Electric Vehicles often require special techniques to be driven properly, and the Tesla Model S is no exception – quite the contrary, actually. You have to get used to all the controls being on the central screen, the way the brake regeneration system cuts in, as well as the instant performance offered by the rear-mounted motor. The latter has proven to be a very powerful unit that really breathes (silent) life into the hefty sedan, motivating it with ease.
It offers all of its pulling power instantly, so if somebody were to inadvertently step on the throttle at an inappropriate moment, the vehicle might end up hanging up in the air, as a recently filed complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) says…
The Model S owner who filed it explains that he lent the car to his wife who then reported the car accelerating on its own from very low speed, and ultimately crashing down a residential driveway.
Information suggests that when Tesla representatives came to check the car, their computer showed them the throttle had been stomped on, and rose from 18 percent to 100 percent in an instant. However, the owner and wife insist she did not do the pedal pressing, and that the car went off on its own.
Frankly, with the limited information we have available, it sounds like it could be driver error, but it still doesn’t explain something else discovered when the car was later plugged into a laptop.
Apparently, the Model S has a built-in safeguard system that does not allow acceleration to go beyond 92 percent, yet the record did show full throttle being applied. This means there could really be something genuinely wrong that needs to be addressed, and an investigation will follow to determine whether or not that’s the case.
By Andrei Nedelea
Story References: NHTSA via green.autoblog
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