Letters to the Editor: My Teslas are great, safe cars — until I turn on driver assist

To the editor: I am the generally happy owner of two Tesla Model 3 electric vehicles. They drive beautifully, and my energy cost to drive them equates to about $1.50 a gallon. (“The DMV said it would investigate Tesla over self-driving claims. Then, crickets,” May 26)

Ironically, their single weakness is the driver assist technology for which they are so lauded by some. Based on my own personal experience, that anyone pays the $12,000 upgrade cost for so-called full self-driving, let alone actually uses it on the road, leaves me gobsmacked.

That’s because other, less exotic features on the cars that rely on the same software and cameras are stunningly unreliable and, frankly, unsafe. For instance, I’m unable to use the driver assist feature on either car since it has on multiple occasions braked violently or turned suddenly to avoid obstacles that didn’t actually exist. By that, I quite literally mean that there was nothing on the road to warrant any reaction at all.

When I explained the problem to a Tesla rep, he acknowledged it as common and encouraged me to be patient. He explained that as more Teslas are on the road returning data to their servers, the software will become smarter and the problem will diminish.

I’d like to live long enough to see it. Tesla should disable the features entirely until they are vastly more reliable. Failing that, regulators should require them to.

Jordan Sollitto, San Marino

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To the editor: I read the article on the California Department of Motor Vehicles’ investigation of Tesla, and I was left with the following assessment: The DMV is to Tesla what the Republican Party is to the National Rifle Assn.

Ted Rosenblatt, Pacific Palisades