NHTSA Complaint #11407482 — 2019 TESLA MODEL S

AT ~5,000 TOTAL VEHICLE MILES, OUR 2019 MODEL S PERFORMANCE HAD SUDDEN AND COMPLETE POWER STEERING ASSIST FAILURE AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, POSSIBLY CONCURRENT WITH AUTOPILOT (AUTOSTEER) FAILURE. EITHER I, OR THE AUTOPILOT SYSTEM, TURNED OFF THE AUTOPILOT FEATURE AT OR NEAR A SLIGHT CURVE ON AN INTERSTATE FREEWAY. IMMEDIATE "STARTLE" REACTION WAS THAT THE AUTOPILOT FEATURE WAS "FIGHTING" ME FOR CONTROL AS I TURNED THE STEERING WHEEL TO KEEP THE CAR ON THE FREEWAY, WITH EXTREME EFFORT. THE REALITY IS MOST LIKELY THAT THIS "FIGHTING" WAS ONLY THE IMMEDIATE IMPRESSION CAUSED BY THE MASSIVE AMOUNT OF EFFORT REQUIRED TO TURN THE STEERING WHEEL, DESPITE BEING AT SPEEDS IN THE 60-70 MPH RANGE. SOON NOTED A SCROLLING SERIES OF WARNING MESSAGES: A. "STEERING ASSIST REDUCED: STEERING MAY REQUIRE INCREASED EFFORT." [WHICH IS A GROSS UNDERSTATEMENT.] B. "AUTOPILOT SAFETY/CONVENIENCE FEATURES UNAVAILABLE: FEATURES MAY BE RESTORED ON NEXT DRIVE." [WHICH, AFTER THE CAR HAD SAT PARKED FOR ~30 MINUTES, WERE RESTORED.] USER-VISIBLE MCU-DISPLAY FAILURE LOG REVEALED THE FOLLOWING SUPPLEMENTAL FAILURE CODES (WITH THE PROBABLE TIMES OF FAILURE):: 1. 17:26/APP_W207: AUTOSTEER TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE 2. 17:20/APP_W264 AUTOPILOT SAFETY/CONVENIENCE FEATURES UNAVAILABLE: FEATURES MAY BE RESTORED ON NEXT DRIVE I FEEL VERY STRONGLY THAT THIS SORT OF POWER STEERING FAILURE WOULD LIKELY HAVE RESULTED IN A LESS EXPERIENCED DRIVER SUSPECTING THE STEERING HAD "LOCKED UP" AND BE CAUSAL TO A MAJOR ACCIDENT. GIVEN THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE FAILURE MODE, AND AT THESE SPEEDS, FATALITIES COULD BE LIKELY. OF NOTE, THIS IS AT LEAST THE FOURTH TIME THIS HAS OCCURRED TO US, BUT THE FIRST WITH THIS CAR; ALL OTHER EVENTS WERE IN A 2017 MODEL S PERFORMANCE, ALSO AT VERY LOW TOTAL MILEAGE. AFTER A FAILED REPAIR ATTEMPT, THAT MODEL S WAS TRADED IN TO TESLA FOR THIS MODEL S . . . .