NHTSA steps up Tesla investigation of phantom braking, crashes into emergency vehicles

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is moving along in an investigation to look into consumer reports of phantom braking in 2021-2022 Tesla Model 3s and Model Ys.

As of last month, NHTSA says it’s received 758 reports from folks claiming “unexpected brake activation” in their Model 3 or Model Y. Just today, the NHTSA said it’s upgrading the investigation from “probe” status to an “engineering analysis.”

An “engineering analysis” is the final stage of an investigation, and in most cases NHTSA decides within a year if there should be a recall or the probe should be closed. So, after this part of the investigation concludes, we’ll know if the Tesla vehicles being investigated will be forced into a recall or not.

The claim of phantom braking isn’t a new one. What it generally refers to is the vehicle’s driver assistance systems responding to something that isn’t actually there by applying the brakes. Of course, unintended and unexpected braking is not what you want your vehicle to be doing on the highway or on any other road.

At this point in the investigation, the NHTSA has asked Tesla to send over answers to a number of questions and submit data for the government to review. If Tesla does not comply, it will face fines.