It's almost like the car is a hostile entity, loyal to its manufacturer instead of its owner..
Replace car for OS, phone, IoT device, app, ...
Welcome to surveillance capitalism
Who do you think will get the blame?
One can say that Tesla is further still limiting liability by going to these measures, but if other manufacturers have not chosen to take such measures , even with the same practical liability and ability to do so, then one can surmise that Tesla is acting in a way that is against consumers who feel strongly about personal ownership and right-to-repair/right-to-modify.
If car companies considered liability to be the penultimate measure of success they wouldn't sell 500+ horsepower sports cars. The risk is worth taking for a chance to capture the market sector. Same here -- Tesla might find this a good business decision, but a portion of their market will be inevitably lost on matters of personal principal.
It's up to them whether or not that gamble is worth taking. Given that sports-cars and car modification in general seem to have been on a downward decline, they're probably correct to assume such postures; but i'm not a fan.
But what I am talking about is the MSM and they having field day. "Tesla autopilots off a bridge", "Telsa hacked, killed driver" etc etc.
And bad press is a real threat for business, especially when it comes to comes to safety of the driver/passenger.
For the downward car modification trend, I get the impression it's improved protection from manufacturers that are the reason, wouldn't you agree?
Nobody blamed Honda for the Fast & Furious movies, for example. Nobody blames Chevrolet for lowriders. Nobody blames Ford for these asshats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVyBaX6sCd4
There's vanishingly few examples of modified cars generating mainstream media shitstorms. Appealing to fear is rarely a good justification for stripping rights & freedoms.
I don't care? That is not an excuse to overrule existing US law, which gives consumers a right to modify cars that they own.