NHTSA closes Tesla phantom braking investigation after software fixes reduce complaints
NHTSA closed its four-year investigation into phantom braking on 695,000 Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, finding the issue posed low safety risk after software updates significantly reduced complaints from 300 initial reports to just three in 2026.
What happened
NHTSA launched an investigation in 2022 into 695,000 Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles after receiving about 300 complaints of unexpected braking while using driver-assistance features, a phenomenon referred to as 'phantom braking.'
Tesla released software updates in early 2022 to address the issue. Reported incidents declined to 45 in 2024, 19 in 2025, and three in 2026.
Reported impact
NHTSA found that reported braking events generally did not cause vehicles to leave their lanes or create significant risk of rear-end collisions.
Index analysis
The regulator concluded the issue posed a low demonstrated safety risk and that the sharp decline in complaints following software updates warranted closure of the investigation.
Governance controls
Tesla's software updates appear to have effectively addressed the unexpected braking issue, as evidenced by the sharp reduction in complaint reports over the four-year investigation period.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.