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Fuel system

Tesla Model S Fuel System problems by year

50 complaints filed with NHTSA about the Tesla Model S's fuel system. Fuel pumps, leaks, injectors, fuel smells, gauges and stalling caused by fuel delivery.

Fuel System complaints by model year

YearFuel System complaintsCrashesInjuriesRecalls
201424210
201324380
20122000

Latest Model S fuel system complaints

2013 Tesla Model STransmission & drivetrainElectrical systemFuel system

While driving my 2013 Tesla Model S at normal road speed, the vehicle suddenly lost all propulsion without any warning. I had to coast and maneuver across traffic to avoid being hit before the car came to a stop. After shifting into Park, the vehicle displayed DI_w072 and DI_f072 gate-drive faults, which indicate inverter/drive-unit failure and match a pattern reported by other early-model-year Tesla owners. This sudden loss of motive power created a serious safety hazard, including risk of rear-end collision and...

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exposure to oncoming traffic while disabled. • No alerts appeared before the failure • Fault codes appeared only after the vehicle stopped • Vehicle required towing • Incident occurred under normal driving conditions • Tesla has denied responsibility or involvement It was serviced by Tesla a couple days before. During servicing they stated on one side the drive axle was not completely installed upon arrival. They stated they "popped it in for free but the drive unit will likely need replacement soon." Prior to this visit i have had no issues or alerts with these parts or systems, I declined any work to these areas. The next day after receiving my vehicle back, I discovered the coolant reservoir was completely empty. No warning was provided that the coolant system had been left unfilled, and the lack of coolant may have contributed to thermal damage in the drive unit or inverter. They denied any work they did involve these parts and denied any responsibility. They denied my request to have the car towed to their service center and diagnose it unless i paid for it. They also estimated the repair to cost me 6k without any further investigation. I request that NHTSA evaluate whether this failure mode represents a broader defect affecting 2012-2015 Model S drive units/inverter electronics and whether further investigation or recall is warranted.

Filed Incident Power train · Electrical system · Fuel / propulsion systemNHTSA 11741781
2014 Tesla Model SElectrical systemFuel system

After a high-voltage junction box repair performed by Tesla, the vehicle shut down 15 miles after leaving the service center. Tesla replaced the high-voltage harness at no cost but provided no explanation. After the HV harness replacement, new proximity/sensor alerts began triggering that were not present before their HV work. Multiple reasonable diagnostic procedures were refused, including bench-testing the sensors. Tesla is pressuring me to take possession of the vehicle without providing written confirmation...

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that it is safe to operate following the HV system failure and subsequent replacement of HV components. I am concerned the vehicle may have unresolved high-voltage or wiring issues that could pose a safety hazard.

Filed Incident Electrical system · Unknown or other · Fuel / propulsion systemNHTSA 11701015
2014 Tesla Model SFuel system

The drive unit was leaking coolant into the electrical inverter space. The issue was verified by a mechanic who then repaired the drive unit to prevent additional coolant intrusion.

Filed Incident Fuel / propulsion systemNHTSA 11636513
2014 Tesla Model SElectrical systemFuel system

Overnight while plugged in and after the battery showed it was fully charged, the battery suddenly lost charge, and the car sent repeated alerts to immediately pull over and stop driving. A notice on the car showed mileage was reduced and to immediately schedule a service call. After returning home, I downloaded to the car a recent software update that cleared the error. However, after the software upgrade, Tesla messaged that they did removed tests and the high voltage battery must be replaced.

Filed Incident Electrical system · Fuel / propulsion systemNHTSA 11613809
2013 Tesla Model SElectrical systemEngine & coolingFuel system

Explained to Tesla service center immediately upon purchasing vehicle while it was still under warranty that the vehicle range was unacceptable using TESLA's warranty guideline for requirements for a battery replacement while under warranty. TELSA refused to changed the battery even though I took the vehicle to TESLA several times while the Battery was still under warranty. A month after the warranty expired the motor died, it had been showing signs wear but TESLA failed to property inform me of the issue and...

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charged me over $6000 for the repair due to my lack of knowledge on what the symptoms are for a failing motor. Shortly after the warning for "Charging - Maximum battery charge level reduced" has come on and TESLA is trying to charge me about $21,000 for a replacement battery.

Filed Incident Electrical system · Engine · Fuel / propulsion systemNHTSA 11511655
2013 Tesla Model SElectrical systemFuel system

The touchscreen failed and I need it replaced, but Tesla says it's not part of what the NTSB negotiated with Tesla to do regarding these screens. 2014 model S. It's not fair to me to have to replace what I believe is a defect. Also, I believe this car was salvaged in another state and then brought to CA and resold to me. There was a salvage record on Bumper and now it disappeared. There's also a code on my car that reads that acceleration may be reduced and Tesla wants to replace connectors but I keep...

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getting more and more parts added to the quote. They say this is a "preemptive" repair. They made a new firmware/software rollout which took away my Sirius XM capability and they say they know about it, but won't reinstall my software. I believe their software/firmware has taken away attributes on my car. Tesla won't give me the repair history to the car and I fear they are hiding all the recalls saying they've been done when in reality they haven't. I'm worried about driving the car.

Filed Incident Electrical system · Fuel / propulsion systemNHTSA 11486881
2012 Tesla Model SElectrical systemFuel system

Both the 12 volt system and High voltage battery system or a component communicating between the two failed. I received a warning message that my vehicle may not restart and within 30 seconds it completely shutdown while driving in the middle of the road. The vehicle was essentially dead weight at this point. None of its features worked, the ability to unlock it, the ability to use electronic doors and windows functions could not be performed. it could not even be jumped to start the computer enabling it to be...

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towed or put in neutral to even remove the vehicle from the roadway. The manufacturer has confirmed an inner fault within the High Voltage battery pack. I have since purchased and replaced this entire battery pack as it was said to be unserviceable.

Filed Incident Electrical system · Fuel / propulsion systemNHTSA 11468855
2013 Tesla Model SFuel systemCrash

I was backing out of my garage and the left rear end of my car hit a car parked behind me. My car immediately sped up in forward direction in an arc causing me to hit just inside garage on the left . I tried to brake and to put it into park and nothing was working. It finally went into neutral and quit hitting the garage. There was lots of smoke and I thought car was on fire. There was lots of burned rubber under my left rear tire causing the smoke. None under right side. There were workers at the house (car behind...

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me) and they said it was the car doing it. I wasn't sure what was happening. I called tesla that day and a total of 5 times and was told I would be contacted by special team in about 6 weeks and that they would be able to download what happened from computer. I have not heard anything from tesla. My car was checked out at the tesla shop in council bluffs after body work done and they said they were unable to check computer as to what happened and that would be done by tesla engineers. My insurance company has not been able to get any information either. They asked me to report unexplained acceleration on this site. It did $23,000 in damages to my car and $25,000 to my house and knocked it off foundation in affected corner. If both tires had been spinning I don't think I would be here as I would have gone straight through garage and flying as it is a one story drop to the back. I want to know my car is safe before driving again and have not been able to find out why incident happened.

Filed Incident Fuel / propulsion systemNHTSA 11396170
2013 Tesla Model STransmission & drivetrainElectrical systemFuel system

My 2013 tesla model s had the touchscreen fail. This resulted in me having to pay for a brand new screen. I understand there is an investigation into the touchscreen failures and I would like to be included in the investigative process and receive reimbursement

Filed Incident Power train · Electrical system · Fuel / propulsion systemNHTSA 11374943
2013 Tesla Model SElectrical systemFuel systemVisibility & wipers

I own a 2013 tesla model s that has lost the mcu and will no longer charge. In addition, the mcu causes the touch screen to open very slowly. I have complained and tesla would not replace the mcu and not compensate me for the inability to charge the car. The original complaint was that the touchscreen would not come on at all. I could not see any information whatsoever, during tesla's attempt to fix the screen, I lost the ability to charge the vehicle.

Filed Incident Electrical system · Fuel / propulsion system · Visibility / wiperNHTSA 11374941
2014 Tesla Model SFuel system

Tesla ota software update 2019.16.X capped battery capacity to 72.8 Kwh, previously 85 kwh, vehicle was stationary.

Filed Incident Fuel / propulsion systemNHTSA 11361320
2013 Tesla Model SElectrical systemFuel system

Same issue as other open complaints with emmc device failing causing black screen, no rear view camera, no ability to charge the car, turn signals inoperable, etc.. Based on the known software bug in this system it is reasonable to conclude that all models with this version of mcu/emmc software will eventually fail. See current nhtsa action number : pe20010

Filed Incident Electrical system · Fuel / propulsion systemNHTSA 11342798
2013 Tesla Model STransmission & drivetrainFuel system

While driving on a six lane highway, I received multiple alerts from the car saying that power was reduced, the vehicle was shutting down, service is required, pull over safely and vehicle may not restart. I pulled over into a parking lot to monitor the car, the alerts continued to come and go but the car remained on. I decided to drive the rest of the way home. I notified tesla service and received no response. The next day when I attempted to drive the car again, it would not start and there was a complete...

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battery failure requiring battery replacement. There was no indication to me as the owner prior to this event that the battery was going to fail, however, access to my vehicle logs (which I cannot obtain from tesla) may have given me some indication. I was told battery failure was due to faulty seals on the rapid mate which allowed water intrusion and overcurrent within the battery.

Filed Incident Power train · Fuel / propulsion systemNHTSA 11338856
2014 Tesla Model SFuel system

The battery range on the car was limited by 10% in order to prevent a fire from happening.

Filed Incident Fuel / propulsion systemNHTSA 11338434

Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) complaints and recalls, checked daily. Complaints are owners' own reports and are not verified. How we use the data

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