Yahoo Finance Get a grip! Tesla has handle woes
Tesla’s (TSLA) new six-figure-priced Model S P85 D may just be TOO high tech for its own good.
Consumer Reports says the $127,000 car it bought less then a month ago didn’t work…because the vehicle’s fancy in-line handles didn’t work.
The magazine reports the handles-- that come out when the driver approaches-- stayed in place, preventing testers from opening the door. And when they jury-rigged a way to get in and started driving, the Model S shut itself down because it sensed something was wrong. Consumer Reports adds that other owners have had similar problems.
Yahoo Finance’s Jen Rogers says this snafu is significant for Tesla for two reasons.
“If you can’t get into your car, that’s a big problem,” she laughs. “But I also think it’s a big problem for them because Consumer Reports basically made this car because they gave [the original Tesla Model S] such a glowing review.”
Yahoo Finance Senior Columnist Michael Santoli suggests this points to the pitfalls of living in a world more and more dominated by technology.
“Software is running basically every product that used to be analog,” he says. “So this is an example of where the software glitch creates this vulnerability or this annoyance that wouldn’t have existed otherwise.”
And Santoli notes that trouble is not limited to expensive sports cars.
“I think a lot of people have that experience with a lot of other things where you can’t get some file or information where if it was written down on a piece of paper, it would have been fine,” he explains.
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Santoli wonders if what happened will drive Tesla to provide owners some sort of an option.
“Maybe there’s a ‘Plan B’ you can give people because of course they want the security function of not letting somebody else get in," he explains. "But it is one of these hazards of having everything driven by a microchip.”
Yahoo Finance’s Lauren Lyster points out this is a pretty pricey machine to have this kind of problem.
“At $127,000, Consumer Reports says it’s the most expensive car they’ve ever bought,” she says.
However, Rogers adds that at least you have to give Tesla major points for customer service.
“Consumer Reports says [Tesla] came out and made a house call,” she points out. “That’s what Tesla does, and that wasn’t just for Consumer Reports, they say it’s for everybody.”
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