Consumer Reports had a lot of positive things to say about Tesla’s Model 3 but ultimately couldn’t give the car a passing grade due to a number of glaring performance issues. Most notably, CR found the Model 3 needs upwards of 152 feet to come to complete stop when traveling at 60 MPH, a distance said to be “far worse than any contemporary car we’ve tested and about 7 feet longer than the stopping distance of a Ford F-150 full-sized pickup.”
Addressing this finding, Elon Musk, as many predicted, took to Twitter to shed some additional light on the story. For starters, Musk said that CR’s findings seem to be unique amongst other reviews. Second, Musk indicated that the issue could very well be something that can be fixed via an over-the-air software update.
“Looks like this can be fixed with a firmware update,” Musk explained. “Will be rolling that out in a few days. With further refinement, we can improve braking distance beyond initial specs. Tesla won’t stop until Model 3 has better braking than any remotely comparable car.”
Musk also made a point of noting that the Model 3 units tested by Consumer Reports were likely early production models and that Tesla would welcome the publication to re-test the vehicle using a more recent production model.
“Consumer Reports has an early production car,” Musk said. “Model 3 now has improved ride comfort, lower wind noise & many other small improvements. Will request that they test current production.”
Addressing Musk’s remarks, Jake Fisher of CR told The Verge that the company is “pleased that Tesla is taking our braking test results seriously.”
“If Tesla can update the brakes over the air — an industry first — we’d be happy to retest our Model 3,” Fischer added.
