2017 Tesla Model S Fuel system Problems

This is a supplemental filing to my prior NHTSA complaint (#11697718) regarding a high-voltage isolation fault and shutdown risk. The vehicle displayed warnings including “vehicle may shut down during driving,” “may not charge,” and repeated BMS isolation fault messages. It became inoperable at a public charging station. The manufacturer confirmed isolation faults in the drive unit and the A/C compressor. Their own service notes stated that the vehicle “may shut down during regular driving” and that charging “may not be safe.” Despite this, the vehicle was left at 0% state of charge for an extended period and then charged by the manufacturer. They later stated to a regulator that the vehicle was “trickle charged at 1 amp for 6 hours,” but the vehicle’s range increased by approximately 100 miles, which is not physically possible at that charging current (1 amp at 240V for 6 hours = 1.44 kWh ≈ 4–5 miles). This discrepancy suggests the vehicle may have been charged at a higher rate than claimed and without proper cooling, despite the documented A/C failure that is necessary for battery thermal management. Battery condition is unknown because the manufacturer refused to perform or provide a battery health analysis, isolation resistance values, thermal logs, or charging session data. The safety defect could not be verified as repaired. While this safety issue remained unresolved, the manufacturer rejected a Tesla roadside tow arranged under regulator instruction to second service center and instead arranged an unauthorized tow to remove the vehicle from their facility without my consent. The vehicle was taken to a non-manufacturer storage lot while still in an unsafe state. I am concerned about: • high-voltage isolation faults, • shutdown risk during driving, • unsafe charging performed by the manufacturer, • possible battery damage from low SOC and charging without A/C cooling, and • mishandling of an active safety defect. The vehicle is available for inspection.

NHTSA ID

11701872

Incident

Nov 26, 2025

coolant leaking, before tesla can even look at my car they say i need new valves. Only way they could know this is if there is a faulty part. This should be a recall! Believe this is the Battery coolant.

NHTSA ID

11493191

Incident

Nov 10, 2022

THIS IS A COMPLAINT RELATED TO THE TESLA BATTERY FIRES INVESTIGATION. PLEASE NOTE THAT I HAVE USED THE VIN OF ANOTHER 2017 TESLA TO BE ABLE TO FILE THIS COMPLAINT. THE WRECK OF THE BURNED OUT TESLA HAS NOW SHOWED UP IN THE SALVAGE YARD BUT IT IS TOO BADLY BURNED TO BE ABLE TO READ THE VIN. THERE WAS A FIRE ON JANUARY 10TH IN ARLINGTON INVOLVING A TESLA MODEL S HERE IS A VIDEO SHOWING THE TESLA ON FIRE OUTSIDE THE GARAGE AND SPEWING FLAMES IN ALL DIRECTIONS. HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=RTXKM_0I8VG THIS BURNED OUT WRECK WHICH IS NOW IN A CHICAGO SALVAGE YARD IS VERY LIKELY TO BE THE CAR THAT WAS ON FIRE. HTTPS://WWW.COPART.COM/LOT/27044150 THE VIDEO OF THAT FIRE SHOWS JUST HOW DANGEROUS A BURNING TESLA IS. EVEN WITH SEVERAL FIRE-ENGINES AND THOUSANDS OF GALLONS OF WATER IT IS NEAR IMPOSSIBLE TO EXTINGUISH. AN OCCUPANT OF THE HOUSE WAS TREATED BY PARAMEDICS. THE TESLA FAN CLUB HAS TRIED TO DEFLECT THE BLAME ON TO "CHRISTMAS LIGHTS" HTTPS://TESLAMOTORSCLUB.COM/TMC/THREADS/CHRISTMAS-LIGHT-HOME-FIRE-IN-ARLINGTON-HEIGHTS-IL.181401/ YEAH RIGHT! IT'S A LITTLE PAST THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS! AS I AM SURE YOU WILL BE AWARE A SINGLE LITHIUM BATTERY CELL HAS ALWAYS GOT A NON-ZERO PERCENTAGE CHANCE OF CATCHING FIRE DUE TO INTERNAL SHORT CIRCUIT. WHEN THERE ARE 7000 CELLS TIGHTLY PACKED TOGETHER A CHAIN REACTION A HIGHLY LIKELY OUTCOME. TESLA IS NOW TINKERING ABOUT WITH THE CHARGING RATES BUT THIS WILL NEVER ELIMINATE THE CHANCES OF THESE FIRES. PLEASE KEEP INVESTIGATING. THANK YOU. KEEF

NHTSA ID

11302917

Incident

Jan 10, 2020

Mileage

20,000 mi

ON 1/19/20 AT 1623 PHOENIX TIME WHILE COMING TO A STOP ON A SURFACE STREET THE CAR SUDDENLY ACCELERATED. PROMPT APPLICATION OF THE BREAKS PREVENTED AN ACCIDENT. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED.

NHTSA ID

11301179

Incident

Jan 19, 2020

Mileage

37,300 mi

ON SATURDAY 5/11/2019 AROUND 12:45PM WHILE I WAS DRIVING ON THE HIGHWAY THE CAR SUDDENLY MADE A LOUD SOUND THEN THE CAR SHUT DOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HIGHWAY LEAVING ME STUCK. THE CAR WOULD NOT GO INTO GEAR. THE CAR DISPLAY AN ERROR ON THE CENTER CONSOLE "UNABLE TO DRIVE, PLEASE PROCEED TO SAFETY" (SOMETHING LIKE THIS) I DID NOT TAKE A PHOTO SINCE I WAS CONCERNED ABOUT BEING REAR ENDED. I HAD TO CALL 911 TO STOP ALL TRAFFIC SO THE CAR COULD BE PUSHED OFF THE HIGHWAY. AS WE WERE ABOUT TO PUSH THE CAR IT STARTED WORKING AGAIN. I WILL BE TAKING THE CAR INTO TESLA SERVICE SO THEY CAN TRY TO DETERMINE WHY THIS OCCURRED. THIS COULD HAVE CAUSED A MAJOR ACCIDENT TO MYSELF AND OTHERS IF THIS HAPPENED DURING NON RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC.

NHTSA ID

11207856

Incident

May 11, 2019

Mileage

9,000 mi

I WAS MAKING A LEGAL U TURN ON A CITY STREET TO PARK. I PULLED BEHIND A PARKED CAR AND WAS GOING ABOUT 1MPH WHEN MY CAR SUDDENLY ACCELERATED AND HIT THE PARKED CAR. THERE WERE NO WARNING SOUNDS UNTIL THE CAR HIT THE OTHER CAR AND THEN THE HORN AND LIGHTS ON MY CAR WENT OFF. THE CAR WAS NOT ON AUTO PARK AND NO AIR BAGS WERE DEPLOYED HOWEVER MY CAR AND THE CAR THAT WAS HIT HAD EXTENSIVE BODY DAMAGE. THERE WERE NOT INJURIES TO PEOPLE. I DON'T KNOW WHY THE CAR ACCELERATED INSTEAD OF STOPPING. I HAVE NEVER HIT THE ACCELERATOR PEDDLE INSTEAD OF THE BRAKE AND I DOUBT IF I DID IT IN THIS CASE.

NHTSA ID

11121147

Incident

Jul 7, 2018

Mileage

4,900 mi

HERE IS A TESLA IN THE JUNKYARD: HTTPS://WWW.COPART.COM/LOT/22469458 THE SUSPENSION HAS COLLLOLLOPSED. THE FRONT WHEELS ARE ALL BRUTALISED! ALL THE DAMAGE APPEARS TO BE SELF INFLICTED AFTER THE SUSPENSION WENT WHOMPY. PLEASE INVESTIGATE. THANK YOU. CONCERNED SENIOR CITIZEN. ETC ETC.

NHTSA ID

11079492

Incident

Feb 1, 2018

Mileage

5,000 mi

THIS IS A COMPLAINT ABOUT THE ISSUE OF FIRES IN THE TESLA CARS. THERE WAS AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE FIRES IN 2013. TESLA CLAIMED THAT THE FIRES WERE STARTED BY AN OBJECT PUNCTURING THE BATTERY PACK AND THAT THE PROBLEM HAD BEEN SOLVED BY THE ADDITION OF A BATTERY SHIELD. SINCE THAT TIME THERE HAVE BEEN DOZENS MORE TESLA FIRES. IT IS OBVIOUS FROM LOOKING AT VIDEOS OF FIRES THAT IN MOST CASES IT IS NOT THE BATTERIES BURNING (THEY BURN WITH A WHITE FLAME AND WITH CELLS EXPLODING LIKE FIRE-CRACKERS) IN ALMOST EVERY CASE IT IS THE COOLANT FLUID THAT IS BURNING. PROPYLENE GLYCOL IS FLAMMABLE. EVEN WHEN DILUTED WITH WATER 50:50 IT IS STILL FLAMMABLE WHEN THERE IS SUFFICIENT HEAT TO BOIL OFF THE WATER CONTENT. WHEN THE BATTERY CELLS ARE HOT FROM RECENT CHARGING OR FROM HARD DRIVING THEN THERE IS SUFFICIENT THERMAL MASS TO BOIL OFF THE FLUID ESPECIALLY IF THE RADIATOR PRESSURE IS LOST. THE TESLA RADIATORS AND FLUID HOSES ARE AT THE FRONT OF THE VEHICLE AND ARE HIGHLY VULNERABLE TO IMPACT DAMAGE. TESLAS CONTAIN OVER 6 GALLONS OF FLAMMABLE GLYCOL. THE BATTERIES THEMSELVES WILL NOT SELF IGNITE UNLESS THEY ARE CRUSHED IN A HEAVY IMPACT. THE RISK OF FIRES FROM A LEAKAGE OF HOT PROPYLENE GLYCOL IS FAR GREATER. A GOOGLE IMAGE SEARCH FOR TESLA FIRE SHOWS DOZENS OF CASES WHERE POOLS OF FLUID ARE BURNING ON THE GROUND BENEATH THE CAR AND THE FRONT OF THE CAR IS ENGULFED IN FLAMES. MOST OF THESE FIRES ARE NOT ACCOMPANIED BY BATTERY PYROTECHNICS THEY ARE SIMPLY COOLANT FIRES. PLEASE REOPEN THE FIRE INVESTIGATION.

NHTSA ID

11020673

Incident

Aug 1, 2017

Mileage

1,000 mi