Tesla Model 3 deliveries halted in Australia – what is it all about and does it affect Malaysian buyers?
There has been reports that Tesla has been forced to halt Model 3 “Highland” deliveries in Australia over a matter of technical non-compliance with Australian rules.
Here’s the gist of it – Australia Design Rules (ADR) requires that a car comes with a centre top tether point to secure a child seat that is accessible without tools.
The Tesla Model 3 does have a top tether point welded to the body. But the updated Highland model is now missing a hole in the parcel shelf to access it. This was previously available on the original pre-update Model 3. This violates the “accessible without tools” portion of the rule.
This requirement does not exist in Malaysia. The top tether rule is generally an Australian thing. Most parents here secure their child seats with ISOFIX points only, and an alternate to top tether is a support leg which extends to the floor of the cabin. However, if you intend to use a child seat that requires the use of top tether for proper fitment, you may want to take note of this issue.
No news yet how Tesla will deal with this. It might have to update the design of the rear parcel shelf to add the access to the top tether point back in.
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