There are 1 owner-reported speed control & cruise complaints for the 2021 Tesla Model Xin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
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. I was the only occupant in the vehicle. No fire. I called 911 from my cell phone. I opened the driver side door manually and got out. Police took the report from me and took pictures. The report will be in another 3 days. Ambulance took me to hospital. Broke rt Ulna, Lumbar 2 vertebra, Pneumothorax lt lung with collapse of left lung, s/p chest tube. Also cervical muscle strain/ rupture. Discharge after 3 days. Still lot of back pain. Unable to go to work. Car is total loss. I have Tesla insurance. Reported the accident to Insurance. Adjuster still working on the claim. Requested to 'Preserve the car' for further investigation. 7-14-21: When I stop at a light, the front end of car goes up by about 4 inches. Took to Tesla service center and I was told it is adaptive suspension and it is normal. 8-10-21. When I apply break to stop at a red light, and when I turn on Left turn signal, power shuts off completely, everything blank in the middle of busy traffic, had to reset power. very scary. Happened twice. complained. Tesla remotely updated SD card. Happened again on 10-15-21.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026