2021 Tesla Model 3 Vehicle Speed Control Problems
Owners have filed 123 complaints with NHTSA about vehicle speed control problems on the 2021 Tesla Model 3, 18% of all complaints for this model year. Half of the reports with a mileage happened before 10,650 miles. The words owners use most often: “cruise control” (58% of reports).
- 123vehicle speed control complaints
- 10,650median miles at failure
- 11mention a crash
- 4mention an injury
- 0related recalls
- 89%of reports with a speed happened at 50+ mph
What owners describe
Phrases that appear unusually often in these complaints compared with complaints about other cars.
- Cruise control: mentioned in 71 of 123 complaints (58%)
- Phantom braking: mentioned in 33 of 123 complaints (27%)
- Auto pilot: mentioned in 10 of 123 complaints (8%)
- Full self: mentioned in 9 of 123 complaints (7%)
At what mileage do vehicle speed control problems happen?
Based on 6 complaints that reported the odometer reading.
How serious are the reports?
Of 123 complaints, 11 mention a crash, 4 an injury.
Tesla Model 3 vehicle speed control complaints by model year
| Model year | Vehicle Speed Control complaints | Share of that year | Median miles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Model 3 | 2 | 7% | — |
| 2025 Model 3 | 14 | 12% | 9,840 |
| 2024 Model 3 | 20 | 9% | — |
| 2023 Model 3 | 69 | 16% | 25,737 |
| 2022 Model 3 | 171 | 22% | 2,900 |
| 2021 Model 3 | 123 | 18% | 10,650 |
| 2020 Model 3 | 69 | 15% | 1,470 |
| 2019 Model 3 | 71 | 12% | 5,300 |
| 2018 Model 3 | 90 | 9% | 9,999 |
| 2017 Model 3 | 4 | 15% | — |
When owners reported it
Related recalls (0)
No safety recall lists vehicle speed control for the 2021 Tesla Model 3. A pattern of complaints does not always lead to a recall.
What owners report
Short excerpts of recent complaints, with personal details removed. Full reports are on NHTSA.gov.
The forward-facing camera and Autopilot computer system on my 2021 Tesla Model 3 has failed. The dashboard first showed intermittent warnings that "Automatic Emergency Braking is currently unavailable" and "Adaptive headlight features are unavailable." Over several weeks the problem worsened from…
When using cruise control, there has been 4 times that the car has engaged in âphantom brakingâ. We were driving on highways going the posted speed limit of 70 mph, when the car suddenly slammed on the brakes and decelerated to less than 30 mph â all four times we were thankfully not being…
2 problems 1,Phantom braking when cruise control is activated. 2, There's no rear door mechanical release in the event of a electrical power failure in the event of R.T.A
Frequently asked questions
Do all 2021 Tesla Model 3s have vehicle speed control problems?
No. NHTSA has 123 owner complaints about vehicle speed control for the 2021 Tesla Model 3 (18% of the 669 complaints for this model year). Complaint data shows that the problem is reported, not how many of all cars sold are affected.
Was there a recall on the 2021 Tesla Model 3 vehicle speed control?
No recall currently lists vehicle speed control for this vehicle.
At what mileage do vehicle speed control problems start?
The median reported mileage is 10,650 miles: half of the reports with a mileage came before that.
What do owners say about vehicle speed control problems on the 2021 Tesla Model 3?
The most frequent phrase is “cruise control”, in 71 of 123 complaints, followed by “phantom braking” (33).
Other 2021 Tesla Model 3 problems
See all 2021 Tesla Model 3 problems or vehicle speed control problems across all Model 3 years.