Tesla Model 3 will have ‘average reliability’, says Consumer Reports ahead of official testing

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Consumer Reports predicts that the Tesla Model 3 will have an ‘average reliability’ rating when the vehicle eventually begins to hit the consumer market and extend beyond the few hundred vehicles first delivered to employees and their families.

Jake Fisher, director of auto testing for Consumer Reports, says they were able to come to that prediction because of historical data collected from the Tesla Model S. “What we have is a lot of data from the Tesla Model S,” notes Fisher. “That gives us a little more confidence in the Tesla Model 3.”

Though the reporting agency indicates that they have yet to purchase a Model 3 and put it through its usual series of tests, likely because Tesla is still in the midst of working through its manufacturing bottlenecks and have not opened up orders to regular consumers, Consumer Reports believes that their average outlook on the vehicle isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“We are predicting that the Model 3 should have about average reliability,” said Fisher. “We don’t go around recommending that people buy cars that are below average, so if it is average or better, that is not a bad thing at all,” In regards to giving the Tesla Model 3 an average reliability score, Consumer Reports says, “let’s be very clear, we are not giving it super high marks. We are saying it is basically par for the course.”

A Tesla spokesperson commented on Consumer Reports premature “ranking” of the Model 3, saying that the organization’s reporting is “consistently inaccurate” and “misleading”.

“Consumer Reports has not yet driven a Model 3, let alone do they know anything substantial about how the Model 3 was designed and engineered,” says a Tesla spokesperson. “Time and time again, our own data shows that Consumer Reports’ automotive reporting is consistently inaccurate and misleading to consumers.”

Via