Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (accelerator pedal, throttle, sudden acceleration, cruise control).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2022 Tesla Model 3 owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
The contact owned a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving at approximately 65 MPH with the "auto-pilot" engaged, the vehicle approached another vehicle in traffic from behind and had gotten too close. The contact stated that she depressed the brake pedal to slow down when the vehicle inadvertently accelerated at high speed. The contact steered to the left to avoid rear-end crash with the vehicle directly in front. Additionally, the contact stated that the steering wheel had become hard to turn and the vehicle crashed into the highway divider. The vehicle's front end had crashed into the divider wall and the vehicle ricocheted across four lanes of traffic and ran off the roadway onto the right shoulder and was stopped by having crashed with small trees and bushes. The contact stated she did not notice any warning lights. …
The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated while driving at 40-60 MPH and making a turn using the self-driving mode, the brake pedal was depressed. However, the vehicle accelerated inadvertently at a higher speed. The contact depressed the brake pedal several times but the vehicle failed to respond. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle crashed into the front passenger's side door of another occupied vehicle. The air bags deployed. The contact briefly lost consciousness. The contact sustained soreness on the nose, the throat, the upper back shoulders, and increasingly on the back. Additionally, the contact sustained emotional trauma. The contact stated that she was in the process of seeking medical assistance. The two passengers occupying the front driver's seat and the front passenger's seat of the other vehicle sought medical assistance. …
The contact stated that while renting a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60 mph, the steering wheel suddenly turned left while accelerating. The contact attempted to gain control however the steering wheel seized. The vehicle ended up crashing in the middle of the highway on the left side of the vehicle and front-end mostly. The air bags deployed. The vehicle was towed however it had not been determined if the vehicle was totaled as of yet. The display of the front left safety restraint system fault message was displayed on the main control display. The contact received injuries to their arms, knees, neck, shoulder, and back. Medical attention was needed. A police report was filed. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 50,000.
The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at 5 MPH to park at her residence, the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration and inadvertently veered to the right. The vehicle then crashed into a transformer box in a residential yard and came to a complete stop. The contact had a broken backbone and received medical attention. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a body shop where it remained unrepaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that it was a human error, mistaking the accelerator pedal for the brake pedal and that they would review the computer log. The failure mileage was 1,062. The VIN was unavailable.
The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while at a stop light with the brake pedal depressed, the vehicle accelerated and crashed into a Dodge Ram. There were no warning lights illuminated. There was no reported injuries, fire or air bag deployment. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow lot and then to a collision center. The local dealer was contacted but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The approximate failure mileage was 135
U.S. registered Tesla operating in [redacted]. Full Self-Driving engaged. Dark, nighttime conditions. Vehicle was traveling toward low traffic zones near the edge of [redacted] when the system made a severe mistake. The car went off the main road. Driver was forced to take control off-road after the system lost control. Damage to the rims occurred. At the time of this incident, manual speed control was still available. The driver could cap the speed. That capability has since been removed by a software update. The current version is more dangerous. If the same incident happened today, the driver would have no way to limit speed or prevent the system from repeating the error. The defect is the progressive removal of driver control from the Full Self-Driving system. Earlier versions allowed manual speed caps. Current software does not. This vehicle is U.S. registered and runs U.S. …
On Wednesday, 8/24/2022 around 1:30pm, when I tried to park my Tesla Model 3 on a residential street, suddenly and without any warning the steering wheel lost control, accelerated, made a right and then a left turn, hit an electric box and landed on the neighbor's driveway. No one else was injured, only myself with severe back pain and I could not move. Several neighbors came out of their house and checked on me and called the Homeowners Association Office and called 911, the homeowners experienced power outage. An ambulance came & took me to the Irvine Hoag Hospital Emergency Center. The medical staff took X-Ray for me and gave me Tylenol pills and ice pack on my back. I was diagnosed with compression fracture of T12 vertebra, per doctor's exam: It will take two-to-six-month to heal my back. A police report #[redacted] was filed on 8/31/2022. …
I was attempting to park my car at parking spaces inside a garage. The car was about half way into the spot, and I released the accelerator to slow down. Suddenly, while my foot was off the gas, the car accelerated on its own, lurching forward and hitting a barrier, which protected against falling off the side of the garage into the floor below. The car sustained minor damage to the hood, but it could have been far worse; if the car ran through the barrier, it would have fallen one story down to the floor below. I am now way too concerned to drive the car, and have not driven it since. I took the car to a Tesla service stations and they said that they cannot reproduce the same phenomena, and that the car passed their diagnostic check. Currently, this is the only person to inspect the car. …
My family and I were in my Tesla Model 3 2022 and heading from Charlotte to Orlando on [redacted]. The car was in Full Self-Drive (FSD) mode while commuting through Daytona Beach. The rain was heavy in the area. While driving in Daytona Beach, FSD caused the car to change lanes and go to a lane that had standing rain puddles on [redacted]. After FSD caused the lane change, the car immediately hydroplaned out of control. The car's short clearance from it's bottom and the ground which traps water that exacerbates hydroplaning, along with its generative breaking feature made matters worse and uncontrollable. The car spun into the median three times and settled in the middle of danger interstate. The car is totalled. My family and I require medical attention and counseling due to the trauma.
I was at a stop light. The car was stopped. The car suddenly lurched forward. I put my foot on the break but then it lurched forward again, and rear-ended the car in front of me. It appears that the car accelerated by itself. This caused an accident. The accident happened tonight. I have filed a police report and received a traffic citation for following to close. I have saved the dash cam footage of the incident to a computer and have requested that Tesla send me the EDR data. Looking at the car's logs in service mode I can see that the car was throwing several errors from before the accident with codes of "VCFRONT_a059_inputResistanceHigh," and "DIF_a018_hwLVSupplyUV" relating to the front vehicle controller and drive interface. I am attaching this plus photos of the damage.
NHTSA investigations
Sudden Unintended Acceleration
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) received a petition requesting that ODI reevaluate its decision to deny DP20-001 on the basis that intermittent high electrical current demands on the vehicles' 12VDC systems may have caused some or all of the incidents examined by ODI in DP20-001. The petitioner bases this information on a review of open-source research and the DP20-001 denial.
Acceleration complaints in other Model 3 years
Frequently asked questions
How common are acceleration problems on the 2022 Tesla Model 3?
NHTSA has 171 complaints about the speed control & acceleration of the 2022 Tesla Model 3, 22% of the model year's 770 complaints. The component named most often is cruise control (4 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2022 Tesla Model 3 acceleration problems?
No. NHTSA lists no speed control & acceleration recall for the 2022 Tesla Model 3, though it has 18 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2022 Tesla Model 3 acceleration problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 3,000 miles, and 89% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 14 crashes, 0 fires and 12 injuries to speed control & acceleration problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.