The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched an investigation into Tesla over a potential defect in the battery packs of its Model S and Model X electric vehicles.
In a notice, the NHTSA said its Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) received a petition for inquiry into Model S and Model X that received revised battery management software updates from Tesla starting in May 2019.
The petitioner, Attorney Edward Chen is representing a number of Tesla vehicle owners, claimed that the electric manufacturer released the software updates in response to a potential defect in the battery packs that could result to non-crash fires.
Additionally, Chen claimed that the software updates reduced the driving range of the Model S and Model X. It also increased the amount of time necessary to charge the affected electric vehicles.
Tesla allegedly attempted to” cover-up a widespread and dangerous” defect
Furthermore, he asserted that Tesla should have informed the NHTSA about the existence of a possible defect and initiated a safety recall. However, the electric car manufacturer decided to “cover-up a potentially widespread and dangerous” problem in the batteries of Model S and Model X.
