NHTSA Complaint #11267632 — 2014 TESLA MODEL S

NHTSA ACTION NUMBER: DP19005 ' INVESTIGATION SUBJECT: BATTERY MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE UPDATES I AM CONCERNED ABOUT THE SAFETY OF MY FAMILY BEING IN AND AROUND MY CAR. ON MAY 29, 2019 I RECEIVED SOFTWARE 2019.16.2 73D3F3C. ALTHOUGH NOT KNOWN AT THE TIME, WHEN INSTALLED, IT REDUCED BATTERY CAPACITY BY ABOUT 8KWH, AND PERFORMANCE BY ABOUT THAN 40KW. THERE WAS NO NOTIFICATION FROM TESLA THIS WAS BEING DONE. ON 14 FEBRUARY 2017, (BEFORE SOFTWARE 2019.16.2 73D3F3C), AT 100% AND 76.6KWH OF 76.4KWH REMAINING CAPACITY, MODULE VOLTAGES WERE ABOUT 4.19V. THIS IS EXPECTED AND TYPICAL FOR A FULLY CHARGED LI ION BATTERY. AFTER THE SOFTWARE CHANGE THE BATTERY CHARGES TO 390V, AND A MAX CELL VOLTAGE OF ABOUT 4.07V. IT IS WELL UNDERSTOOD THE LI ION BATTERIES DEGRADE WITH USE. HOWEVER, LIMITING THE CELL VOLTAGES AT 100% SOC IS NOT 'NORMAL DEGRADATION', BUT THIS IS CLEARLY NOW BEING DONE, BASED ON THE DATA ABOVE, AND THE LACK OF REGEN WHILE DRIVING THE CAR AT THESE REDUCED CELL VOLTAGES. THIS APPEARS TO BE A DELIBERATE ACTION ON THE PART OF TESLA. IT MAY BE THE RESULT OF SOME NOW-DETECTABLE DEFECT, WHICH THROUGH DECEPTION, TESLA IS ATTEMPTING TO COVER UP. TESLA CLAIMS TO HAVE DONE THIS 'OUT OF AN ABUNDANCE OF CAUTION' AFTER SEVERAL NON-CRASH FIRES. I BELIEVE THAT THIS MAY BE A SAFETY ISSUE. IF MY BATTERY IS 'NORMAL" THEN IT SHOULDN'T NEED PROTECTING VIA A SOFTWARE UPDATE, THE CONDITIONS WOULD HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO TESLA FOR THE LAST FIVE YEARS. IF TESLA DECIDES TO SUDDENLY, AND WITHOUT ANY OWNER NOTIFICATION, TO "PROTECT" SOMETHING FIVE YEARS AFTER IT WAS MANUFACTURED, I SUSPECT IT'S BECAUSE SOMETHING IS VERY, VERY WRONG. THERE ARE ALSO INDICATIONS THIS WAS DELIBERATELY DONE IN SUCH A WAY AS TO MAKE IT LESS NOTICEABLE TO OWNERS. PLEASE PROVIDE AN INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT OF THE SAFETY OF MY CAR AND BATTERY PACK.