2021 TESLA MODEL Y — Complaint #2130728
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:12V/24V/48V BATTERY filed September 16, 2025
NHTSA complaint #2130728 (ODI reference 11687538) concerns a 2021 TESLA MODEL Y and was filed on September 16, 2025. The owner reports the failure occurred on June 3, 2025. The report was geocoded to California based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as electrical system:12v/24v/48v battery, 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: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. 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 Y cohort independently describe similar electrical system:12v/24v/48v battery 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 2021 TESLA MODEL Y shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
[XXX] , my [XXX] son, was strapped in his car seat, wide-eyed and confused, as we sat trapped in our Tesla for thirty agonizing minutes. The battery had died without warning, leaving us locked inside our own garage. No power, no way to open the doors. I tried to keep [XXX] calm, singing his favorite songs, but my heart raced as I called for help. A tow truck finally arrived and jumped the carânot enough juice to start the engine, but just enough to unlock the doors. Freedom at last. Teslaâs response? No roadside service; they insisted the car be towed to their service center. Easier said than doneâthe tow truck couldnât maneuver it out of the garage. Frustration mounted as I realized Iâd have to miss work. Days later, I drove to the service center, where they replaced the battery. But the ordeal wasnât over. The trim was damaged during the chaos, and now every drive is accompanied by relentless wind noise, a constant reminder of that day. [XXX] still talks about being â
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 2130728 |
| ODI Number | 11687538 |
| Date Filed | September 16, 2025 |
| Failure Date | June 3, 2025 |
| VIN | 5YJYGDEF2MF |
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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.