Tesla under scrutiny over software, battery issues

Electric vehicle maker Tesla is under scrutiny over battery and security problems after at least two dozen complaints were filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, including a Chicago consumer who said his 2014 Tesla lost about 30 miles of range after a software update last May, say media reports.

The software update essentially means he needs to charge the vehicle more often - and, he has reportedly said, it also takes longer to charge up.

Federal safety regulators have begun looking into Tesla battery fires. The probe covers all Model S and Model X Tesla vehicles manufactured between 2012 and 2019 and sold in the US. In a letter sent to the EV maker's legal department dated October 24, the agency demands that Tesla produce all documents that relate to "highvoltage battery fires that are not related to collision or impact damage to the battery pack" in the Model S and Model X, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The software update in question was sent after a handful of battery fires in Tesla vehicles around the world, including in parked cars.

In one such instance in San Francisco, an unplugged

Model S ignited while parked overnight in a residential garage, according to a report in Chicago Sun-Times.

Musk ' going offline' on twitter ( again) Meanwhile, Musk is going offline from Twitter after questioning "the good" of the social networking site. "Not sure about good of Twitter," the Tesla CEO tweeted, following up with "going offline." "Reddit still seems good," he said.

The eccentric billionaire has a history of being playful with his Twitter account, one of corporate America's most-watched. In June, he said he deleted his Twitter account, while also changing his Twitter display name to "Daddy DotCom".