Consumer Reports urges Tesla to drop autosteering feature
Influential magazine has 8 million subscribers and issues car ratings
- Investigation into the death of a Tesla driver on May 7 folloiwng a crash found that he was using autopilot
- Tesla under pressure to shore up or abandon its planned self-driving functions
Updated : 16:18
An influential US magazine has urged Tesla to reconsider its use of automatic steering as part of its new Autopilot self-driving system, after an investigation into a fatal crash involving the car's new technology.
Consumer Reports releases annual ratings of cars, and has called on Tesla to abandon the current system, which allows drivers to take their hands off the wheel.
The death of a man in Florida in May is being investigated by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration after it was reported that the driver was using Autopilot at the time.
The death of a man in Florida in May is being investigated
Consumer Reports said the Autopilot name "promotes a potentially dangerous assumption that the Model S is capable of driving on its own."
The magazine reports that it leads consumers into the idea that the car does the driving and the driver can take a backseat.
"By marketing their feature as ‘Autopilot,’ Tesla gives consumers a false sense of security,” said Laura MacCleery, vice president of consumer policy and mobilization for Consumer Reports.
"We’re deeply concerned that consumers are being sold a pile of promises about unproven technology. ‘Autopilot’ can't actually drive the car, yet it allows consumers to have their hands off the steering wheel for minutes at a time."
"We’re deeply concerned that consumers are being sold a pile of promises about unproven technology." Consumer Reports
Tesla has hit back to the claims, saying that while it appreciates the advice from individuals and groups, it has made clear from the beginning the technology's role.
"Tesla Autopilot functions like the systems that airplane pilots use when conditions are clear. The driver is still responsible for, and ultimately in control of, the car," the company said Thursday.
"While we appreciate well-meaning advice from any individual or group, we make our decisions on the basis of real-world data, not speculation by media," it added.
Shares of Tesla fell 0.2% on Thursday following the piece from Consumer Reports.