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Software updates for problematic Tesla Model X

Detroit - Tesla Motors said Tuesday (May 31) that two upcoming software updates should fix persistent glitches with the futuristic rear doors on its Model X SUV.

At Tesla's nearly four-hour shareholder meeting in Mountain View, California, Tesla CEO Elon Musk also hinted that buyers of the company's upcoming Model 3 car won't have access to free high-speed charging, as owners of Tesla's more expensive models do.

The Model X, which went on sale last fall, has "falcon-wing" doors that open upward and then swing out. Owners of the $80 000 SUV (the equivalent of R1 256 464) have complained that the doors don't always open or close.

Solutions on the way

Musk said software updates coming later in June and July 2016 should fix the problem.

Musk said: "Finally we'll be at the point where the doors are better than normal doors, as opposed to worse."

The CEO added that the software that controls the doors has been difficult to refine, and Tesla should have saved some of its trickier features for future versions of the Model X.

READ: Tesla's new Model 3 for SA - 'Definitely a game changer'

Musk continued: "This is definitely a case of getting overconfident."

Tesla had delivered around 2600 Model Xs at the end of the first quarter.

Musk also said free charging at the company's Supercharger network probably won't be offered with the Model 3, a $35000 model scheduled to go on sale at the end of 2017. He said it will likely be offered as part of a separate package.

Musk concluded: "In order to achieve the economics, it has to be something like that."

Tesla has 632 Supercharging stations globally that allow customers to charge up their cars in 30 minutes instead of several hours. Musk didn't say how much it might cost Model 3 owners to use Superchargers.

A photo posted by Tesla Motors (@teslamotors) on

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