Tesla Model 3, Tesla Model S, Tesla Model X, Tesla Model Y, model years 2017 to 2021. Filed by Tesla, Inc. and reported to NHTSA on 29 October 2021. 11,728 vehicles potentially affected.
What the notice says Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain 2017-2021 Model S, Model 3, Model X, and 2020-2021 Model Y vehicles operating software version 2021.36.5.2. A communication error may cause false forward-collision warning (FCW) or unexpected activation of the automatic emergency brake (AEB) system.
Is your vehicle included? Check with your VIN at NHTSA, or ask a dealer. This page is an independent copy of the notice, kept so you can see what changed after it was published. It is not the authority, and the authority’s own text is the one to act on.
Tesla's own number for this recall: SB-21-00-004. That is the number on the owner letter and on the dealer paperwork. 21V846 is the number NHTSA gave the same campaign, and the number this page is filed under. They are one recall, written two ways.
What owners ask about this recall
- Which vehicles does recall 21V846 cover?
- Tesla Model 3, Tesla Model S, Tesla Model X, Tesla Model Y, model years 2017-2021.
- What is wrong with them?
- Tesla, Inc. (Tesla) is recalling certain 2017-2021 Model S, Model 3, Model X, and 2020-2021 Model Y vehicles operating software version 2021.36.5.2. A communication error may cause false forward-collision warning (FCW) or unexpected activation of the automatic emergency brake (AEB) system.
- What can happen if it is not put right?
- Unexpected activation of the AEB system may cause the car to stop suddenly, increasing the risk of a crash.
- Is there a fix yet?
- Yes, and it is free. Tesla Service has released an over-the-air (OTA) software update, free of charge. The recall began October 25, 2021. Owners may contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752. Tesla's number for this recall is SB-21-00-004.
- What should I do now?
- Check your own vehicle by its VIN with NHTSA, which is the record to act on. Tesla calls this recall SB-21-00-004, which is the number on the owner letter and the dealer paperwork.
Answered from the register this site holds. NHTSA is the record to act on.
What the authority says can happen if this is not fixed: “Unexpected activation of the AEB system may cause the car to stop suddenly, increasing the risk of a crash.”
affected
in the notice
caught
| Campaign | 21V846 |
|---|---|
| Filed by | Tesla, Inc. |
| System at fault | Forward Collision Avoidance:Sensing System:Camera |
| Reported to NHTSA | 29 October 2021 |
| Model years | 2017-2021 |
| Vehicles named | TESLA MODEL 3, TESLA MODEL S, TESLA MODEL X, TESLA MODEL Y |
This is not an ordinary campaign.
- The remedy is delivered over the air. There may be no garage visit, no invoice and no paper trail the owner ever sees, which is also why a later revision to the wording can pass unnoticed.
What the notice says today
The consequence
Unexpected activation of the AEB system may cause the car to stop suddenly, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Tesla Service has released an over-the-air (OTA) software update, free of charge. The recall began October 25, 2021. Owners may contact Tesla customer service at 1-877-798-3752. Tesla's number for this recall is SB-21-00-004.
What it said before
This campaign is in the register but not yet in the dated wording archive, so we cannot yet say whether its text has moved. It enters the archive on the next pass.
This is one of 46 notices in the record whose component field names forward collision avoidance. Across that group the median wait before owners were written to was 41 days.
Last checked . No change has been recorded in the wording.
The models named here, across their whole recall history
- Tesla Model 3 recalls: 34 US campaigns
- Tesla Model S recalls: 33 US campaigns
- Tesla Model X recalls: 39 US campaigns
- Tesla Model Y recalls: 36 US campaigns
How to cite this record
Quoting the wording on this page means quoting a version, so the date belongs in the citation:
CarsMultiverse, recall 21V846, wording as read on 16 September 2026. https://carsmultiverse.com/recall/21v846/
The cross-border matches used on this site are deposited as a citable dataset: doi:10.5281/zenodo.22087136. The recall wording itself is published by the national authority named above and is theirs, not ours.
The recall record and its wording are published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and are US Government public domain. The dated archive, the comparison and any before-and-after above are CarsMultiverse. How fresh every engine behind this page is, is public on the status page. To check a specific vehicle, use NHTSA’s own VIN lookup.
Other Tesla notices we hold
- 26V558: 2026 Model Y
- 26V507: 2017-2023 Model 3 and 2020-2023 Model Y
- 26V445: 2026 Model Y and 2024 Model 3
- 26V315: 2025-2026 Model Y
- 26V283: 2017, 2021-2023 Model 3, 2020-2023 Model Y, 2021-2023 Model S, and Model X
- 26V255: 2024-2026 Cybertruck
- 25V735: 2024 Cybertruck
- 25V699: 2024-2026 Cybertruck
All 94 Tesla campaigns we hold · Every manufacturer in the record
The fingerprint of this notice
We take a SHA-256 of each of the three blocks of text the authority publishes and keep the first eight characters. As we last read campaign 21V846 on 23 August 2026, they were:
- Defect summary
13d6c178 - Consequence
a1d47cc2 - Remedy
f906e94a
We first read this notice on 21 August 2026. It has not moved since. If it ever does, these characters will not match, and the change will be dated here.
The wording we hold for 21V846 · how the whole register is watched
This notice names one vehicle among several registers that have written about it. Every notice this site holds for the Tesla Model X, in all seven, is kept on that vehicle's own page, with the newest in each.
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Owners of these cars
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