Federal regulations force Tesla to nix automatic window closure and app control options from its cars

Tesla recently had to issue a software update to solve the potential "pinching" of body parts that its automatic windows closure might cause in certain situations. While Tesla discovered the fault during testing procedures and logged a recall request with the NHTSA, now it seems to have removed a number of automated window options altogether, including ones used very often by its cars' owners.

Asked about where all the automated window features of its cars went, Tesla's service reps replied that they have been removed due to "recent federal regulations."

Greetings from Tesla. Due to recent federal regulations, certain automatic window features will not be available until further development. The following window features will not be available:

1. Rolling window(s) up/down with physical switches unless vehicle has been authenticated for drive by pressing brake pedal
2. Remote window features (i.e., Vent and Close) in the Tesla mobile app
3. Feature to automatically close windows upon lock
4. Automated closure of windows upon entry to Car Wash mode

The potential for automatic windows "pinching" has caused quite a bit of commotion over at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it seems, resulting in augmentation of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 118, more precisely its Section 5 guidelines.

Needless to say, a lot of Tesla vehicle owners are livid that the automatic window closures when locking the car or putting it in Car Wash mode, as well as the Vent and Close modes in the app, have disappeared, and only vague promises for "further development" of the software could eventually bring them back. The need to have pressed the brakes before one can use the window buttons, however, has the potential to be the most annoying new development in day-to-day interactions with Tesla's cars.

The options removal is affecting vehicles in the US for now, but if in the end the issue has anything to do with Tesla's window motors or the need for extra sensors, and can't be sufficiently fixed via software changes, the automated closure features may potentially be limited elsewhere, too, depending on the local regulations.

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