I have recently had 3 unintended acceleration events with my 2020 Tesla S Performance in the past two months. Both events happened when parking my Tesla S in my garage. There was no driver error involved in any of these 3 incidents. We enjoy fast cars and our last four garaged cars were a GTR, C6 ZR1, C6 Z06, and C5 Z06. We keep near new car outside which is now a 2018 Pacifica with 4200 miles on it. Our two high performance garaged cars are use only once a week and we have done this for the past 20 years. I have a raced cars at the drag strip and I am also an Instrument Rated Commercial pilot. I mention all of this only because readers immediately insinuate that all unintended acceleration event claims are the fault of older drivers or those not familiar with fast cars. Two events occurred on August 18 at 990 miles and one on October 12 at 1250 miles. All 3 events occurred after our weekly Sunday one hour plus spirited driving ride in our Tesla. I typically use over 25% battery power for the one hour plus ride. Using Ludicrous Plus mode in FL 95 degree heat and making numerous 1/8 mile or longer runs causes both drive motors and the transmission to get very hot which in turn transfers this heat to attached sensors. We then take 20 minute slow ride in our local 20 to 30 mph zones to allow the transmission and engine coolant temps drop. This helped when using our GTR and our previous SC ZR1 before going home. I have since learned this slow ride in our Tesla S actually increases and not decreases the drive motor and transmission temperatures in our Tesla SP.
At 4:30 pm on August 18, the day of the first two incidents it was 95 degrees and the Tesla cooling fans were running when I pulled into my driveway and for 15 minutes after in the garage. We have two large floor fans which we direct at the car after being used. When in the drivewayI put the car in Park and disconnect my seatbelt which makes it easier to put my data Logger and radar detector away. I always reset the Driving mode to ‘Chill’ before parking my Tesla anywhere. I park my Tesla on the left side and my GTR on the right side of my garage. With my wife directing me I position my Tesla right front tire against the 3 inch high Riser on our 20” X 14” x 3/8 rubber Parking Mats. We have used these mats for 35 years to park our cars in our garages. With my Tesla right front tire against the Riser, my wife gives me a “Full Fist” sign. I release pressure on the accelerator which engages the brakes. At this location my Tesla front bumper is 19 inches from my workbench. I then push the Park button which activates the Easy Entry/Exit, and I exit the car. We have two large floor fans that we aimed at the nose of our cars to cool them after a ride. On this day the instant I pressed the Park button the car lurched almost 3 feet forward up and over the Parking Mats 3 inch Riser and hit my workbench. I instinctively hit the brake to stop the forward movement but the lurch happened in one second. My Tesla bumper had penetrated the workbench cabinets by over a foot. I looked up to see the shocked look on my wife’s face who stands just inches from the right front fender. The abrupt forward movement was so forceful and quick tossed the right Parking Mat backward four feet. I then backed up about 6 feet to exit the car but I was not in location where I was able to open my door due to my large tool chests against the wall. I then pulled forward to where I would normally park if using the mat, released pressure on the accelerator, pressed the Park button, and again my Tesla bolted forward 3 feet forward into the workbench. Twice in 5 minutes, the instant I pressed the Park button which automatically engages the brake, my Tesla had lurched 3 feet forward. Shocked again backed up about 10 feet and squeezed myself out of the car to inspect the damage. Hitting the workbench lightly damaged my Tesla front bumper because I had removed my License Plate Bracket. The incident did extensive damage to my workbench cabinets. We took photos of the damage to the car and workbench. We then wiped down and covered the car like we always do. The next morning I tried to duplicate the incident a half dozen times to see if I had a defective Parking sensor but I knew that the high heat from the ride was an integral factor in causing this event. I contacted Sarasota Tesla Service, reported the incident and sent t them a three page letter of explanation along with photos of the damage to the car and workbench. I have good carpentry skills but it still took me a week to repair the damage in the particle board laminate workbench cabinets and upper drawer assembly. Two weeks later we went to Tesla Sarasota and I had them inspect the damage to the car and inspect numerous other flaws I had reported after delivery. Sarasota Tesla forwarded my letter and photos to Tesla engineers who downloaded the EDR data from my car. I knew this would be a dangerous ongoing problem and would happen again without repair by Tesla. I told the Sarasota Tesla mechanic that this would happen again. He said Tesla engineers will contact me in few weeks. I had no idea how to prevent it from happening again and neither did the Tesla mechanic I spoke to. I have received a thank you call from Tesla for ordering a 2021 Plaid but no calls about my 3 unintended acceleration incidents.
We then used our Tesla 4 more times since the August 18 incident without any problem parking it in the garage. For these rides I left my seatbelt connected until after I pressed the Park button on the Parking Mat. I felt that disconnecting my seatbelt which activates Easy Entry/Exit is a contributing factor in causing this problem. October 10 at about 4:20 pm with the outside temp at 90 degrees we had a similar third unintended acceleration incident when parking our Tesla in the garage. On this day I had disconnected my seatbelt in the driveway. My wife asked me if it would happen again and I said it wouldn’t because I didn’t believe the outside temp was lower and the car was hot enough. I was wrong. Again I put my data logger and radar detector away. I had just recently sold my GTR because it was no longer as much fun to drive. I put its Parking Mat under the left front wheel of the Tesla. My wife helped me positioning both tires against the Parking Mats 3 inch Risers and this time I applied the brake before pushing the Park Button. Even with my foot on the brake, the instant I pushed the Park Button the car forcefully vaulted forward up and over the both Parking Mat Risers. The forward lurch was so violent it lifted the entire nose of the car up and over the both mat Risers. I applied maximum pressure to the brake the instant the car moved foot but it had no effect and the car bolted forward but this time stopped just one inch from my workbench. I couldn’t believe that it was able to climb over the two 3 inch Parking Mat Risers with my foot on the brake. I believe having to go over the two parking mat Risers absorbed some of the forward energy and had prevented the bumper from penetrating the workbench again by 3 feet. I was pretty sure but still praying I didn’t hit the workbench and was relieved when my wife told me I did not hit it. . It was apparent to me at this point that the car was hesitating going into Park, it remained in Drive for hundredths of a second with the brakes applied, and somehow there was an extreme momentary impulse to the accelerator that made the car overpower the brakes and move forward before actually going into Park. I then just sat in the car with my bumper just one inch from my workbench and waited for the cooling fans to cool the motors. I had my wife get my cell phone to take photos of the car while I sat in the car. I then backed up 10 feet and exited the car. The photos showed the left mat had been tossed back 5 feet and left long black marks on my garage floor. The right side Parking Mat had been wedged under the right front wheel. We finished with the photos, repositioned the mats, parked car, and wiped it down and covered it. I called Sarasota Tesla Service the next day and informed them of our third unintended acceleration incident. I sent them anther long letter and more photos. Again Tesla engineers have since download the data from the EDR and have not responded. The Tesla Support site states that Tesla is obligated to provide customers with a readout of any downloaded problems.
I know Tesla will never admit there is any problem with my car or its sensors. I don’t care about the cost of repair to my car or workbench and would pay Tesla to repair my car. I now better understand what the Tesla model S and possibly model 3 owners feel like that have filed 127 complaints about their Tesla having unintended acceleration events, some after the car was parked and they were walking away.
The Tesla computer does not generate a fault code when a problem like this occurs like all other cars with standard ECU’s. I have not yet heard from Tesla engineers about the first two incidents or now a third and will be surprised if and when they do. I know as we all do that Tesla will never admit that any unintended acceleration is possible in any Tesla and will never pay for any damage to a Tesla or property. I have had TPS accelerator sensor and PCM module problems in brand new cars in the past. In the standard ECU unless a fault code is generated by a defective sensor and makes the Engine Light stay on the mechanics have no way of finding the problem. I had a brand new 2008 Trailblazer SS with 1000 miles on it that quit 3 times from 5 to 15 minutes over a period of one year. It wasn’t until the last event that threw fault code and turned on the Engine Light were the GM mechanics able to repair the car. After a week at the dealership both TPS sensors had to be replaced. The PCM module causing a similar problem is story for another time.
I know that Tesla will never give me or the NHTSA the actual EDR downloaded data from my car or from any Tesla car. Rather the Tesla engineers will give just their interpretation of what the data says. Tesla will never admit that they have any unintended acceleration problems in any Tesla and certainly not recall any cars or pay for any repair to the car or personal property.
The NHTSA as of January 2020 states there have been 127 claims,110 crashes, and 52 injuries caused by unintended acceleration in Tesla vehicles. NHTSA wants Tesla to recall a massive number of cars and it will not. My own in-depth research into this type of unintended acceleration event in Tesla’s when parking is not new and has been clearly explained by Robert Belt, Electrical Engineer in a 2018 article. He was able to obtain thenEDR downloaded data from a Tesla model S that had a similar unintended acceleration event when parking he car. For those of you with a Tesla model S or model 3 I suggest you read Robert Belt’s report on these sites, (https://www.autosafety.org/wp-conte...udden-Acceleration-Log-Data-What-It-Shows.pdf) . (Tesla Owners Accuse Their Cars of Unintended Acceleration. Is It True? | Digital Trends) His articles clearly describe how the Tesla Transmission Sensor delays when overheated by the overheated drive motors from prolonged periods of fast and then slow driving. Tesla engineers are obviously aware of this problem. According to Belt this unintended acceleration is caused by an overheated Transmission Sensor which causes a delay in the transmission going into Park. The Tesla Transmission Sensor shares a common ground with the two (TPS) Throttle Position Sensors for the Accelerator. Due to the extreme increased transmission temperature caused by spirited and then prolonged slow driving increases the transmission heat and Transmission Sensor temperature it hesitates to put the transmission in Park by hundredths of a second. While the Transmission Sensor in trying to send Park impulses it sends as many as 4 voltage spikes to the TPS Accelerator sensors in one second. The downloaded data from the EDR from drivers who have this unintended acceleration problem indicates the driver hit the accelerator 4 times in one second which is impossible Tesla should certainly be able to fix this problem even without a major recall. Tesla claims that the software in the new Tesla S is 4 times more powerful than the software in the Tesla model S that was using autopilot when it ran into the side a white trailer truck jackknifed across RT 75 in FL in 2016. Authorities believe the driver was watching a DVD. No computer or ECU is infallible no one should ever trust one’s life to one.
The Tesla S Performance with its 825hp/967 ft lb tq using Ludicrous Plus mode and LC makes for a very fast stock car. Its 2.3 seconds 0 to 60 time, 6.5 second 1/8 mile time, and 10.4 in the quarter mile are phenomenal for any car let alone a 4 door sedan. The Tesla SP is the fastest new stock car I have owned. The build quality in terms of body gaps, panel alignment, paint flaws, cracked mirror housing, and surface flaws are disappointing but the performance makes up for these flaws. Tesla has amazing technology but any auto ECU’s or computer can only correctly process the information from the numerous sensors if given correct and timely input.
I doubt many Tesla model S owners drive their cars I do. I would be interested in hearing from any model S owners who have had any similar sensor hesitation problems or any unintended acceleration events. In spite of my ongoing issues with my Tesla S Performance I will still buy a 2021 Tesla S Plaid if it is the 9 second car ¼ mile car as advertised. I am hoping that the Plaid three motor configuration will eliminate the sensors overheat issues and prevent similar problems. I will enjoy my Tesla until I get my Plaid and make some changes in my garage parking procedure. The 2020 Tesla S Performance with the Raven updated battery is still a fun car to drive. Thanks.
At 4:30 pm on August 18, the day of the first two incidents it was 95 degrees and the Tesla cooling fans were running when I pulled into my driveway and for 15 minutes after in the garage. We have two large floor fans which we direct at the car after being used. When in the drivewayI put the car in Park and disconnect my seatbelt which makes it easier to put my data Logger and radar detector away. I always reset the Driving mode to ‘Chill’ before parking my Tesla anywhere. I park my Tesla on the left side and my GTR on the right side of my garage. With my wife directing me I position my Tesla right front tire against the 3 inch high Riser on our 20” X 14” x 3/8 rubber Parking Mats. We have used these mats for 35 years to park our cars in our garages. With my Tesla right front tire against the Riser, my wife gives me a “Full Fist” sign. I release pressure on the accelerator which engages the brakes. At this location my Tesla front bumper is 19 inches from my workbench. I then push the Park button which activates the Easy Entry/Exit, and I exit the car. We have two large floor fans that we aimed at the nose of our cars to cool them after a ride. On this day the instant I pressed the Park button the car lurched almost 3 feet forward up and over the Parking Mats 3 inch Riser and hit my workbench. I instinctively hit the brake to stop the forward movement but the lurch happened in one second. My Tesla bumper had penetrated the workbench cabinets by over a foot. I looked up to see the shocked look on my wife’s face who stands just inches from the right front fender. The abrupt forward movement was so forceful and quick tossed the right Parking Mat backward four feet. I then backed up about 6 feet to exit the car but I was not in location where I was able to open my door due to my large tool chests against the wall. I then pulled forward to where I would normally park if using the mat, released pressure on the accelerator, pressed the Park button, and again my Tesla bolted forward 3 feet forward into the workbench. Twice in 5 minutes, the instant I pressed the Park button which automatically engages the brake, my Tesla had lurched 3 feet forward. Shocked again backed up about 10 feet and squeezed myself out of the car to inspect the damage. Hitting the workbench lightly damaged my Tesla front bumper because I had removed my License Plate Bracket. The incident did extensive damage to my workbench cabinets. We took photos of the damage to the car and workbench. We then wiped down and covered the car like we always do. The next morning I tried to duplicate the incident a half dozen times to see if I had a defective Parking sensor but I knew that the high heat from the ride was an integral factor in causing this event. I contacted Sarasota Tesla Service, reported the incident and sent t them a three page letter of explanation along with photos of the damage to the car and workbench. I have good carpentry skills but it still took me a week to repair the damage in the particle board laminate workbench cabinets and upper drawer assembly. Two weeks later we went to Tesla Sarasota and I had them inspect the damage to the car and inspect numerous other flaws I had reported after delivery. Sarasota Tesla forwarded my letter and photos to Tesla engineers who downloaded the EDR data from my car. I knew this would be a dangerous ongoing problem and would happen again without repair by Tesla. I told the Sarasota Tesla mechanic that this would happen again. He said Tesla engineers will contact me in few weeks. I had no idea how to prevent it from happening again and neither did the Tesla mechanic I spoke to. I have received a thank you call from Tesla for ordering a 2021 Plaid but no calls about my 3 unintended acceleration incidents.
We then used our Tesla 4 more times since the August 18 incident without any problem parking it in the garage. For these rides I left my seatbelt connected until after I pressed the Park button on the Parking Mat. I felt that disconnecting my seatbelt which activates Easy Entry/Exit is a contributing factor in causing this problem. October 10 at about 4:20 pm with the outside temp at 90 degrees we had a similar third unintended acceleration incident when parking our Tesla in the garage. On this day I had disconnected my seatbelt in the driveway. My wife asked me if it would happen again and I said it wouldn’t because I didn’t believe the outside temp was lower and the car was hot enough. I was wrong. Again I put my data logger and radar detector away. I had just recently sold my GTR because it was no longer as much fun to drive. I put its Parking Mat under the left front wheel of the Tesla. My wife helped me positioning both tires against the Parking Mats 3 inch Risers and this time I applied the brake before pushing the Park Button. Even with my foot on the brake, the instant I pushed the Park Button the car forcefully vaulted forward up and over the both Parking Mat Risers. The forward lurch was so violent it lifted the entire nose of the car up and over the both mat Risers. I applied maximum pressure to the brake the instant the car moved foot but it had no effect and the car bolted forward but this time stopped just one inch from my workbench. I couldn’t believe that it was able to climb over the two 3 inch Parking Mat Risers with my foot on the brake. I believe having to go over the two parking mat Risers absorbed some of the forward energy and had prevented the bumper from penetrating the workbench again by 3 feet. I was pretty sure but still praying I didn’t hit the workbench and was relieved when my wife told me I did not hit it. . It was apparent to me at this point that the car was hesitating going into Park, it remained in Drive for hundredths of a second with the brakes applied, and somehow there was an extreme momentary impulse to the accelerator that made the car overpower the brakes and move forward before actually going into Park. I then just sat in the car with my bumper just one inch from my workbench and waited for the cooling fans to cool the motors. I had my wife get my cell phone to take photos of the car while I sat in the car. I then backed up 10 feet and exited the car. The photos showed the left mat had been tossed back 5 feet and left long black marks on my garage floor. The right side Parking Mat had been wedged under the right front wheel. We finished with the photos, repositioned the mats, parked car, and wiped it down and covered it. I called Sarasota Tesla Service the next day and informed them of our third unintended acceleration incident. I sent them anther long letter and more photos. Again Tesla engineers have since download the data from the EDR and have not responded. The Tesla Support site states that Tesla is obligated to provide customers with a readout of any downloaded problems.
I know Tesla will never admit there is any problem with my car or its sensors. I don’t care about the cost of repair to my car or workbench and would pay Tesla to repair my car. I now better understand what the Tesla model S and possibly model 3 owners feel like that have filed 127 complaints about their Tesla having unintended acceleration events, some after the car was parked and they were walking away.
The Tesla computer does not generate a fault code when a problem like this occurs like all other cars with standard ECU’s. I have not yet heard from Tesla engineers about the first two incidents or now a third and will be surprised if and when they do. I know as we all do that Tesla will never admit that any unintended acceleration is possible in any Tesla and will never pay for any damage to a Tesla or property. I have had TPS accelerator sensor and PCM module problems in brand new cars in the past. In the standard ECU unless a fault code is generated by a defective sensor and makes the Engine Light stay on the mechanics have no way of finding the problem. I had a brand new 2008 Trailblazer SS with 1000 miles on it that quit 3 times from 5 to 15 minutes over a period of one year. It wasn’t until the last event that threw fault code and turned on the Engine Light were the GM mechanics able to repair the car. After a week at the dealership both TPS sensors had to be replaced. The PCM module causing a similar problem is story for another time.
I know that Tesla will never give me or the NHTSA the actual EDR downloaded data from my car or from any Tesla car. Rather the Tesla engineers will give just their interpretation of what the data says. Tesla will never admit that they have any unintended acceleration problems in any Tesla and certainly not recall any cars or pay for any repair to the car or personal property.
The NHTSA as of January 2020 states there have been 127 claims,110 crashes, and 52 injuries caused by unintended acceleration in Tesla vehicles. NHTSA wants Tesla to recall a massive number of cars and it will not. My own in-depth research into this type of unintended acceleration event in Tesla’s when parking is not new and has been clearly explained by Robert Belt, Electrical Engineer in a 2018 article. He was able to obtain thenEDR downloaded data from a Tesla model S that had a similar unintended acceleration event when parking he car. For those of you with a Tesla model S or model 3 I suggest you read Robert Belt’s report on these sites, (https://www.autosafety.org/wp-conte...udden-Acceleration-Log-Data-What-It-Shows.pdf) . (Tesla Owners Accuse Their Cars of Unintended Acceleration. Is It True? | Digital Trends) His articles clearly describe how the Tesla Transmission Sensor delays when overheated by the overheated drive motors from prolonged periods of fast and then slow driving. Tesla engineers are obviously aware of this problem. According to Belt this unintended acceleration is caused by an overheated Transmission Sensor which causes a delay in the transmission going into Park. The Tesla Transmission Sensor shares a common ground with the two (TPS) Throttle Position Sensors for the Accelerator. Due to the extreme increased transmission temperature caused by spirited and then prolonged slow driving increases the transmission heat and Transmission Sensor temperature it hesitates to put the transmission in Park by hundredths of a second. While the Transmission Sensor in trying to send Park impulses it sends as many as 4 voltage spikes to the TPS Accelerator sensors in one second. The downloaded data from the EDR from drivers who have this unintended acceleration problem indicates the driver hit the accelerator 4 times in one second which is impossible Tesla should certainly be able to fix this problem even without a major recall. Tesla claims that the software in the new Tesla S is 4 times more powerful than the software in the Tesla model S that was using autopilot when it ran into the side a white trailer truck jackknifed across RT 75 in FL in 2016. Authorities believe the driver was watching a DVD. No computer or ECU is infallible no one should ever trust one’s life to one.
The Tesla S Performance with its 825hp/967 ft lb tq using Ludicrous Plus mode and LC makes for a very fast stock car. Its 2.3 seconds 0 to 60 time, 6.5 second 1/8 mile time, and 10.4 in the quarter mile are phenomenal for any car let alone a 4 door sedan. The Tesla SP is the fastest new stock car I have owned. The build quality in terms of body gaps, panel alignment, paint flaws, cracked mirror housing, and surface flaws are disappointing but the performance makes up for these flaws. Tesla has amazing technology but any auto ECU’s or computer can only correctly process the information from the numerous sensors if given correct and timely input.
I doubt many Tesla model S owners drive their cars I do. I would be interested in hearing from any model S owners who have had any similar sensor hesitation problems or any unintended acceleration events. In spite of my ongoing issues with my Tesla S Performance I will still buy a 2021 Tesla S Plaid if it is the 9 second car ¼ mile car as advertised. I am hoping that the Plaid three motor configuration will eliminate the sensors overheat issues and prevent similar problems. I will enjoy my Tesla until I get my Plaid and make some changes in my garage parking procedure. The 2020 Tesla S Performance with the Raven updated battery is still a fun car to drive. Thanks.
