Consumer Reports Restores Half of Tesla's Missing Points After Braking Update

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

Tesla Motors has won back some of Consumer Reports’ respect after being criticised for failing to include automatic emergency braking in recently built vehicles. The absence of the safety system really irked CR, resulting in a points deduction on all of the brand’s existing models. Tesla said it was abnormal to see vehicles of the same generation missing preexisting safety features and docked the Model S and X two points apiece.

“When we purchased our latest test car, we were assured automatic emergency braking would be enabled by the end of 2016,” explained Jake Fisher, director of Consumer Reports’ Auto Test Center. “We’ve been waiting for this important safety feature, which is standard equipment on much cheaper cars.”

The matter was address through a series of software updates, beginning last month, that returned some of the system’s functionality on Tesla vehicles. However, CR is only restoring half the points it took away since the update doesn’t provide auto-braking for cars operating above 28 miles an hour.

Tesla has stated that stop assist will be included in a later update, at which point it can earn back the remaining points. It claims the reason it disabled the safety features last October was down to the implementation of new autonomous hardware that would make the vehicles more capable over time.

[Image: Tesla Motors]

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • SCE to AUX SCE to AUX on May 25, 2017

    "Tesla said it was abnormal to see vehicles of the same generation missing preexisting safety features and docked the Model S and X two points apiece." You mean "Consumer Reports said...". While OTA updates are cool, I find it unnerving that a car's function can be so fluid.

    • See 1 previous
    • EChid EChid on May 26, 2017

      @tnk479 They do. It's a base 3-series 320i with the manual. Well-documented. No one buys it, but you're welcome to it.

  • Promit Promit on May 25, 2017

    So this is the sword CR has chosen to fall on. Honestly I think that says a lot about how good cars have gotten overall, that points are won and lost in some of this relatively trivial nonsense.

    • EChid EChid on May 26, 2017

      CR generally falls on a few swords, as you put it: Reliability (ahem, Chrysler), infotainment (Honda/Acura), and safety measures it feels should be standard (everybody).

  • Sgeffe Sgeffe on May 26, 2017

    Even as a CR subscriber for decades, I sometimes wish that they'd be a bit more forthcoming in how "points" are assigned. There's got to be a secret sauce that dictates how their subjective criteria ("I think Honda's infotainment SUCKS!!!") translates into numbers. Which goes back to the arguments on here previously: how does "reliability" get a black circle (or two down-arrows, or whutevar their nomenclature is for "lucky you if it starts") because of the Bluetooth fritzing-out instead of..the car STARTING every morning despite total neglect on the part of the owner?

    • David C. Holzman David C. Holzman on May 26, 2017

      Yeah, I can't get excited about the bluetooth fritzing out. Reliability is far more important in car functions than in infotainment/connectivity functions. CR grading should reflect that.

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