For a long time, Tesla was pressured to make a statement about the overheating of their cars’ battery. For those who don’t know about it, the problem is simple but complex at the same time.
When you try to race with Tesla Model S or Model X, the battery and controllers heat up relatively quickly. This, of course, decreases performance drastically. The issue seems to be due to a performance limiting software to protect the battery.
This case was not hard to realize by the customers, who are well-informed on car performance. Of course, when you are a company with customers that buy cars worth $135,000, the performance loss can even cause a federal crime case, as what was promised for the product is not accurate.
Although Tesla does not have an official marketing department, it successfully managed to keep this news away from the media. To avoid any legal action, McNeil, the president of Tesla’s Global Sales and Service, promised to apply an update that will remove the performance limiting software.
After three weeks, the software will be replaced with constant monitoring of all Tesla cars against any change on their powertrain condition. This way, the customers will be notified by Tesla for any necessary service and replacement.
Now, this doesn’t really mean that one can use Tesla cars on a race track properly; however, with the software issue resolved, the customers can now enjoy the ride without over-heating. If you really want to race an electric car, you have to wait for the Electric GT Championship Series.
There’s another important issue, and that is the difference between a first and second hand Tesla car. Previously used Model S and X cars will already be affected by the over-heating issue. This is due to the car being used with the problematic software for a long time. Thus, this might mean that a second-hand Tesla car will already be harmed by the software, causing a drastic decrease in its performance.
Nevertheless, Tesla keeps improving its software and design for a better customer feedback. Even without a huge budget for advertising, Tesla keeps excelling in customer service and happiness.
[via Gas 2.0]
