2015 Tesla Accelerated into a wall

[Jjmboni]

I'm really sorry that this has to be my first post on this forum. I've been lurking outside of Tesla for years, afraid that if I joined in I'd get too involved and overextend myself trying to afford one... I'd been saving for seven years and finally had enough money put together to outright purchase a used 2015 Tesla Model S 85. Great car, we owned and enjoyed it for five days and then...

My wife was driving, in a parking lot, turning into a spot to park and get out, when the Tesla started accelerating on it's own! She stood on the brakes trying to get it to stop, but it would not, so she steered it to try to control as it accelerated and finally crashed into the side of the building. Even afterwards, when my wife was out of the car and the police and tow truck was there, the car was STILL trying to drive forwards.

The police were not too familiar with a Tesla so they did not know how to turn if off. My wife kept telling them "you have to walk away from the car" meaning take the fob away so the car will turn off. They took the fob all the way to the other side of the parking lot but the car would not turn off. They got into the car and found the menu option to turn it off, but it immediately turned back on and started trying to move forward again. When I arrived, I told them about the "fireman disconnect" wire on the front left side of the car (BTW Thank you to the forum about this! I had just learned about it the other day from a thread here when I was researching features on the 2015 Model S). The firemen had to use the "jaws of life" to pry up the hood (it drove *into* the building through a brick wall. My wife said it was going nearly 40 mph by the time it hit). Anyway, once they got the hood popped they cut that wire and the car finally stopped moving.

I thought I'd search the forum before posting this and found a bunch of posts so similar! In fact one was so much like mine:
https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/sudden-unexpected-acceleration-today.114650/ I want to try to answer some anticipated replies:

Creep mode was on. My wife said she just took her foot off the brake and let creep mode move the car into the spot. At that time the car started accelerating on its own, she never touched a pedal. She remembers signalling her intention to turn into the spot so it's possible she accidentally engaged the auto pilot, she doesn't remember.

When the car started accelerating she put BOTH feet on the brake. She clearly remembers putting both feet on the brake and nearly standing up she was pressing so hard. So I don't believe she touched the accelerator at all.

I'm not posting here to bash the Tesla. I still love the car and I'd buy another one. I'm posting to ask some questions:

1. Why didn't the car stop when it detected something in front of it (like a brick wall)? Isn't there some sort of auto stop feature in the Tesla? I really don't know the features of the car that well.

2. Why would the car continue to try to accelerate after she left the vehicle? Why wouldn't it shut off? Why did it turn back on again when the police officer found the "Shut off" command in the menu?

3. Here's the question that will make all of you blame me: This is a salvage/previously totaled car that was repaired. It was purposely disconnected from Tesla so it wouldn't be blacklisted (I got this info from the private party I bought the car from). Do you know if Tesla will be able to extract the logs to find out what happened even though it's been "blocked"?

 

[Jjmboni]

I'm reading those other threads now. Ugh! So much bashing! I really am just asking questions trying to get information so we can move forward.

I did learn that it appears AEB (that's what that feature is called!) is disabled if the driver has their pressure on the accelerator.

I agree with another poster on those threads: IfWhen I buy another Tesla I'm putting a camera in the foot well...

 

[doug]

Pretty much every instance of "sudden acceleration" has been from someone mistakenly stepping on the accelerator and not the brake. Your #3, however, opens up a lot of unknowns. There are interlocks that and supposed to keep the car from moving when no one is in the driver's seat. Perhaps those were defeated? Where did you get the car?

 

[PhilDavid]

I'm really sorry that this has to be my first post on this forum. I've been lurking outside of Tesla for years, afraid that if I joined in I'd get too involved and overextend myself trying to afford one... I'd been saving for seven years and finally had enough money put together to outright purchase a used 2015 Tesla Model S 85. Great car, we owned and enjoyed it for five days and then...

My wife was driving, in a parking lot, turning into a spot to park and get out, when the Tesla started accelerating on it's own! She stood on the brakes trying to get it to stop, but it would not, so she steered it to try to control as it accelerated and finally crashed into the side of the building. Even afterwards, when my wife was out of the car and the police and tow truck was there, the car was STILL trying to drive forwards.

The police were not too familiar with a Tesla so they did not know how to turn if off. My wife kept telling them "you have to walk away from the car" meaning take the fob away so the car will turn off. They took the fob all the way to the other side of the parking lot but the car would not turn off. They got into the car and found the menu option to turn it off, but it immediately turned back on and started trying to move forward again. When I arrived, I told them about the "fireman disconnect" wire on the front left side of the car (BTW Thank you to the forum about this! I had just learned about it the other day from a thread here when I was researching features on the 2015 Model S). The firemen had to use the "jaws of life" to pry up the hood (it drove *into* the building through a brick wall. My wife said it was going nearly 40 mph by the time it hit). Anyway, once they got the hood popped they cut that wire and the car finally stopped moving.

I thought I'd search the forum before posting this and found a bunch of posts so similar! In fact one was so much like mine:
Sudden Unexpected Acceleration today I want to try to answer some anticipated replies:

Creep mode was on. My wife said she just took her foot off the brake and let creep mode move the car into the spot. At that time the car started accelerating on its own, she never touched a pedal. She remembers signalling her intention to turn into the spot so it's possible she accidentally engaged the auto pilot, she doesn't remember.

When the car started accelerating she put BOTH feet on the brake. She clearly remembers putting both feet on the brake and nearly standing up she was pressing so hard. So I don't believe she touched the accelerator at all.

I'm not posting here to bash the Tesla. I still love the car and I'd buy another one. I'm posting to ask some questions:

1. Why didn't the car stop when it detected something in front of it (like a brick wall)? Isn't there some sort of auto stop feature in the Tesla? I really don't know the features of the car that well.

2. Why would the car continue to try to accelerate after she left the vehicle? Why wouldn't it shut off? Why did it turn back on again when the police officer found the "Shut off" command in the menu?

3. Here's the question that will make all of you blame me: This is a salvage/previously totaled car that was repaired. It was purposely disconnected from Tesla so it wouldn't be blacklisted (I got this info from the private party I bought the car from). Do you know if Tesla will be able to extract the logs to find out what happened even though it's been "blocked"?

Could it be that she stepped on the accelerator?

Every instance of "mistaken" acceleration has been attributed to a driver mistakenly pressing the accelerator.

And oddly enough, it seems these incidents ALWAYS happen when someone is trying to park where you switch between the brake and the accelerator... Almost as if the driver presses the wrong pedal and doubles down on the wrong pedal by mistake when the outcome is not what they were expecting.

I don't think Tesla will be doing anything with a salvage car unless the car has been certified back to Tesla standards.

 

[Jjmboni]

I bought the car from a private party. He told me he bought the car at auction in California in 2016 and took it to Minnesota to have it repaired (there's a guy there that's expert at "salvage" title repairs?) Then drove the car from Minnesota to Oregon. He put 60000 miles on it before selling it to me so I agree it's probably not the cars fault.

It's possible she stepped on the accelerator. I'd really like the logs to know for sure. The other question I have is why did it continue to accelerate?

I suppose I could have the car towed to a Tesla service and they can forcibly connect there...

 

[Saghost]

There's a lot that doesn't make sense here. Having the car immediately turn itself on and jump back into acceleration when shut off from the center screen is particularly bizarre.

I'm pretty sure the logs are kept on the car itself and not uploaded to the mothership unless requested, so if you can convince Tesla and if you can power up and reconnect the car the logs should be accessible - but as mentioned above, it's doubtful that Tesla wants much to do with a case where they were deliberately isolated from a repaired wrecked car.

Maybe one of the forum gurus that works with wrecked cars can pull the logs off directly?

Autopilot normally won't engage below 18 mph unless the car can see a car stopped in front of it - and if it thought there was a car there, it wouldn't be accelerating hard. Of course, AP is also disengaged when you hit the brake pedal...

 

[TMeister]

Just noting that on any car, the service brakes will always win any tug of war with the driving motor. So if the driver had both feet on the brake pedal, then either the brakes failed or the feet were not where they think they were.

 

[SDRick]

Pictures?

 

[Jjmboni]

I'm six pages into that huge thread I posted above. It's so similar to me you'd think I was AZM3 moved to Oregon! lol (I'm not, I promise)

My son kept trying to take pictures but the police kept warning him back. I'll ask him to forward the pics to me so I can post them.

I saw @wk057's post in that AZM3 thread about being able to pull logs from a Tesla. I'll state this publicly: If you can download the logs, I give you permission to post them for all to see if you want. I just want to know what happened. I'm willing (and my wife is willing) to take the blame if her foot was on the accelerator.

 

[MarcusMaximus]

I bought the car from a private party. He told me he bought the car at auction in California in 2016 and took it to Minnesota to have it repaired (there's a guy there that's expert at "salvage" title repairs?) Then drove the car from Minnesota to Oregon. He put 60000 miles on it before selling it to me so I agree it's probably not the cars fault.

It's possible she stepped on the accelerator. I'd really like the logs to know for sure. The other question I have is why did it continue to accelerate?

I suppose I could have the car towed to a Tesla service and they can forcibly connect there...

A lot of red flags there... I'm guessing, unfortunately, that Tesla won't want to touch a 3rd-party repaired salvage car, even to get the logs. Once the car is salvaged and not repaired/recertified by Tesla, all bets are off in terms of how the car works.

 

[boaterva]

What software is on the current car? Isn’t there a feature now that is supposed to prevent exactly this inadvertent acceleration at low speed? I know my current cars have it but does it need to be enabled? I can’t recall.


Beyond that it sounds like classic unintended acceleration. I’ve read most of the other thread back when (gave up on the back and forth) and this has been going on for decades, back to the floor mats incidents. Only difference now is we have logs.

 

[Jjmboni]

Oh God, we made the local newspapers: HARD STOP: Scappoose Fire on scene of wreck at Grocery Outlet

 

[SDRick]

Does not look like it hit at 40 mph.

 

[Ostrichsak]

Oh God, we made the local newspapers: HARD STOP: Scappoose Fire on scene of wreck at Grocery Outlet

Credit to the local news outlet for not trying to gain clicks and notoriety with the headline "Tesla Launches Into Wall of Store, Driver Barely Escapes Death" which is what most do these days when they get a hold of a story involving a Tesla in ANY way.

 

[Jjmboni]

Pictures

 

[electracity]

With a salvage title, if I worked for Tesla, I would not be at all interested in what happened.

 

[BornToFly]

She pressed on the accelerator. Auto braking is disabled when the driver pushes the accelerator.

 

[commasign]

So if you did read the other threads, then you no doubt saw these two posts by @wk057:

Sudden Unexpected Acceleration today

Sudden Unexpected Acceleration today

I think that about sums it up.

 

[D.E.]

I don’t believe any car can out accelerate the brakes. If one stands on the brake and locks up the 4 wheels, the car cannot overcome the brakes and turn the wheels.

If this was a salvage titled car, there won’t be much help from Tesla. Since the car was “purposefully disconnected from Tesla so it wouldn’t be blacklisted”, it sounds as if no one even remotely considered re-certifying the car. I’ll bet Tesla doesn’t want any part of this one.

We don’t know the extent of the damage, what parts were damaged, the quality of the repair, what was repaired, whether everything was properly replaced and reassembled.

I don’t think anyone wants to blame you, we all want to make the most efficient use of our money. That said, when you get an auction, salvage titled car that has been disconnected from the Tesla network, without any idea of the repair status, you’re probably going over to the dark side, well beyond where most of us would dare to tread. It’s hard to blame the car, it was wrecked, auctioned, perhaps questionably repaired presumably as cheaply as possible by someone who didn’t attempt to recertify it. If it kept creeping forward, maybe there was a defect or short in the drive/park/reverse stalk that caused it to go into drive. Did you talk to the expert Minnesota man that repaired it?

If the car hit a brick wall at 40 mph, it’s probably totalled all over again. There isn’t really any need to spend much time and effort trying to figure out what happened, your wife is OK, that’s the most important thing. After all this, if she’s OK with another Tesla, she’s a real jewel. You’ll want to hang on to that one. If my wife was carried into a wall at 40 mph by my Tesla, she wouldn’t be nearly as understanding. Mine’s just a regular wife, not nearly the absolute jewel you’ve found.

If you plan to run it through the repair process again in a macabre Twilight Zone perpetual reanimation sequence, then you’ll want to figure out what killed it this time, and probably what killed it last time. Last time did it run its owner full tilt into a brick wall? If so I think it is depressed, likely suicidal. At best, it’s very tired, it just wants to die. You should let it rest in peace, it’s crumpled body recycled and its version one computer soul at peace in electric car heaven.

So you’ll get another one... Will you be going cheapo-fixed/salvaged again? You might be able to get a new 3 for not too much more, then maybe you can leave the dark side behind and join the rest of us in the light.

It’s good on our side. Our cars behave. Mostly.

 

[Mhoepfin]

Your wife pushed the go pedal instead of the stop pedal but can’t bring herself to admit it. Also doesn’t seem she was going that fast from the pictures.