NHTSA Complaint #11680801 — 2015 TESLA MODEL S

What happened? While driving my 2015 Tesla Model S, the main touchscreen (MCU) began intermittently going black, disabling access to essential vehicle controls, navigation, climate settings, and rear-view camera display. At times when the MCU was functioning, the rear-view camera feed would still display a black screen upon shifting into Reverse, leaving me without any rear visibility. Component or system that failed: Media Control Unit (MCU1) / eMMC memory failure Rear-view camera and/or associated wiring harness Safety risk: The intermittent blackouts of the MCU and loss of rear camera feed created significant safety hazards, especially when reversing or attempting to adjust driving settings while in motion. The loss of rear visibility increased the risk of collision with pedestrians, cyclists, or obstacles. The MCU failure also limited access to defrost/defog controls and turn signal audio feedback. Problem reproduction and confirmation: Tesla Service has confirmed both the MCU1 hardware failure and the rear-view camera malfunction. The problems occurred repeatedly before being inspected. Inspection: The vehicle has been inspected by Tesla Service Center technicians, who diagnosed both the failing MCU1 and the defective rear-view camera. Warning messages or symptoms prior to failure: For MCU: slow system performance, frozen screen, then intermittent complete blackouts while driving. For rear-view camera: black or distorted camera feed when in Reverse, even when the MCU display was otherwise operational. These issues began occurring in June 2025 and became progressively worse until Tesla inspection on July 6, 2025.