Acceleration complaints by model year
Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (accelerator pedal, throttle, sudden acceleration, cruise control).
Mileage when the problem started
What owners report
As I drove my Tesla Model X Plaid into my driveway towards the garage to park, the vehicle suddenly accelerated itself (I have FSD but wasn't using it at that time) and drove into the garage door as it was still opening, slamming and crushing into all the items that were on one side of the garage. When I quickly realized what was going on, I slammed the brakes and made the car stop. My daughter luckily was waiting for me on the stairs of the garage. If she were standing in the garage instead, it would have been fatal. I have already called Tesla about the incident and they said someone will visit and take a look in about a week. This happened on Sunday Sept 17th 2023 around 8 pm. When I bought the car in Dec 2022, as soon as I took the delivery of the car, I have experienced the front driver and passenger windows that kept opening by themselves multiple times. …
The contact owns a 2023 Tesla Model X. The contact stated that while stopped at the driveway and waiting for the gate to open, the vehicle inadvertently accelerated, struck the gate, and came to a stop. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 8,000.
The contact owns a 2022 Tesla Model X. The contact stated that after his wife had entered the parked vehicle and the driver's door was still open, the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration, causing the vehicle to drive over a curb, into a ravine, and then crash into a tree. No warning lights were illuminated. A police report was not filed due to the contact's wife not sustaining injuries. The vehicle was towed to a local dealer; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired and was then towed to an independent mechanic, where it remained awaiting diagnosis and repairs. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 200. The contact noted that the actual failure mileage was 1,646.
This happened with my new Tesla Model X Plaid with installed Self Drive software. The AUTOPILOT or SELF DRIVE mode was NOT enabled when the incident happened. Turning into a parking spot at a Target superstore, (next to a damaged at the rear end car, parked to the left of the spot I was pulling into), the car went out of control with unintended acceleration as if the car's Emergency Evasion system got activated unintentionally. It went over the curb and made a turn on it's own on the grassed divider and came to a stop on it's own, while I was trying to apply breaks all along. It caused damage to other cars but fortunately no people were harmed. This incident happened end of July of 2022 and I have since repeatedly tried to get answers from Tesla. …
On 10-16-21 Saturday around 7:40 PM, I was going to my brother-in-law's house which is on the left side of the road I was driving. It is a single lane road in a busy residential area. I wanted to park outside of the house by the road. I took a left turn towards the gate, then slight reverse and put in drive to pull to park parallel to the road. My Tesla Model-x went into 'Sudden Unintended Acceleration' mode, went left to right to left in a violent way, picking up speed like a rocket. I applied the breaks repeatedly, but the car did not stop and continued to race on the road for about 0.3 mile where the road takes slight left turn. It went and crashed into a 40 ft tall big pine tree at probably more than 150 mph. It knocked off part of the compound wall of the owner, and passenger front tire blew away and landed in their front yard. I had the seat belt on. No other vehicle involved. …
Since delivery in December 2020 the computer MCU has shut down for two minutes while driving over a dozen times. The computer reboots after a couple of minutes but during this time it disables all instrumentation, turn signals and other driver information. I brought it in to the Tesla Service Center in Highland Park, Illinois with a list of dates and times that it shut down and they told me it was a known firmware issue and that there would be a solution sometime in the future. I don't believe a 2021 Tesla that cost nearly $100 K would force me to stick my arms out the window to make turn signals.
On 8/16/2022 Tuesday, I went to work at about 10:24 and parked by the road next to mcDonalds to call my husband. I wanted him to take the car to park elsewhere as that spot had no parking starting at 10:30. My husband was not available so I was about to move the car and had my feet slightly touching the brake. At that point the car suddenly accelerated and jumped forward without any control and hit a car that was coming out of mcDonalds driveway. That car was about 15/20 feet away from my car and I hit on the driver's side. My car was in such speed that it pushed the other car 6 feet on the other side which in turn hit a pedestrian crossing the road. I am 100% sure that I did not press the accelerator and the car moved by itself in such force that I had no chance of controlling it. I've asked Tesla to investigate as well
Around 1:50 P.M May 27, 2021, I left my house driving my Tesla 2020 Model X with my son in the front passenger seat to his school. We returned to our home around 2:19 P.M. At our front gate, I slowed down to a close stop as I turned the vehicle into my driveway. Once descending the driveway, my Tesla vehicle suddenly accelerated to an extremely high speed. While I attempted to brake; however, none of the speed controls seemed to work. The vehicle hit my 2009 Toyota Camry parked on the left side of my driveway first, then took out the heavy duty wrought iron fence post and gate door located about 100 ft from my front gate. My Tesla vehicle kept moving at a very high speed and knocked down and damaged all trees, plants, and garden arbors along the vehicle's path and, then, crashed through the rear wrought iron fences about 200 ft from my front gate. …
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.
Frequently asked questions
Which Tesla Model X years have acceleration problems?
By NHTSA complaints, the 2016 (35), 2018 (19), 2020 (18), 2017 (16) and 2022 (13) model years. Acceleration complaints make up 8% of all complaints for the 2016.
Is there a recall for Tesla Model X acceleration problems?
No. NHTSA lists no speed control & acceleration recall for any Tesla Model X model year. A widespread problem may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin, so ask a dealer.
At what mileage do Tesla Model X acceleration problems start?
Across all years, half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 5,000 miles; 98% happened before 50,000 miles.
What part fails most often?
Owners most often name the accelerator pedal (1 mentions).
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.