Owner-reported complaints naming the engine system, filed with NHTSA
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Reports naming the engine itself — including stalling, misfires, oil consumption, cooling and internal engine components. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2014 Tesla Model S submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 12 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed
Motor suddenly failed after a required update while driving, nearly causing a crash with multiple commercial vehicles and pedestrians, leaving brake lights dangerously always on and alarm sounding, killed 12v as well.
This is regarding a 2014 Model S fully electric vehicle. Any reference to an 'engine' simply implies the motor. Accelerator pedal became unresponsive and abruptly lost drive power while going ~55mph on the highway. The PRND display on the display panel went red. Car was towed to the service center Immediately after this malfunction, I somehow cruised along towards the shoulder with just with brakes and hazard lights. Total loss of motor power caused vehicle to slow down and vehicles behind me had to slow down (and honk). After coming to complete stop and shifting to Park the PRND display turned white again indicating function was restored. Shifting to D seem to re-engage the motor and I could pull away to the nearest exit and then into a parking lot. At this location it no longer responded to R or D positions and had to finally towed. Frequent drive unit failure is apparently a prevalent issue on certain models. Not sure if anyone else was in a similar situation. Service centers admit this as well as there is evidence on online forums Warning sign (PRND turning red) appeared at the exact moment of failure. On stopping and going back to Park it would go away. No persistent errors remained on the screen. After the motor had completely failed, various other warnings started appearing (ref photos)
The original motor on Tesla Model S vehicles between 2012-2019 has a reputation of leaking coolant inside the drive train and therefore locking up the motor that stops all operations of the vehicle. This has already happened twice with an average life expectance of 40-60k miles. I was just informed that Tesla has finally created a version of this motor that prevents coolant leaks on the latest revision of their motor (Part# 1002633-00-U) and would like to see a recall with this long needed fix. I currently have a remanufactured motor that will end up locking up eventually and would like to get ahead of this if at all possible.
The rear motor (drive unit) has gone out on this car twice in the last four years. I purchased it after it was last repaired. It most recently went out on 08/04/2023. When it went out two days ago it had less than 30,000 miles on it. This car has a motor on both the front and rear axles, so while the vehichle was still moving forward, if it slowed down at all that would engage the regenerative braking. Once regenerative breaking was engaged, the rear drive unit would normal perform that function, but since it was out, it simply knocked the vehicle out of drive and made the transmission flash red. During this part, steering was affected in that the power steering was out, and the ability to move forward was diminished because the vehicle came out of gear. I was able to put my foot briefly on the brake and then tap the car back into drive, but anytime the car slowed down and engaged regenerative braking, this process would repeat. Looking at the forums, this is a known problem. As already stated, this is the second time in less than four years that this motor has needed replacement. Additionally, Tesla is saying that this motor is did not have a warranty on it, despite the fact that it was replaced only a few years ago. In my opinion, this is a clear safety issue. Reviewing the forums, it seems as though this issue is an endemic problem associated with the Tesla Model S from a range of years between 2012-2015. It is more probable than not that the company is aware of this deficit and has chosen to do nothing about it.
Recently my drive unit has begin to fail. This is the second drive unit in the vehicle, approaching the 3rd. Then there is The issues with the doorhandles. The doorhandles when the sensor breaks or motor breaks can cause safety concerns related to doorhandles freely opening or inability to open. When the doorhandles motor defects the door handle cannot extend preventing access to any door in the car. When the door handles sensor fails, the doors will freely extend out words assuming someone is grabbing onto the handle. Recently my dog escaped the vehicle due to just me unlocking the car upon entry. I have had 2 door handle replacements and I am sensing a fault in another one. This is a common issue on the generation 1 Tesla model s door handles.
TOTAL MAIN COMPUTER FAILURE (MCU) - MANY SAFETY FEATURES WERE UNACCESSIBLE AND NOT AVAILABLE INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO TURN SIGNALS AND HAZARD LIGHTS STOP WORKING, THE SETTINGS FOR AUTOPILOT AND DRIVING ARE GONE, THE SUSPENSION SETTINGS, THE ABILITY TO TURN ON HEADLIGHTS MANUALLY, ABILITY TO MANUALLY LOCK AND UNLOCK THE VEHICLE, NAVIGATION, A/C, SUNROOF CONTROLS, ETC.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2014 TESLA MODEL S. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MEDIA CONTROL UNIT WAS DEFECTIVE AND INOPERABLE. THE CONTACT ALSO STATED THAT WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS IN PARK, WATER STARTED TO LEAK FROM THE VEHICLE. THE BATTERY WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED STATING THAT THE 12 VOLT BATTERY SHOULD BE REPLACED SOON. THE CONTACT CALLED TESLA (50 EDWARDS CT, BURLINGAME, CA 94010, (650) 342-1176) WHERE THE TECHNICIAN SCHEDULED APPOINTMENT TO HAVE THE VEHICLE DIAGNOSED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 54,000. *LN CONSUMER STATED TOUCHSCREEN DOES NOT WORK, THE CAR DOOR DOESN'T LOCK AND AC RUNS WHILE PARKED. NOISE OF THE CAR IS LOUD AND BATTERY RUNS OUT FAST WHILE PARKED. CONSUMER CANNOT SEE THE TELSA APP AND THEREFORE CANNOT ADJUST CHARGING AND UNABLE TO OPEN AC AND MORE.*JB*DT CONSUMER STATED MEDIA CONTROL UNIT/TOUCHSCREEN WAS REPLACED.*JB
RE: NHTSA ACTION NUMBER: DP19005 - INVESTIGATION SUBJECT : BATTERY MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE UPDATES - VEHICLE HAD SUDDEN LOSS OF BATTERY CAPACITY AND CHARGING VELOCITY AFTER SOFTWARE UPDATE IN MAY 2019. THIS HAS CONTINUED WITH A ROUGHLY 15% REDUCTION IN THE KWH RATING OF THE BATTERY (PUBLISHED RATING 85.0, ACTUAL 71.65). I AM DISAPPOINTED WITH THE REDUCTION IN THE PERFORMANCE AND USABILITY OF THE CAR, BUT MORE CONCERNED WITH THE POTENTIAL OF AN UNDISCLOSED DEFECT OR RISK THAT I AM AM NOT AWARE OF.
TL* THE CONTACT OWNED A 2014 TESLA MODEL S. WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED IN THE GARAGE CHARGING, IT CAUGHT FIRE AND BURNED AT THE CONTACT'S RESIDENCE. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT EXTINGUISHED THE FIRE AND POLICE AND FIRE REPORTS WERE FILED. THERE WERE NO INJURIES. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A RESEARCH CENTER, BUT WAS NOT DIAGNOSED BECAUSE IT WAS DESTROYED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO A LOCAL DEALER. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND SENT AN INVESTIGATOR TO INSPECT THE VEHICLE. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 17,000.
AFTER SOFTWARE UPDATE SUPERCHARGING SLOWED BY MORE THAN 50% AND RANGE ON FULL CHARGE DROPPED
SOFTWARE UPDATES BY TESLA HAVE LIMITED RANGE USAGE BY LOWERING THE AVAILABLE VOLTAGE MAX CAPACITY FOR CHARGING. *TT 'PARTS OF THIS DOCUMENT HAVE BEEN REDACTED TO PROTECT PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).'*JB
P85D LOST POWER ON ROAD, "PULL OVER SAFELY". WITH TESLA'S LATEST FIRMWARE UPDAT E0.167 PUSHED OTU UNTESTED TO ALL P85D CARS, THE CAR LOSES ALL POWER SUDDENLY WHEN DRIVING. IT LEAVES THE DRIVERS STRANDED IN THE MIDDLE OF ROADS DANGEROUSLY. TESLA IS NOT ISSUING A RECALL, AND IS TRYING TO SUPPRESS THIS AND MANY MANY OTHER QUALITY AND SAFETY ISSUES BY LIMITING THE INFORMATION TO ITS FORUMS ONLY, AND SOMETIMES REMOVING THOSE INFORMATION TO SUPPORT ITS HIGH QUALITY IMAGE, AND SUSTAIN ITS BUBBLE STOCK VALUATION. MORE DETAILS HERE IN THIS THREAD. HOPE THEY DON'T REMOVE THE ENTIRE THREAD. HTTP://WWW.TESLAMOTORSCLUB.COM/SHOWTHREAD.PHP/43075-P85D-LOST-POWER-ON-ROAD-PULL-OVER-SAFELY -- WAS HEADING DOWN A 45 MPH ROAD AT ABOUT 57. HAD THE CRUISE SET. NO CARS IN FRONT. WAS TAKING A VERY SLIGHT CURVE IN THE ROAD AND THE CRUISE DISENGAGED BY ITSELF. NO ERRORS OR ANYTHING, JUST AS IF I HAD TAPPED THE BRAKE OR SOMETHING. HMM... SO I RESUMED IT AND IT WENT BACK TO WORK. LESS THAN HALF A MILE LATER I DISENGAGED CRUISE TO REGEN TO A STOP TO MAKE A LEFT AT A LIGHT. A COUPLE OF SECONDS INTO THAT AND I GOT THIS DREADED MESSAGE: "CAR NEEDS SERVICE; PULL OVER SAFELY". *JS
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
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