Vehicle product issues

Tesla earned the worst score among the 32 major vehicle brands in J.D. Power's 2020 Initial Quality Study due to various problems reported by owners.

Recalls

As of March 2018update, Tesla had issued two product recalls for the Roadster, six for the Model S and two for the Model X.

On April 20, 2017, Tesla issued a worldwide recall of 53,000 (~70%) of the 76,000 vehicles it sold in 2016 due to faulty parking brakes which could become stuck and "prevent the vehicles from moving".

On March 29, 2018, Tesla issued a worldwide recall of 123,000 Model S cars built before April 2016 due to corrosion-susceptible power steering bolts, which could fail and require the driver to use "increased force" to control the vehicle.

Crashes and fires

On October 1, 2013, a Model S caught fire after the vehicle hit metal debris on a highway in Kent, Washington. Tesla confirmed the fire began in the battery pack and was caused by the "direct impact of a large metallic object to one of the 16 modules within the Model S battery pack." On November 6, 2013, a Tesla Model S on Interstate 24 near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, caught fire after it struck a tow hitch on the roadway, causing damage beneath the vehicle. Tesla said that it would conduct its own investigation, and as a result of these incidents, announced its decision to extend its current vehicle warranty to cover fire damage.

On January 4, 2014, a Tesla Model S in Norway caught fire while charging at one of Tesla's supercharger stations and was completely destroyed. No one was injured.

On March 28, 2014, NHTSA announced that it had closed the investigation into whether the Model S was prone to catch fire, after the automaker said it would provide more protection to its battery packs. All Model S cars manufactured after March 6 have had the 0.25-inch (6.4 mm) aluminum shield over the battery pack replaced with a new three-layer shield.

A Model S driver died in a collision with a tractor-trailer on May 7, 2016, in Williston, Florida, while the vehicle was in autopilot mode. The driver is believed to be the first person to have died in a Tesla vehicle in autopilot mode. The NHTSA investigated the accident and concluded: "A safety-related defect trend has not been identified at this time and further examination of this issue does not appear to be warranted."

On May 8, 2018, two 18-year-olds, driver Barrett Riley and passenger Edgar Monserratt Martinez, died in a fire in Fort Lauderdale, Florida that started after crashing a Tesla Model S into a wall at 116 mph. Speed is believed to have been a factor in the crash. Less than two months before the crash, it was reported that Riley's parents had a limiter installed to limit the speed to 85 mph, but it was removed at another Tesla service visit without the parents' knowledge. The removal of the limiter and alleged defective battery pack formed the basis of a lawsuit against Tesla by the estate of Edgar Monserratt Martinez. The lawsuit was filed on January 9, 2019.

In March 2018, an Apple engineer had been killed in a crash in a Tesla Model X. Investigators say that the driver of the vehicle had his car in ‘self-driving’ mode and was using his phone to play games when the vehicle collided with the barrier in the middle of the freeway. Through investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board found that the Tesla malfunctioned due to the system being confused by an exit on the freeway.

Model S & X suspension problems and recall

In June 2016, the NHTSA announced that it was reviewing reports of suspension problems in Tesla Model S sedans. The NHTSA also said they were aware that Tesla had entered into a "troublesome" non-disclosure agreement with one Model S owner regarding the suspension issue. Journalist and author Ed Niedermeyer called this type of agreement "unheard of in the auto industry", and noted that a policy of demanding non-disclosure agreements for "goodwill" repairs would limit the number of defects Tesla owners reported to the NHTSA. Cases of the "whompy wheel" phenomenon, which also included Model X and the occasional Model 3 cars, have been documented through 2020. In October 2020, Tesla initiated a recall of nearly 50,000 Model X and Y vehicles throughout China.

Delays

Tesla has been criticized for repeatedly over-promising and under-delivering. Delivery dates for new vehicles and new vehicle features slipped on the Roadster, Model S, Model X and Model 3. Advanced technologies like the prospect of a large network of solar-powered supercharger stations (first installation was in 2012; only a few were solar-powered as of mid 2019) also lagged projections.

In early October 2017, Musk had predicted that Model 3 production would be up to 5,000 units per week by December. A month later, he revised that target to "sometime in March" 2018 due in part to difficulties with robots on the assembly line, but primarily due to problems with the battery module. An analyst with Cowan and Company, a public relations firm, made this comment: "Elon Musk needs to stop over promising and under delivering".

On September 24, 2018, Musk revealed on Twitter that Tesla will be building its own car carriers as the company is facing challenges due to logistics. Tesla is running into an acute shortage of car carrier trailers leading to a delay in the delivery. In mid-November, with end-of-year buyer tax credits expiring in a little more than six weeks, Musk announced that the company was aggressively ramping up delivery capabilities with trucking contracts and even outright purchase of some trucking firms to deliver as many cars as possible before the deadline.

Hacking

In August 2015, two researchers said they were able to take control of a Tesla Model S by hacking into the car's entertainment system. The hack required the researchers to physically access the car. Tesla issued a security update for the Model S the day after the exploit was announced.

In September 2016, researchers at Tencent's Keen Security Lab demonstrated a remote attack on a Tesla Model S and controlled the vehicle in both Parking and Driving Mode without physical access. They were able to compromise the automotive networking bus (CAN bus) when the vehicle's web browser was used while the vehicle was connected to a malicious Wi-Fi hotspot. This was the first case of a remote control exploit demonstrated on a Tesla. The vulnerability was disclosed to Tesla under their bug bounty program and patched within 10 days, before the exploit was made public. Tencent also hacked the doors of a Model X in 2017.

In January 2018, security researchers informed Tesla that an Amazon Web Services account of theirs could be accessed directly from the Internet and that the account had been exploited for cryptocurrency mining. Tesla responded by securing the compromised system, rewarding the security researchers financially via their bug bounty program, and stating that the compromise did not violate customer privacy, nor vehicle safety or security.

In 2019, Tesla awarded a car and $375,000 to ethical hackers during a Pwn2Own Model 3 Hacking Event.

Servicing

The first units for each new Tesla model revealed design and manufacturing flaws, including the Model S and the Model X. As the Tesla vehicle fleet grew, the number of service centers resulted in waiting periods for some owners. Auto experts view the service delays as insignificant, as owners accept the challenges of servicing a new type of car. Tesla does not provide service manuals except in jurisdictions that required them to do so.