Tesla under scrutiny by feds for battery, software issues

The federal agency that oversees vehicle recalls is directing electric automaker Tesla to provide information about battery fires in its Model S and Model X cars and give details on a software update that shortened the driving range for some consumers’ cars.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in a letter to Tesla’s lawyer dated Oct. 24, is giving the company until Nov. 28 to provide the information or face fines of as much as $22,329 per day or up to $111 million total.

NHTSA sent the letter after receiving a petition from consumer attorney Edward C. Chen of Irvine, California, who is also pushing for a class-action lawsuit on behalf of Tesla owners who say the software update hurt the value of their cars.

At least two dozen consumers have filed complaints with NHTSA, including a Chicago man who said his 2014 Tesla Model S85 suddenly dropped in range by about 30 miles after he accepted the software update last May. That means he needs to charge the car more often — and, he says, it also takes longer to charge up.

Tesla pushes out software updates to its internet-connected cars much like a cell phone manufacturer pushes updates to phones.

The software update in question was sent after a handful of battery fires in Tesla vehicles around the world, including in parked cars. Last May, in San Francisco, an unplugged Model S ignited while parked overnight in a residential garage.

Tesla, whose cars are powered by thousands of lithium-ion battery cells, has said the update was made “out of an abundance of caution.” But some car owners have called for more transparency, saying they weren’t told the update might throttle their batteries.

In its eight-page letter, NHTSA asks the carmaker for detailed information and data, including:

• All consumer complaints and reports of property damage, fire, injuries or fatalities; also any legal cases even if they were handled in arbitration or settled out of court.
• Details about all software updates related to battery charging from 2017 to the present.
• Any test results or analyses the automaker has done on users’ car batteries, including data it receives directly from the cars.

Tesla’s media relations team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The inquiry covers all Model S and X cars made between 2012 and 2019.

The zero-emission cars, which can cost close to $100,000 but never need gasoline, are beloved by technology-minded people as well as consumers who want to pollute less.

NHTSA encourages any consumer who believes their car is defective to file a complaint online or by calling its Vehicle Safety Hotline (Toll-Free: 1-888-327-4236; hearing-impaired TTY: 1-800-424-9153).