Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2013 Tesla Model S owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
The contact owns a 2013 Tesla Model S. The contact stated that while driving 30 MPH and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to respond as needed. The contact stated that the message "Take to Service" was displayed. The local dealer was contacted, and the vehicle was towed to the dealer by Tesla Insurance to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the drive unit was rusted and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure via email and a letter. The approximate failure mileage was 150,000.
While driving on the freeway at 70 MPH with 39 miles of range left, the vehicle abruptly slowed down to 20 MPH...cars behind us almost hit us due to the car slowing down despite me accelerating. We pulled to the right shoulder, rest the car and then was only able to go up to 20MPH...range still said 39 miles. Shortly after the car stopped, there was a warning displayed, and the car turned off and could no longer turn back on. I believe the battery failed. The car was towed to Tesla Irvine Barranca Service center and diagnostics confirmed the battery needed replacement. I traded in the car for a new vehicle. Safety of the driver, passengers, and the around us on the freeway were all at risk and we were lucky to avoid any issues. All Tesla told me was the battery died There was a warning that appeared when the car slowed down to 20mph...stating the car was no longer able to be driven
Brake pedal switch is malfunctioning causing the brake lights to turn on by itself when driving 60mph+ when I am pressing only the gas pedal and then it's causing the engine to shutoff or power reduced due to "both pedals pressed" alert in the system. This can cause an accident 1st for sending the wrong brake light signal for the drivers behind me and 2nd to shut off engine when driving at high speeds. If this happens when driving uphill can cause the car to slow abruptly and even start going backwards due to engine shut off. Also I have concern that I had to reverse press (pull back) the brake pedal with my left foot in the middle of the highway to get rid of the alert while I was pressing the gas pedal with my right foot and then to regain gas power to continue to speed. Again, this is dangerous action that can cause an accident.
i was driving over 100mph, let off the accelerator and the car kept going that fast. Then all of warning lights came on, traction turned off, anti skid turned off. etc etc. I immediately applied brakes to NO affect. I called the Tesla Road Side Assistance. Lady was on the phone looking at my warnings. She could see the same warnings i was seeing. Applying brakes as hard as possible got the car to eventually slow down. It acted like the Cruise Control was stuck on 100mph. BUT, i never turned it on. EVER. This happened around first of May. Well two weeks later it happened again. This time Help Desk referred it to Jacksonville Service Center. The mechanic said he referred it to the "engineering" team at Tesla on 6/10/21. Have not heard back, I have been there several times, NO help at all. Refuse to discuss it.
Tesla instrument cluster screens are leaking fluid and eventually failing. The instrument cluster is the only place I can see my speed, thus my car is now unsafe as I can not tell what speed I am driving at.
Screen behind steering wheel that displays Speedometer goes black from time to time. Am told by a Tesla tech that this issue is related to outdated MCU1 hardware and that a 1500 upgrade to MCU2 hardware will resolve the issue. The current software that runs on 9 year old hardware (same chips are used from 2012-early 2018) is too bloated and causes usability issues that create unsafe driving conditions. It is imperative that speed, climate control and other functions that MCU handles have 100% uptime, especially when the vehicle is in motion. This is only possible by a hardware upgrade that can run Tesla's latest software (which is automatically pushed several times per year). Right now, Tesla will sell customers an upgraded MCU for $1500-2000, depending on vehicle. This MCU can handle the latest software that inevitably finds its way to every Tesla vehicle through automatic updates. …
On November 1, 2019, I was slowly braking and start turning right into my driveway on the 2013 Tesla Model s. I felt a surge of the vehicle and 1 second later, the vehicle landed on top of the staircase of my house entrance and driveway. I did not press on the accelerator at all when I slowly turning into the driveway.the vehicle sped on its own for only a split second. I called Tesla roadside assistance. The representative contacted me and direct me to a repair shop and he told me that he would have the vehicle's information to be sent to the engineers to find out what happened. I had my vehicle towed but to repair shop but Tesla support team has been ignoring all my calls and email. My vehicle was considered to be total loss by my insurance company.
Tl* the contact owns a 2013 Tesla Model s. The contact stated that while attempting to park at approximately 2 MPH, the vehicle spontaneously accelerated with the foot on the brake pedal. The contact struck the vehicle in front. The front passenger side of the vehicle was damaged. The police was not present. No injuries were reported. The vehicle was towed to the (Tesla, 6692 auto center dr, buena park, ca 90621), where it was determined that it was vehicle operator error. The contact was informed that it May take approximately a week to get the results from the event data recorder. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 30,000.
I previously filed a complaint to NHTSA on 9/24/2013 with NHTSA id no. 10545230. I noticed similar issue was reported by 3 or 4 other Tesla owners: (1) 9/26/2013 NHTSA id no. 10545488, (2) 9/29/2014 NHTSA no. 10639849, (3) 9/29/2014 NHTSA no. 10639935, and (4) 6/8/2015 NHTSA id no. 10723925. There was another similar case in camarillo ca as reported by ventura county star on 3/29/2013 but apparently was not reported to NHTSA. There were so many similar incidences happened with only a limited number of 2013 and 2014 Tesla Model s on the road, something is not right with the Model s. Tesla cannot keep blaming the drivers being at fault.
The driver of our car was parking our Tesla Model s p85+ and slowly moving into the parking spot nearing the final distance in to the spot, when the car suddenly lurched forward, hitting and knocking down a light pole. The driver did not cause this acceleration to occur and was quite surprised to have this happen. There were no injuries involved in the incident, but a light pole located 1.5 feet way from end of the parking spot was knocked down and we have minimal damage to the front of the vehicle.
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 S years
Frequently asked questions
How common are acceleration problems on the 2013 Tesla Model S?
NHTSA has 25 complaints about the speed control & acceleration of the 2013 Tesla Model S, 5% of the model year's 461 complaints.
Is there a recall for 2013 Tesla Model S acceleration problems?
No. NHTSA lists no speed control & acceleration recall for the 2013 Tesla Model S, though it has 11 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 2013 Tesla Model S acceleration problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 40,000 miles, and 35% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 13 crashes, 0 fires and 3 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.