NHTSA Complaint #10926311 — 2016 TESLA MODEL S

THE TESLA AUTOPILOT IS NOT ONLY A FEATURE THAT DOES NOT WORK, IT IS SERIOUSLY DANGEROUS. THE NEW VERSION 8 SOFTWARE IS ACTUALLY MORE DANGEROUS THAN VERSION 7. THE CAR REGULARLY STEERS OUT OF ITS LANE AND DOES NOT DETECT CARS TO EITHER SIDE THAT ARE LESS THAN 2 CAR LENGTHS IN FRONT OF THE VEHICLE. THE SAME DEFECT APPLIES TO CARS ON ITS REAR WINGS. I HAVE HAD SEVERAL INSTANCES WHERE CARS HAVE EITHER CUT IN FRONT OF MY VEHICLE OR HAVE COME VERY CLOSE TO THE SIDE OF THE VEHICLE WITHOUT THE CAR ADJUSTING OR BRAKING AT ALL. I HAVE GIVEN THE FEATURE MANY OPPORTUNITIES (>100) AND CAN SAY FOR CERTAIN THAT IT WOULD HAVE CAUSED AN ACCIDENT ON A SIGNIFICANT PERCENTAGE OF OCCASIONS, IF I HAD NOT INTERVENED IN TIME. THE EMERGENCY BRAKING FEATURE IS ALSO INEFFECTIVE, AND ONLY WORKS IN VERY LIMITED CIRCUMSTANCES. I CAN COMPARE THIS TO THE AUDI SYSTEM, WHICH IS EXCELLENT AND FULLY FUNCTIONAL. THE ISSUES ARE HARDWARE RELATED WHICH TESLA HAVE JUST UNDERSTOOD, ANNOUNCING THAT FUTURE CARS WILL HAVE HARDWARE THAT WORKS. EXISTING VEHICLES WILL ONLY GET SOFTWARE UPGRADES THAT WILL NOT CORRECT THE ISSUES. I HAVE VIDEOS THAT SHOW CARS ARE NOT DETECTED, SO CAN PROVE IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO FIX WITH SOFTWARE. THIS MUST BE CONSIDERED A RECALL ON THE VEHICLE SO THAT THE FEATURE CAN BE CORRECTED AND THE SAFETY IMPROVED TO ACCEPTABLE LEVELS. I HAVE OWNED THE VEHICLE SINCE AUGUST, 2016 AND THE ISSUES I HAVE DESCRIBED HAVE OCCURRED BETWEEN AUGUST AND NOVEMBER., 2016. I AM FILING THIS COMPLAINT NOW AS THE SYSTEM IS LABELED 'BETA' SO I WAS AWARE THAT IMPROVEMENTS WERE NEEDED. THIS WEEK TESLA ANNOUNCED THAT ALL NEW VEHICLES WILL HAVE HARDWARE THAT ADDRESSES THE PROBLEMS, BUT THAT THIS WILL NOT BE REPLACED ON EXISTING VEHICLES.