An Over-The-Air Update Was All it Took For The Tesla Model 3 To Get Consumer Reports' Approval

TopSpeed

By Kirby Garlitos

Published May 31, 2018

Well, that didn't take long, did it?

Remember the whole brouhaha involving Consumer Reports review of the Tesla Model 3? The review publication had some good things to say about the electric sedan, but it also had some issues with some aspects of the car, none more glaring than the braking issues that overshot Tesla’s claims. Well, the automaker came out with an over-the-air software update to fix the issue, and that’s all it took for Consumer Reports to give the Model 3 its full recommendation.

There’s something to be said for an automaker that can quickly fix an issue involving one of its cars. But the expediency by which Tesla did it to address braking concerns brought up by Consumer Reports, was incredible. Remember, it was only last week when tests revealed that the Model 3 needed 152 feet to brake from 60 to 0 mph, a number that was 20 feet longer than Tesla’s claims of 133 feet. That result forced the company to describe it as “far worse than any contemporary car we’ve tested.”

Tesla was put in the spotlight for what seemed like a blatantly false claim. But the company, though CEO Elon Musk, responded quickly to the issue. The company initially disputed the claim, but ultimately, Musk admitted that it had found an issue with its “ABS calibration algorithm” and that a solution was on the way to fix the problem.

A few days later, Tesla released the aforementioned update, which apparently did its job. According to Read our full review on the 2018 Tesla Model 3. the update was all it took for the Model 3 to live up to Tesla’s claims of being able to stop from 60 mph to a standstill position in 133 feet. The 19-foot improvement not only put it in a level that’s “typical for a compact luxury car,” but it also impressed the heck out of the notoriously straight-faced organization. “I’ve been at CR for 19 years and tested more than 1,000 cars, and I’ve never seen a car that could improve its track performance with an over-the-air update,” Consumer Reports’ director of auto testing, Jake Fisher, said in a statement.

Evidently, Elon Musk lived up to his word that a software update was all it took to solve the Tesla Model 3’s braking issues. That said, CR still has some issues with the electric sedan, including the wind noise, uncomfortable rear seat, and overall ride, but Tesla’s already working on making improvements in those departments as well. It's not something that can be fixed with a software update, but at least Tesla’s still working its angles well.

Here’s to hoping that when these issues are addressed, the Model 3 finally becomes the car we all hoped it’d be.

Read our full review on the 2017 Tesla Model X.0