It appears that Tesla has disabled a key safety feature of the Model X’s falcon doors leaving some owners with serious concerns.

Earlier in the week, Tesla released a software update for the all-electric crossover which it says was “designed to improve closure consistency and reduce false detection of obstacles”. However, in a video posted on YouTube (below), it appears that the update also disabled pressure sensitive sensors in the door frames.

Prior to the update, the frames of the doors would be able to detect if an object (a hand etc) was in the way and automatically stop the door from closing. Now, these upper sensors no longer work and only small pinch points on the doors inner trim are able to automatically stop the doors from closing.

In the video from Metv Product Reviews, a Model X owner can be seen demonstrating the change and showing the doors cutting in half a cucumber which should have been detected.

It is reported that Tesla updated the software on the back of complaints that the doors were opening and closing by themselves. It isn’t yet clear if the firm intentionally switched off the door frame sensors or if it is a glitch in the system.

Either way, the falcon doors of the Model X have been plagued by problems even before the car launched. As a matter of fact, the original supplier of the doors was sued by the automaker earlier in the year because of quality concerns and delays which pushed back the car’s arrival date.

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