RoadVitals

2010 Tesla Roadster2 Owner Complaints

Reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers, shown in full

Data refreshed

Complaints on fileComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
1
Latest Sep 15, 2011
Crash or fire reportedComplaints whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. These are the reporter's own answers on the NHTSA form, not verified findings.
0
Filed in the last 12 monthsReports filed with NHTSA in the trailing 365 days. Recent volume reflects attention and vehicle age as much as anything else.
0
Reports on file since Sep 15, 2011

What this page shows

Our database holds 1 NHTSA owner-reported complaint for the 2010 Tesla Roadster2. Each one is a report filed by an owner or driver and published by NHTSA without most of them being verified. A complaint is not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. Narratives are shown exactly as filed.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Complaints, most recent first

Showing 1–1 of 1

ElectricalPowertrain (other)
Filed Sep 15, 2011

WHILE DRIVING AT APPROXIMATELY 30MPH, MY CAR EXPERIENCED "DRIVE LOSS", WHICH MEANS THE POWER TRAIN WAS SHUT DOWN SO THE CAR COULD ONLY COAST TO A STOP. THIS HAPPENED WITH NO WARNING. AS THE POWER WAS SHUT DOWN, THE ON BOARD SCREEN STATED "POWER TRAIN SHUT DOWN" OR A SIMILAR MESSAGE. I WAS NOT IN A DANGEROUS SITUATION AT THE TIME, SO I WAS ABLE TO STOP WITHOUT BEING HIT BY ANOTHER VEHICLE. THE MANUFACTURER INVESTIGATED THE PROBLEM. THE SOFTWARE ON BOARD THE CAR "DECIDED" TO CAUSE THE SHUT DOWN. IN THIS CASE, THE SOFTWARE DECIDED TO SHUT DOWN ALL SYSTEMS IN ORDER TO PROTECT THE BATTERY. IT DID THIS BECAUSE A FAULTY SENSOR ON THE BATTERY SENT A SIGNAL THAT THE TEMPERATURE WAS EXTREMELY COLD. EXTREME COLD IS HARMFUL TO THE BATTERY LIFE, SO THE CAR SHUTS DOWN TO AVOID COSTLY BATTERY REPLACEMENTS. TESLA MANAGEMENT HAS CONFIRMED THAT THIS SHUT DOWN PROCESS CAN OCCUR FOR MANY OTHER REASONS AS WELL, AND IS USED IN GENERAL AS A WAY TO HANDLE EXCEPTIONAL CONDITIONS. I THINK IT IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS FOR THE ON BOARD SOFTWARE TO SHUT DOWN A VEHICLE WHILE IN MOTION. I AM NOT AWARE OF ANY OTHER VEHICLE AUTONOMOUSLY MAKING SUCH "DECISIONS", SO I FEEL IT IS IMPORTANT TO REPORT THIS HAZARD TO THE SAFETY OF OCCUPANTS OF TESLA ROADSTERS. THE VEHICLE WAS COMPLETELY DRIVABLE AT THE TIME. I WAS ABLE TO START IT AGAIN, AND THE PROBLEM RECURRED 6 MORE TIMES SEQUENTIALLY. TESLA HAS PROMISED A SOFTWARE FIX TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM, BUT HAS NOT DELIVERED ONE. I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR A OVER 8 MONTHS FOR THEM TO FIX IT, HENCE THE DELAY IN MY REPORT TO NHTSA. *KB

NHTSA ID
10425527
Incident
Dec 8, 2010
Mileage
7,000 mi

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.

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .