The Tesla Model S is Back on Consumer Reports' Good Side

The Tesla Model S is once again Consumer Reports‘ top-rated ultra-luxury sedan.

The upgrade comes after the American automaker updated the software on the Model S to include automatic emergency braking at highway speeds. The over-the-air update came earlier this month, moving the upper limit of the automatic emergency braking system from 28 mph back to 90 mph, like Tesla vehicles built before October 2016.

If this sounds confusing, that’s because Tesla has introduced new hardware on its vehicles that will eventually enable its cars to be fully autonomous. The software on these new vehicles, however, didn’t have the same feature set as older Tesla vehicles since the automaker started using its own technology for automatic emergency braking after parting ways with a supplier. The automaker has been rolling out updates to the new vehicles since, adding features that were previously available to older Model S and Model X vehicles.

SEE ALSO: Tesla Reinstates Auto Braking After Consumer Reports Downgrade

Consumer Reports‘ engineers verified at its test track that automatic emergency braking operated at higher speeds by driving the Model S at a target that mimics the back of a car. The publication also verified that Tesla had sent the software update to its other cars by checking online forums and inspecting cars at Tesla stores.

In late April, Consumer Reports lowered its scores for the newer versions of the Tesla Model S and Model X vehicles because they didn’t have their automatic emergency braking system enabled. The company then rolled out the 28-mph version almost right away, before the most recent update that works at highway speeds.

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