Tesla Reinstates Auto Braking After Consumer Reports Downgrade
Consumer Reports (CR) has taken the Tesla Model S from the top spot in its ultra luxury car category over a missing safety feature, and the brand is responding.
The issue is over emergency automatic braking (AEB), which was standard on all Tesla models up until October of 2016, when it disappeared as a feature on new Model S and Model X vehicles. Because AEB adds points to a vehicle’s overall CR score, both the Model S and Model X have lost points.
Responding to the lower rating, Tesla has already started an over-the-air update to reinstate the feature in the affected vehicles, but it’s too late to change the rating, for now at least.
CR has dropped the Model S sedan’s score to 85 from 87, dropping it from the top of the ultra-luxury list into third place behind the BMW 7 Series and Lexus LS. The Tesla Model X also receives a hit, dropping from 58 to 56, putting it near the bottom of the midsized luxury SUV segment.
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“Automatic Emergency Braking and other safety features are a top priority, and we plan to introduce them as soon as they’re ready,” Tesla said in the statement. “We believe it would be morally wrong and counterproductive to our goal of improving consumer safety to release features before they’re ready, and we believe our customers appreciate that.”
CR says that once the feature is added back to the car, the outlet will reconsider its ratings. Tesla also declined to answer a question about potential compensation for those who owners who have been without AEB for up to six months.
[Source: Consumer Reports & Bloomberg]
Stephen covers all of the day-to-day events of the industry as the News Editor at AutoGuide, along with being the AG truck expert. His truck knowledge comes from working long days on the woodlot with pickups and driving straight trucks professionally. When not at his desk, Steve can be found playing his bass or riding his snowmobile or Sea-Doo. Find Stephen on <A title="@Selmer07 on Twitter" href="http://www.twitter.com/selmer07">Twitter</A> and <A title="Stephen on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/117833131531784822251?rel=author">Google+</A>
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Quite sad to see the opinion-Nazis bend the meek managers at Tesla into including tech Not Ready For Prime Time. Then again, if the Consumer Reports audience is so important to the sales goals of a particular car manufacturer, then by all means include explosive accident prevention devices 360 degrees. Just give the tech-savvy a means to disable and remove such chicanery.
Thank you CR. Your words have weight and you help improve safety.