Car stopped working suddenly today while driving

[SlummerVillian]

I was on my way home from work in the normal traffic just relaxing on autopilot when all of a sudden the car started jerking and saying take over then it stopped in the middle of the road and shows two messages saying "Shutting down pull over" and "Cant drive pull over"

About half an hour later after having a police officer help push me out of the way a third message with a yellow turtle saying something along the lines of "reduced power exiting and re-entering the vehicle may resolve this"

Can't put the car in any gear except neutral via "Tow Mode"

I called the Tesla service line and they said that all they can tell is there is a problem with the drive inverter (I haven't looked into it to see what this means yet)


Got my car dropped off at the service center but they're closed so will have to call in the morning to see why my car is undriveable

I got it in March and it has 6k miles on it

Anyone hear about anything else like this?

 

[Silicon Desert]

Gee I hope this is not a sign of things to come. Never heard of it in all these years.

 

[TomLee]

That’s pretty scary! Luck you didn’t get rear ended. After those msg, did u have a chance to safely pull over, or it just totally stoped on the road?

 

[TANGO SUKKA]

i have 14.5k miles on my p3d with no drivetrain issues.

 

[SlummerVillian]

That’s pretty scary! Luck you didn’t get rear ended. After those msg, did u have a chance to safely pull over, or it just totally stoped on the road?

I was on a route with two lanes going in each direction in bumper to bumper traffic so I didnt have any momentum to pull over with but also it wasn't like I was going from 60 to 0 quickly and was at a big risk of getting hit

 

[Electricfan]

You may have read by now that the inverter changes the battery DC current to the AC current required by your car's electric motor. So if it broke, that explains why the car can't move by itself. There used to be an issue with drivetrains - they would whine for a few months and then abruptly fail like yours, but the failure was preceded by a loud "clunk" with the car lurching to a stop pretty quickly, from what I read. I have about 70k on my 2015 Model S, and they replaced its drive train once about a year after I got it, with no problems since. I haven't heard anything about a rash of drivetrain issues with Model 3s though. But they'll fix you up and if its like mine, it'll stay fixed, not to worry. Keep us posted.

 

[sperkin]

This happened to me last summer, but after 10min sitting on the freeway I was able to get it into drive, and limp to a service center. Car has been fine since then with over 25k worry free miles.

They should give you a loaner while they fix your car so go in after you call them. They had my car for 2 weeks.

 

[TomLee]

I was on a route with two lanes going in each direction in bumper to bumper traffic so I didnt have any momentum to pull over with but also it wasn't like I was going from 60 to 0 quickly and was at a big risk of getting hit

I recently had a friend being rear ended in a Tesla M3. Was told that the tail light would not turn on while slowing down unless the brake had been pressed, put it differently, the tail light is off while slow down by power regen. In your case, I can imagine the car behind you get confused by not seeing the tail lights on.

 

[OCR1]

This happened to me last summer, but after 10min sitting on the freeway I was able to get it into drive, and limp to a service center. Car has been fine since then with over 25k worry free miles.

They should give you a loaner while they fix your car so go in after you call them. They had my car for 2 weeks.

What did they say was wrong with it?

 

[sduck]

Where did this happen? Was there any kind of police report filed (like for blocking traffic or whatever)? Glad you're safe.

 

[Wizard2416]

Murphy's law...

 

[BioSehnsucht]

I recently had a friend being rear ended in a Tesla M3. Was told that the tail light would not turn on while slowing down unless the brake had been pressed, put it differently, the tail light is off while slow down by power regen. In your case, I can imagine the car behind you get confused by not seeing the tail lights on.

Your friend was told incorrectly, I believe. There's probably some sort of margin where it won't activate the tail lights if you're just barely slowing down, but beyond that regen should trigger tail lights. Pay attention to the visualization of the car on your display (or have someone else do it if you're driving) and you should see the tail lights light up when you let off the go pedal.

 

[TomLee]

Your friend was told incorrectly, I believe. There's probably some sort of margin where it won't activate the tail lights if you're just barely slowing down, but beyond that regen should trigger tail lights. Pay attention to the visualization of the car on your display (or have someone else do it if you're driving) and you should see the tail lights light up when you let off the go pedal.

I was trying to keep my eye on it but don’t know how. I almost asked my friend to drive behind me and watch my tail lights. But if the way you described works, that saved me some effort. New M3 owner here so a lot to learn now! Anyway, thanks a lot!

 

[kavyboy]

It is based on an accelerometer, as I understand it. Enough negative G force and the brake lights will come on.

 

[dethman]

 

[SlummerVillian]

Where did this happen? Was there any kind of police report filed (like for blocking traffic or whatever)? Glad you're safe.

It might be in the officers daily work log (if that's a thing) since he helped push me out of the way and he showed up with his lights on like he already knew I was there, but he didnt ask my name or anything he just helped and left

 

[lolder]

The rear brake lights in the display are hard to see. The one at the bottom of the rear window is easier to see and comes on with a certain amount of regen.

 

[mongo]

You may have read by now that the inverter changes the battery DC current to the AC current required by your car's electric motor. So if it broke, that explains why the car can't move by itself. There used to be an issue with drivetrains - they would whine for a few months and then abruptly fail like yours, but the failure was preceded by a loud "clunk" with the car lurching to a stop pretty quickly, from what I read. I have about 70k on my 2015 Model S, and they replaced its drive train once about a year after I got it, with no problems since. I haven't heard anything about a rash of drivetrain issues with Model 3s though. But they'll fix you up and if its like mine, it'll stay fixed, not to worry. Keep us posted.

That was a bearing / induced current issue on the S/X induction motor. This sounds like a failure in the drive electronics. It is rare, but happens to all things electrical: bath tub failure curve.

 

[Az_Rael]

Anyone hear about anything else like this?

Yes, seen a few reports here of the same issue. My neighbor had his 3 die due to a drive unit (not sure if it was the inverter), but luckily for him it happened in the driveway. He got his fixed and hasn’t had issues since.

Not sure if this is the same issue, but there was a batch of cars with a power inverter problem last year. Part recall for Model 3

 

[sperkin]

What did they say was wrong with it?

They said they don't know, but replaced the drive unit. I think they just didn't want to list all the issues that was wrong and kept it vague. They even said someone from Fremount came down to look at the car.

Car has been fine since then and still drives like new. Also, the whole service was fantastic.