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 touchscreen failed and I need it replaced, but Tesla says it's not part of what the NTSB negotiated with Tesla to do regarding these screens. 2014 model S. It's not fair to me to have to replace what I believe is a defect. Also, I believe this car was salvaged in another state and then brought to CA and resold to me. There was a salvage record on Bumper and now it disappeared. There's also a code on my car that reads that acceleration may be reduced and Tesla wants to replace connectors but I keep getting more and more parts added to the quote. They say this is a "preemptive" repair. They made a new firmware/software rollout which took away my Sirius XM capability and they say they know about it, but won't reinstall my software. I believe their software/firmware has taken away attributes on my car. …
Explained to Tesla service center immediately upon purchasing vehicle while it was still under warranty that the vehicle range was unacceptable using TESLA's warranty guideline for requirements for a battery replacement while under warranty. TELSA refused to changed the battery even though I took the vehicle to TESLA several times while the Battery was still under warranty. A month after the warranty expired the motor died, it had been showing signs wear but TESLA failed to property inform me of the issue and charged me over $6000 for the repair due to my lack of knowledge on what the symptoms are for a failing motor. Shortly after the warning for "Charging - Maximum battery charge level reduced" has come on and TESLA is trying to charge me about $21,000 for a replacement battery.
I was backing out of my garage and the left rear end of my car hit a car parked behind me. My car immediately sped up in forward direction in an ARC causing me to hit just inside garage on the left . I tried to brake and to put it into park and nothing was working. It finally went into neutral and quit hitting the garage. There was lots of smoke and I thought car was on fire. There was lots of burned rubber under my left rear tire causing the smoke. None under right side. There were workers at the house (car behind me) and they said it was the car doing it. I wasn't sure what was happening. I called Tesla that day and a total of 5 times and was told I would be contacted by special team in about 6 weeks and that they would be able to download what happened from computer. I have not heard anything from Tesla. …
While driving my 2013 Tesla Model S at normal road speed, the vehicle suddenly lost all propulsion without any warning. I had to coast and maneuver across traffic to avoid being hit before the car came to a stop. After shifting into Park, the vehicle displayed DI_w072 and DI_f072 gate drive faults, which indicate inverter/drive unit failure and match a pattern reported by other early model year Tesla owners. This sudden loss of motive power created a serious safety hazard, including risk of rear end collision and exposure to oncoming traffic while disabled. No alerts appeared before the failure Fault codes appeared only after the vehicle stopped Vehicle required towing Incident occurred under normal driving conditions Tesla has denied responsibility or involvement It was serviced by Tesla a couple days before. …
It was a 2hr45min drive into work on an icy blizzardy morning, driving my 2013 Model s RWD p85 with 90,000mi. Have owned this car for 4 yrs. Made it to work safely and the last 6 feet in the parking garage, going about 3 MPH pulling at a right angle into a parking stall. Had brake pedal depressed, shifted my foot to tap on the accelerator to inch forward and next thing you know, car is accelerating full throttle into a cement wall. Crashed head on and airbag didn't even deploy. Sat for a moment to catch my breath and try to process what happened. Sent "bug report" on to Tesla central from the car. The dashboard had prnd lit up in red and the vehicle would not go into drive or reverse. Accelerator pedal was completely limp. Zero resistance. Thankfully, no other car was around me. Called Tesla service and they told us to reboot the car. …
Re: NHTSA action number: dp19005 - investigation subject : battery management software updates after most recent firmware update (exact date unknown -- sometime late this summer)-- supercharging speed appears to have been limited. It now takes 2-3x the amount of time to charge when traveling. I tested multiple superchargers for my trip which occurred on during the weekend of 9/2. I am fully aware of conditions that can slow the speed (stall sharing, high soc, low/high battery temp, etc). None of these conditions were present -- yet my charge speed was limited during all charging sessions and across multiple locations/dates/times during this trip. I've brought this concern up on 2 separate occasions: 1. 9/5/19 - was told "tested on supercharger and verified vehicle charging at expected rate, no further action required" 2. …
Re: NHTSA action number: dp19005 - investigation subject : battery management software updated the battery for the 2013 Model s 60kwh 2013 is not charging anywhere near the capacity. Charging the battery takes hours to get to near 65% of what use to be full charge and is now considered a 100% charge. This is under warranty and needs to be replaced asap. This has severe impact to daily commute and ability to utilize the car. My understanding is starting with a software update in May 2019, Tesla capped the max voltage the high voltage battery would charge to. They claim they did this "out of an abundance of caution" after several non-crash fires happened to these models. …
NHTSA action number: dp19005 - investigation subject : battery management software updates. Via software updates, Tesla, suddenly, inexplicably, reduced maximum voltage of the main battery. The action resulted in instant loss of distance mileage of the car of 12 percent, from 237 miles to 208 miles. Horsepower and general performance of the car was also reduced. Tesla has implied that this action was taken, for selected Tesla cars, out of an abundance of caution as a fire-safety update, but officially no safety recalls related to this unexplained action have been announced. No one associated with Tesla has offered any further detailed explanation for this sudden action, which, in addition to reducing performance and distance mileage of the car, has also reduced, overnight, its intrinsic asset value. …
While driving on a six lane highway, I received multiple alerts from the car saying that power was reduced, the vehicle was shutting down, service is required, pull over safely and vehicle May not restart. I pulled over into a parking lot to monitor the car, the alerts continued to come and go but the car remained on. I decided to drive the rest of the way home. I notified Tesla service and received no response. The next day when I attempted to drive the car again, it would not start and there was a complete battery failure requiring battery replacement. There was no indication to me as the owner prior to this event that the battery was going to fail, however, access to my vehicle logs (which I cannot obtain from Tesla) May have given me some indication. I was told battery failure was due to faulty seals on the rapid mate which allowed water intrusion and overcurrent within the battery.
The battery for the 2013 Model s 60kwh 2013 is not charging anywhere near the capacity. Charging the battery takes hours to get to near 65% of what use to be full charge and is now considered a 100% charge. This is under warranty and needs to be replaced asap. This has severe impact to daily commute and ability to utilize the car. My understanding is starting with a software update in May 2019, Tesla capped the max voltage the high voltage battery would charge to. They claim they did this "out of an abundance of caution" after several non-crash fires happened to these models. Tesla took action to downgrade horsepower and range along with all other aspects of performance through a total voltage cap after claiming to be releasing a fire-safety update, but officially no safety update was released. This change happened while the car was parked in my garage and stationary.
Fuel System complaints in other Model S years
Frequently asked questions
How common are fuel system problems on the 2013 Tesla Model S?
NHTSA has 24 complaints about the fuel & propulsion system of the 2013 Tesla Model S, 5% of the model year's 461 complaints.
Is there a recall for 2013 Tesla Model S fuel system problems?
No. NHTSA lists no fuel & propulsion system 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 fuel system problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 95,000 miles, and 6% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 3 crashes, 1 fire and 8 injuries and 1 death to fuel & propulsion system 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.