2024 Tesla Model 3 automatic emergency braking problems
64 of the 218 complaints owners filed with NHTSA about the 2024 Tesla Model 3 name the automatic emergency braking (NHTSA’s “Forward Collision Avoidance” heading — forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking, including phantom braking). Filed under the same heading: 1 NHTSA investigation. Every figure below is a document in a federal file, linked; none is a failure rate, and none is a verdict on any one car.
What owners filed about the automatic emergency braking
Source: NHTSA complaint database13 of the 64 reports a crash · 0 a fire · 11 injuries. Self-reported, unverified.
Filed per year: 2024: 18 · 2025: 29 · 2026: 17
Too few of these complaints carry an odometer reading to say when the problem shows up.
218 complaints in all about the 2024 Tesla Model 3, 17 filed in 2026. The whole picture, every system →
Counts are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects, and scale with how many of these were sold; nothing here is a rate. NHTSA groups complaints coarsely, so “Forward Collision Avoidance” means the same area of the vehicle, not one fault.
Across model years: Tesla Model 3 automatic emergency braking problems, every year on file →
In owners’ own words
Source: NHTSA complaint databaseFiled with NHTSA by the people who own these cars, about the automatic emergency braking. Quoted as written, with anything identifying removed; unverified reports — what was said, not a finding that it was true.
12/26/2024 around 5-6pm, Full Self Drive abruptly tried to accelerate into the intersection while sitting at a stop light. I stopped it immediately but was very surprised as FSD v13 has been exceedingly reliable and a pleasure to drive. This is the 2nd time this has happened after the holiday update of FSD 2024.45.25.5 (v13.2.2).
Car randomly breaks or swerves when using cruise control. When there is nothing ahead of me have called tesla and been told it is called phantom breaking and that it is normal happens multiple times a day, almost causes collisions. Very dangerous
Using cruise control to go with the flow of traffic the vehicle will slow down for any random flashing lights far away or vehicle in next lane causing all vehicles to slow down unnecessarily. FSD and beta programming does not belong in driver set cruise control
While driving at highway speeds, the driver initiated what was to be a standard lane change from right to left to accommodate traffic merging onto the highway into the right-hand lane. About halfway through the lane change, the vehicle automatically and unexpectedly braked hard, locking the wheels.
Driver set cruise control has FSD imbedded that causes the vehicle to slow down drastically on its own. The car has brake tested several following vehicles so far. I’ve seen this before many times of other Teslas but thought it was the driver and now I know it was not. This causes a chain reaction of braking and smoking tires.
What is on file about the automatic emergency braking
Source: NHTSA recalls, investigations and manufacturer communicationsNHTSA investigation
- PE22002 Unexpected Brake Activationopened Feb 16, 2022 · closed Jun 29, 2026
- On February 16, 2022, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE22002) to investigate reports of unexpected deceleration while driving with the adaptive cruise control system engaged in Model Year (MY) 2021 – 2022 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles manufactured by Tesla. The subject systems include Autopilot (all versions), Full Self-Driving (FSD) and Traffic Aware Cru…
Common questions
Source: NHTSA complaint database, recalls and manufacturer communicationsAre automatic emergency braking problems common on the 2024 Tesla Model 3?
They are documented: NHTSA holds 64 owner complaints naming the automatic emergency braking on this model year (29% of everything owners filed about it), and 1 NHTSA investigation is filed under the same heading. Whether it is a problem on one particular car is a diagnosis, not a count, and a count says nothing about how many were sold.
Is there a recall for the automatic emergency braking on the 2024 Tesla Model 3?
No recall campaign is filed under this heading for this model year (there are 5 filed under other headings). A bulletin is not a recall: it carries no federal duty to repair for free.
When do automatic emergency braking problems show up on the 2024 Tesla Model 3?
Too few of the complaints carry an odometer reading to say. The model year's page shows the mileage curve across every system where it can.
What does NHTSA's "Forward Collision Avoidance" heading cover?
Forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking, including phantom braking. Owners choose the heading when they file, so it says which area of the vehicle the complaint is about, not which part failed.