA said in its documentation. "Received over the past nine months, the reports have often been characterized as 'phantom braking' by consumers."
"Complainants report that the rapid deceleration can occur without warning, and often repeatedly during a single drive cycle," the agency said.
An investigation is not a recall, but it can be the first step in the process if NHTSA determines that customer complaints are valid and the automaker is obligated to provide a remedy. A similar problem prompted a recall of nearly 12,000 models across Tesla's lineup — including the larger Model S and Model X — in 2021.
In that instance, Tesla said its vehicles' onboard systems weren't properly communicating with each other, resulting in "false positives" being detected by the automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning systems. That issue was isolated to a specific Tesla software release (2021.36.5.2) and was addressed via an over-the-air (OTA) update.
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