2017 TESLA MODEL S — Complaint #1797384
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:PROPULSION SYSTEM:TRACTION BATTERY:THERMAL MANAGEMENT:FAN filed February 23, 2022
NHTSA complaint #1797384 (ODI reference 11453694) concerns a 2017 TESLA MODEL S and was filed on February 23, 2022. The owner reports the failure occurred on February 19, 2022. The vehicle had 23,227 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to California based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as electrical system:propulsion system:traction battery:thermal management:fan, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: yes, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. A complaint that flags a crash, fire, or fatality is escalated on NHTSA's internal review queue and factors more heavily into any Preliminary Evaluation decision on this make and model. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same TESLA MODEL S cohort independently describe similar electrical system:propulsion system:traction battery:thermal management:fan failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2017 TESLA MODEL S shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
The contact owns a 2017 Tesla Model S. The contact stated while charging the vehicle at a charge station, the contact entered the vehicle and after a few minutes, an abnormal plastic burning odor was present in the interior of the vehicle. The contact noticed white smoke coming from the front of the hood of the vehicle. The contact exited the vehicle and unpluged the charger from the vehicle and waited a few minutes for the white smoke to clear from the front of the vehicle on its own. No warning lights illuminated the vehicle, and the only message that appeared on the vehicle monitor was charging was almost complete. The vehicle was towed to a local dealer who diagnosed the failure as the fan condenser had overheated and it would need to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, however, the contact had not picked up the vehicle from the dealership at this time. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 23, 227.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 1797384 |
| ODI Number | 11453694 |
| Date Filed | February 23, 2022 |
| Failure Date | February 19, 2022 |
| VIN | 5YJSA1E15HF |
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.