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 2023 Tesla Model 3 owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while attempting to park the vehicle, the vehicle suddenly accelerated independently. The contact lost control of the vehicle, coming to a complete stop after crashing into two poles and veering into a brick wall, where the vehicle briefly continued to accelerate. The air bags did not deploy. A Police report was filed. There were no injuries were reported. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Action Number: DP23002 (Speed Control). The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 100,000.
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while parking, the vehicle suddenly accelerated, jumped the curb, and crashed into a building. There were no warning lights illuminated. The driver noticed smoke coming from the vehicle. The passenger's front seat occupant sustained injuries to her hand. The passenger rear seat occupant sustained injuries to her neck, and medical attention was provided. The air bags deployed. There were no reported fires. A police report was filed. A person in the building sustained unknown injuries, The vehicle was towed to a tow lot. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 3,000. The vehicle was deemed a total loss by the insurance company.
The contact owned a 2023 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed on the third floor of a parking garage, the vehicle suddenly accelerated to full speed unintendedly, and the steering wheel and the brake pedal were inoperable, causing the contact to lose control of the vehicle. The vehicle crashed into a wall and crashed into the vehicle in front, and the vehicle stopped. No further information was available. No warning lights were illuminated. The front driver's side air bag deployed. The vehicle was towed to a tow lot and was deemed a total loss by the insurance company. A police report was filed. There was no injury sustained. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 66,000.
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while their spouse was parking the vehicle and pressing the parking button, the vehicle suddenly accelerated. The vehicle jumped the curb, crashing into two different vehicles to eventually be stopped after crashing into a tree. The air bags did not deploy. There was damage to the other vehicles and to the tree. The driver received injuries to their neck and back. Medical attention was not needed. A police report was filed. The vehicle had been towed. The vehicle was taken to a certified mechanic who had not diagnosed or repaired the vehicle as of yet. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 500.
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model 3. The contact stated that while driving at unknown speeds and making a turn, the vehicle suddenly accelerated unintendedly. Then the vehicle resumed driving normally. While her husband was driving at unknown speeds and approaching a stop, he crashed into an unknown Tesla. There were no reported injuries. A police report was not filed. There was no fire or air bag deployment. The vehicle was taken to a collision center. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact called the local dealer, where an appointment was scheduled. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 3,048.
On 09/11/2023 at approx. 6AM CST, my wife went to a nearby Walmart store for groceries. As she was parking the car in the parking space, the car started to accelerate by itself and went around the parking lot in random directions. She couldn't control the steering and brake despite the continuous tries. It was such a traumatic experience, and the car went on to hit couple of other parked cars and the cart return stations in the parking lot. After few seconds of random self-drive in multiple directions of parking lot, it finally came to a halt as it got on a curb that flattened the tires. By God's grace, the car stopped right before entering the main busy road due to flat tires and also no pedestrians at that time. Otherwise, the situation could have been worse as the car was going in an uncontrollable manner. …
On 5/28/24, while pulling up the driveway, the car suddenly accelerated and it's so fast that we couldn't react. The car crashed into the garage, knocked down one wall along with the main electrical panel. It stopped because it got stuck on 10 in foundation's of garage structure. The collision mitigation feature did not get triggered and didn't give any alert or helped to stop the car from crashing into the garage. Airbags on both driver and passenger sides did not deploy. Prior to this accident, the car already had issue with the driver's profiles and the seat just moved back and stuck at the easy entry mode. The car became inoperable because the driver's seat can't be moved forward to a position where I could reach the gas and brake pedal. I contacted Tesla service and was told to delete the driver's profile and create new one , power off the screen, power cycled the car. …
-I was driving down into an indoor basement level garage very slowly as there is a steep incline. It descends from street level to basement level within a distance of approximately 30 to 35 ft. At the end of the incline is a sharp curve to the right, followed by a sharp left turn to proceed straight. -While on the incline, the car was slowing to a stop. I gently tapped the accelerator to keep it moving. -The car suddenly lunged forward, rapidly accelerating. The acceleration was not consistent with the amount of accelerator input I applied. -I quickly steered right to avoid hitting the wall, then immediately steered left to avoid hitting parked cars and garage columns. -I braked as hard as possible, pumping it. The brake pedal was stiff. The car kept moving forward despite my efforts and did not stop until I crashed into a parked car at the end of the garage. …
It happened in a parking lot around 8:20 pm on 09.13.23. When I slowly moved to parking space car suddenly accelerated, jumped over raised pavement for pedestrian walking, hit parked car on the other side of walking path, continue going with uncontrollable high speed across the parking, then car slowed down and I finally parked. Woman who witnessed accident and called the police told the police officer that she saw brake lights of my car were on. Two women from the car I hit showed me the markings from my tires on pavement. My husband who arrived to the place of accident by this time took pictures of these marks and next morning we return back to take another pictures and video. My car's odometer reading was less than 100 miles. We are having problem of uploading our pictures. We can supply to you our pictures and video if you need them.
While exiting a hospital parking deck, after driving for approximately 15 to 20 seconds, the car began to accelerate to an uncontrollable rate of speed on its own. The Tesla crashed into a parked car which was then pushed into two other parked cars. The Tesla and at least the first car hit are totaled. There was no sign of the emergency braking system engaging. Injuries from the airbag deploying were sustained. The driver has a fear to drive again as the car seemed to have a mind of it's own. The Tesla is being held at the insurance company's tow yard. There has been no feedback from the dealer. No inspections have been conducted on the car. There were no indications there was a problem with the vehicle previous to the crash. It is unknown if any warning alert systems activated during the incident.
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 2023 Tesla Model 3?
NHTSA has 69 complaints about the speed control & acceleration of the 2023 Tesla Model 3, 16% of the model year's 428 complaints. The component named most often is accelerator pedal (1 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2023 Tesla Model 3 acceleration problems?
No. NHTSA lists no speed control & acceleration recall for the 2023 Tesla Model 3, though it has 12 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 2023 Tesla Model 3 acceleration problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 48,000 miles, and 50% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 21 crashes, 0 fires and 16 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.