Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Model S Technical / Mechanical Issues

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Another issue I ran into was as I was getting into the rear seat for something, I got jabbed by the chrome piece that is at the upper back of the door.
It is sharp enough to draw blood. It ends at the door on an angle and the pointed end is amazingly sharp. I tested the same piece on the driver's rear door, and while it is also sharp, it is not nearly as sharp as the passenger side.
 
Anyone else have the "Suspension is too high" warning? Not sure why it says this. I put it on very high, but it's the car's fault if it goes too high ;)

I too received this when taking the car out of jack mode. I had to press the brake and turn the car on, then press Normal height before it shut up.

I've run into an issue with the sunroof. When I first got the car and would open the sunroof it would pop up, then pause for a second and then continue to open. I just thought this was by design. Now, however, when I try to open it, it pops up and then just stops. The screen goes back to 0% open. If I then click on any percentage (or fully open) it will then continue to open. I emailed the LA service center and they said that it needs to be recalibrated and that they were going to see if that can be done remotely.
 
As I reported many months ago, at the 2nd Get Amped event at the factory on June 24th, I was rear-ended by another "S" shortly after the start of the ride. Though the individual in the offending car never approached us to apologize or explain, we heard that it had to do with him hitting both pedals at the same time. Apparently, the system prevented the car from accelerating at the rate we all know it is capable of. Had it done so, there would have been headlines.

I have had repeated instances where I have activated the two pedal warning. While I have been accused of being lazy on my occasions, it has never been directed at my foot. I have thought that there is an error in the relative heights of the two pedals. If the brake pedal, when depressed, was a bit higher than the accelerater when unrepressed, warning would activate far less frequently. I plan on bringing this up with my service guy, WHEN, I get a service guy.
 
So I've gotten multiple negative (some rather nasty) comments about my concerns on safety. So be it. I will note it's Elon that's set the bar for expectations. He's said his aim is to build the "safest car in the world". It's shame that when a concern is voiced over a safety related feature the tar and feathers get brought out.
 
So I've gotten multiple negative (some rather nasty) comments about my concerns on safety. So be it. I will note it's Elon that's set the bar for expectations. He's said his aim is to build the "safest car in the world". It's shame that when a concern is voiced over a safety related feature the tar and feathers get brought out.

I'm not quite sure where this is coming from. I am very concerned about any safety issues, as is Elon and Tesla.
I dug back a number of pages and could only find one person (TeslaGuy) whos car was apparently delivered damaged and had the car shut off on him after the car registered both accelerator and brake being hit at one time.
If both pedals are hit at once, especially for more than a moment, the car should shut off. Although brake and steering assist should still be available if possible. This is a safety feature so if a 'stuck pedal incident' occurs, hitting the brake will stop the car. If turning it off is the only way to do this, so be it.
FlasherZ had an error regarding the cruise control, but not the car turning off that I could see. Is this a single event, or were there other reports?

TeslaGuy, did you get information about what happened to your tire and underside of your car? What were they able to tell you from the logs?

Ckessel, I don't think safety issues should be taken lightly. But likewise, no vehicle, or device for that matter, has ever worked perfectly for every single operator. Just because of a single report of an issue doesn't mean the issue is present in every car (it doesn't even mean it is present in 2:)).
I would go test this myself once it is dry and snow free where I am at. Has anyone else tested hitting both pedals?
 
So I've gotten multiple negative (some rather nasty) comments about my concerns on safety. So be it. I will note it's Elon that's set the bar for expectations. He's said his aim is to build the "safest car in the world". It's shame that when a concern is voiced over a safety related feature the tar and feathers get brought out.

My Volvo is way safer than the Model S, runs for cover. Anyone want to buy it? :love::cool::rolleyes:
 
As noted up-thread:

I don't think anyone was particularly intolerant or non-cordial. No names were called that I can see. I took exception with ckessel's negativity and suggested that it is what I would expect from someone with a short position. I received two reputation comments that supported my point of view, and one that did not (calling me "insulting").

I won't apologize for what I said, because I saw it as over-the-top negativity for items that, in my experience, are very minor when compared to my experiences in car ownership and as a mechanic. So far, the model S has been relatively predictable and very safe.
 
I noted from day one that the pedal placement and spacing is wrong. The pedals are too close together and not off-set properly. I too find myself pressing the accelerator with the edge of my foot while pivoting over to the break. This is an issue that should be fixed in the production line and hopefully there can be an easy retrofit for existing cars. This IS a safety issue.
 
I noted from day one that the pedal placement and spacing is wrong. The pedals are too close together and not off-set properly. I too find myself pressing the accelerator with the edge of my foot while pivoting over to the break. This is an issue that should be fixed in the production line and hopefully there can be an easy retrofit for existing cars. This IS a safety issue.

This is not a widely held belief and I guarantee that they are NOT going to change the placement of the pedals. I've driven the Model S several times and I didn't notice anything odd about the pedal. In addition, I've read hundreds of reviews of the car and nobody in the automotive press has ever mentioned anything wrong with the pedal placement. It's certainly not a safety issues for the rest of us.
 
Clarification: the comments I was referring to were in the reputation dings, so no one saw them.
That reminds me. I need to go log my feature request in the Site Feedback: "How do I turn off reputation visibility? I don't care if people report, but me knowing about it has only had a negative effect on my forum experience. I'd rather just not see it at all. Anonymous pot shots, especially when people just misread your posts, is purely counterproductive."
 
This is not a widely held belief and I guarantee that they are NOT going to change the placement of the pedals. I've driven the Model S several times and I didn't notice anything odd about the pedal. In addition, I've read hundreds of reviews of the car and nobody in the automotive press has ever mentioned anything wrong with the pedal placement. It's certainly not a safety issues for the rest of us.

I too drove the car several times before taking delivery of mine and didn't really notice the pedal problem. It wasn't until the later firmware did Tesla add a "pedal overlap" warning on screen. So most of the reviewers and most test drives were done in cars that didn't warn you if both pedals were pressed. After taking delivery of the car and driving it daily, I did start to notice the pedal spacing problem. I've even had other people test drive my car and get the error on screen. If you just look at the pedal off-set in most cars and then look at the S you will see that the brake on accelerator are NOT off-set as much as is standard in most other cars.
 
Uh oh ... today's surprise:

Went to the garage to head to work ...

Step 1. Double click the remote. NOTHING. Hmmm... double clicked again. Nothing. Repeat in disbelief several times. NOTHING.

Step 2. OK ... run through common sense issues: push door handle. Nothing. Next door handle. NOTHING.

Step 3. OK ... next step, get other key... repeat step 1. NOTHING. Double click trunk ... click (it unlatched and that's it).

Step 4. TMC

Step 5. Give local service till 10am to get to work and call for reinforcements.