AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)10/06 Report--

According to foreign media reports, the US Transportation Administration said it was investigating a petition for consumer defects in automotive products, which claimed that Tesla failed to issue a recall notice when it released software upgrades for 2000 Model S and Model X cars in May.

According to the consumer petition, models that went on sale from 2012 to 2019 have been upgraded with battery management software to deal with potential product defects that could lead to non-collision fires. But consumers point out that they believe the update has reduced the mileage of the affected vehicles.

The agency is evaluating whether Tesla should recall 2000 Model S and Model Xs released in May, rather than fixing possible fire defects with software upgrades.

It is understood that in May this year, Tesla Model S spontaneously ignited three times in a month without any warning, namely, a Model S in Shanghai spontaneously ignited in an underground garage on April 21, a Model S in San Francisco on May 3 and a Model S in a parking lot in Hong Kong on May 14.

After the continuous spontaneous combustion incident, Tesla did not recall the vehicle, but adjusted the "charging and thermal management settings" by updating the software to further protect the battery and extend its service life. In response to this behavior, some car owners sued Tesla, claiming that Tesla limited the battery mileage of old models through software updates in order to avoid higher costs to recall cars and repair defective batteries.

It is understood that after Tesla updated the software, some car owners found a decline in vehicle battery life, and the owners of the above two models found that the battery mileage of the older generation had lost 64 kilometers or more, and made other changes to the charging speed of electric cars. However, Tesla said it was a normal phenomenon.

In August, Tesla faced a class action lawsuit in California, where lawyers said Tesla used software updates knowing that the battery was defective, affecting the car's mileage and performance. The lawyer also said that Tesla should have notified NHTSA of the existence of the potential defect and recalled it, but did not, in order to avoid providing warranty battery replacement.

At present, the National Transportation Safety Board and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are investigating several battery fires in Tesla.

After investigating problems such as battery fires, NHTSA may ask Tesla to recall. This will put a financial burden on Tesla and may damage the company's reputation. If the NHTSA does not consider the recall necessary, it will also publish its findings in federal registration documents.

In addition, Tesla's new "intelligent summoning" function has also attracted the attention of the US Traffic Control Bureau, and some users have posted videos of Tesla's cars on the media, which are close to traffic accidents. One of the users posted a video of Tesla crashing into a garage wall, while another posted a video of Tesla's electric car being hit by another vehicle reversing.

It is understood that last week Tesla upgraded the electric car software, one of which is "intelligent summoning". When the car is nearby and within the owner's line of sight, you can use mobile phone software to drive the car in front of you automatically. This function has attracted a lot of media attention, but accidents occurred in the use of it.

Tesla's "smart summoning" function has also attracted the attention of the US Traffic Control Bureau, which said it was investigating a collision in the parking lot involving Tesla's use of the company's smart summoning function.

Welcome to subscribe to the WeChat public account "Automotive Industry Focus" to get the first-hand insider information on the automotive industry and talk about things in the automotive circle. Welcome to break the news! WeChat ID autoWechat