Consumer Reports Drops ‘Top Pick’ Rating for Tesla Model 3 By David Shepardson | May 27, 2021
WASHINGTON Tesla’s decision to remove radar sensors from two of its U.S. vehicles has cost it top safety ratings from a widely followed insurance industry group and the influential Consumer Reports magazine.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Wednesday Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles built after April 27 will no longer be labeled as having some advanced safety features after the automaker said it was removing radar sensors to transition to a camera-based Autopilot system.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety also plans to remove the Model 3’s Top Safety Pick+ designation for vehicles built after April 27, a spokesman confirmed, adding it plans to evaluate Tesla’s new system.
Consumer Reports and IIHS are taking away top safety endorsements from Tesla, after the company’s move from radar to vision-based driver assistance systems.
by Tyler Durden
Friday, May 28, 2021 - 09:24 AM
Tesla s Model 3 has lost the coveted Top Pick status from Consumer Reports after the automaker decided to no longer equip Model 3 and Model Y vehicles with radar sensors.
Without the radar sensors, vehicles may lack some key advanced safety features, including forward collision warning (FCW) and automatic emergency braking (AEB) , according to Consumer Reports. This has caused these models to lose critical performance designations from testing organizations like the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
David Friedman, VP of advocacy for Consumer Reports and a former acting administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, commented: “If a driver thinks their vehicle has a safety feature and it doesn’t, that fundamentally changes the safety profile of the vehicle. It might not be there when they think it would save their lives.”