2015 Tesla Model S problems
Owners have filed 1,057 complaints about the 2015 Tesla Model S with NHTSA. Electrical system accounts for 25.3% of them — the clear leader, ahead of suspension at 14.2%. A further 17.9% were filed without a specific system named.
Complaints1,057
Crashes114
Fires16
Injuries41
Deaths6
What owners report breaking
Electrical system 25.3% · 267
Unknown or other 17.9% · 189
Suspension 14.2% · 150
Steering 4.8% · 51
Exterior lighting 4.4% · 46
Forward collision avoidance 4.3% · 45
Vehicle speed control 3.8% · 40
Fuel/propulsion system 3.0% · 32
Severity
Of those complaints, 114 describe a crash, 16 describe a fire, 41 report an injury and 6 report a death.
Reading the numbers
Across the 10 model years of the Tesla Model S in this data, 2015 draws the most complaints of any of them.
Filings have fallen off, 88 in the last three years against 280 in the three before. The issues here may already have been addressed.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 51,000 miles.
In owners' own words
Car was sitting in my garage for a few days and when I got back in the mcu is totally black and known to be an issue with the emmc chip used reported by many other Model S owners. As this controls majority of the functions, I can not control any of the car's instruments except for driving. Blinkers do not work, no ac, rear view camera doesn't work, battery range no longer visible so its quite unsafe to drive. Electrical system · reported at 44,000 miles
The main large control panel has become unresponsive while the car is in motion at least 4 times in the last 2-3 weeks. All 4 times the car was in motion, 3 times on a highway. The main screen turned off and restarted 3 times and 1 time the car had to be pulled to the side and restarted but it took a while to do that. The car was drivable but other features were struck, like seat warmers and air conditioning. Electrical system
The screen does not turn on. Mcu has failed. Will not be able to use rear view camera, defrost function(esp when raining, this is a big safety concern with not having visibility), can not turn off ac(runs while car is off), rear back up camera does not work. Can not use the Tesla phone app to use the functions, can not set charging. Range. The nhtsa has opened a investigation in june 2020 and is on going. Electrical system · reported at 90,200 miles
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…