Self-Driving Concept Ready Soon? Consumer Reports Unlists Tesla 3

Tesla’s

Tesla founder Elon Musk promises a fully self-driving Tesla by next year. If you are skeptical, you are not alone.

A Wired story reporting on the promise noted that what Musk says and what Tesla will offer widely differ. To get the Enhanced Autopilot feature, Tesla buyers will need to pony up an extra $5,000. And that still won’t guarantee a fully autonomous car as it stands.

“But Tesla’s vehicles still definitely can’t drive themselves everywhere—not on service roads, not through parking lots, and not in cities,” according to the Wired story.

Ironically, a Consumer Reports story downgraded the Tesla 3 on Thursday last week, a day after the Wired story appeared. CNN reported that the respected consumer magazine no longer recommends the Tesla Model 3 because of reliability concerns and consumer complaints. The stock dropped 4% that day.

Ars Technica reported that the complaints ranged from paint irregularities to touchscreen issues.

“Model 3 owners in our spring survey sample reported some body hardware and in-car electronics problems, such as the screen freezing, which we have seen with other Tesla models,” wrote CR’s Patrick Olsen. “The latest survey data also shows complaints about paint and trim issues. In addition, some members reported that the Model 3’s sole display screen acted strangely.”

In 2015, the magazine gave the Tesla S a high rating, but rescinded recommendations for later S models plagued with problems.

Other car companies have backed off dates for ready-to-go self-driving cars for this year, including Waymo, General Motors’ Cruise, Nuro and Aurora, according to the Wired story.