The NHTSA is investigating a software update Tesla shipped earlier this year that was meant to address a few reports of battery fires. “Some owners have said the update, released in May, noticeably decreased the ultimate range of their Teslas,” reports The Verge. “A few have even sued the company for alleged fraud over the issue.” From the report: The NHTSA received a “defect petition” in September from a lawyer who represents some of these customers. He requested that the NHTSA investigate the software update in order to figure out if Tesla was hiding a defect in its cars that could have caused the reported fires earlier this year. “Tesla is using over-the-air software updates to mask and cover-up a potentially widespread and dangerous issue with the batteries in their vehicles,” he wrote. Defect petitions require more information than the typical complaints the NHTSA receives. Crucially, they also force the agency to act more conclusively: following the investigation, the NHTSA has to either issue a recall for cars affected by the alleged defects, or else publish its findings on the federal register explaining the decision not to. The NHTSA will now attempt to put a finer point on this issue by trying to figure out precisely what Tesla did with that May software update. The petition that the NHTSA is reviewing specifically claims that Tesla should have recalled 2,000 Model S and Model X vehicles because of the issue.

At the time when Tesla issued the May update, the company said the update was out of an “abundance of caution” and that it would affect charge and thermal management settings.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot – Tesla Is Being Investigated For a Software Update Meant To Limit Fire Risk