What is it like to own a 2021 Tesla Model 3 in NYC?
652 are registered in the five boroughs. Here is what they cost to fuel, what owners report to NHTSA, and which recalls are open.
There are 652 2021 Tesla Model 3s actively registered in New York City, most of them in Queens at 251. EPA rates it at 113 to 142 MPGe combined, 263 to 353 miles of range. NHTSA lists 22 safety recall campaigns covering this vehicle and holds 1,224 complaints submitted by owners and drivers.
- Registered in NYC
- 652
- Combined MPGe
- 113 to 142
- Recall campaigns
- 22
- Complaints to NHTSA
- 1,224
Data: NYS DMV August 17, 2026 snapshot, NHTSA and EPA as of August 17, 2026
Will I see myself coming and going?
652 2021 Tesla Model 3s are actively registered in New York City, across 5 of the five boroughs. Queens has the most at 251, and The Bronx the fewest at 60.
| Borough | Registered | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Queens | 251 | 38.5% |
| Brooklyn | 163 | 25.0% |
| Manhattan | 98 | 15.0% |
| Staten Island | 80 | 12.3% |
| The Bronx | 60 | 9.2% |
| All five boroughs | 652 | 100% |
What will fuel cost me?
The 2021 Tesla Model 3 is electric, so EPA rates it in MPGe rather than MPG: 113 to 142 combined across its 3 EPA configurations, with 263 to 353 miles of range. MPGe is a conversion of electricity into a gallon-equivalent, so it compares consumption, not fuel bills.
| Configuration | City | Highway | Combined | Annual fuel cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Automatic (A1), All-Wheel Drive | 141 MPGe | 127 MPGe | 134 MPGe | $550 |
| Automatic (A1), All-Wheel Drive | 118 MPGe | 107 MPGe | 113 MPGe | $650 |
| Automatic (A1), Rear-Wheel Drive | 150 MPGe | 133 MPGe | 142 MPGe | $550 |
What goes wrong with it?
Owners and drivers have submitted 1,224 complaints about the 2021 Tesla Model 3 to NHTSA, across 25 component categories. The most reported is forward collision avoidance, with 588. These are reports, not confirmed defects and not a failure rate: a car that sold well collects more of them than a rare one for no reason other than that more people own it.
| Component | Complaints submitted | Latest report |
|---|---|---|
| Forward collision avoidance | 588 | July 23, 2026 |
| Service brakes | 124 | May 1, 2026 |
| Vehicle speed control | 123 | May 1, 2026 |
| Unknown or other | 93 | July 29, 2026 |
| Electrical system | 77 | June 4, 2026 |
| Lane departure | 40 | August 3, 2026 |
| Visibility/wiper | 28 | January 14, 2026 |
| Steering | 26 | July 8, 2026 |
A complaint is somebody telling the federal government that something happened to their car. It has not been investigated, confirmed or agreed to by the manufacturer, and the count says as much about how many of these were sold as about the car itself. If you want to know what a symptom means rather than how often it is reported, the symptoms guide is the page for that.
Is mine affected by a recall?
NHTSA lists 22 safety recall campaigns covering the 2021 Tesla Model 3. A campaign covers a range of vehicles, not every one built, so the only way to know whether yours is included is to check your own VIN against NHTSA's lookup.
| Campaign | Component | Reported |
|---|---|---|
| 26V507000 | Exterior lighting:headlights | August 4, 2026 |
| 26V283000 | Back over prevention:software | May 4, 2026 |
| 24V935000 | Tires:pressure monitoring and regulating systems | December 17, 2024 |
| 24V554000 | Electrical system:software | July 24, 2024 |
| 24V376000 | Seat belts:front:warning light/devices | May 28, 2024 |
Who works on Model 3s in Brooklyn?
We do. Nacmias Service Center is at 619 Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn, family owned since 1977: diagnostics, brakes, suspension, engine and transmission work on the Model 3. If it will not start where it sits, the flatbed that brings it in is ours too.
Registration counts: New York State DMV registration file, five New York City counties, August 17, 2026 snapshot. A registration is a record in a state database, not a car on the road, and the borough is where the registrant receives mail rather than where the car is driven. How we counted.
Fuel economy: EPA and DOE ratings published at FuelEconomy.gov, unaveraged, so each configuration is its own row. Recalls and complaints: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, the agency's own wording, as ingested August 17, 2026. Complaints are reports members of the public filed, not confirmed defects. The NYC registration study is the analysis these counts sit on top of.
234 vehicles in this directory, covering 520,848 registered cars. Data as of August 17, 2026.