For much of the past year, Tesla’s Model 3 has been the darling of auto reviewers everywhere, with some comparing the mass market sedan to the iPhone and labeling it one of the greatest tech products ever created.

This week, Tesla’s string of good reviews came to a halt when Consumer Reports – a publication devoted to authoritative product testing – handed the Model 3 a crushing review.

“Our testers also found flaws – big flaws – such as long stopping distances in our emergency braking test and difficult-to-use controls,” the publication said.

“These problems keep the Model 3 from earning a Consumer Reports recommendation.”

The negative review arrives amid a blitz of negative Tesla headlines. Those headlines have raised questions about Chief Executive Elon Musk’s behavior during a recent earnings call and the slow pace of Model 3 production, as well as several investigations into the performance of Tesla vehicles.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation last week into a crash involving a Tesla Model S that was reportedly in autopilot mode when the accident occurred, according to the agency. That crash is the third accident in recent months that has occurred when a Tesla was in the semiautonomous driving mode.

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Consumer Reports’s review doesn’t mention any issues with the vehicle’s semiautonomous driving technology, but it does say the Model 3’s stopping distance at 60 mph – approximately 152 feet – is “far worse” than any recent model they’ve tested and “about seven feet longer than the stopping distance of a Ford F-150 full-sized pickup.”

The publication says its results are “21 feet longer than the class average of 131 feet for luxury compact sedans and 25 feet longer than the results for its much larger SUV sibling, the Model X.”

To perform the test, the publication’s testers slam on the vehicle’s brakes when the car is traveling at 60 mph and measure the distance the vehicle travels until it comes to a stop. The test is repeated multiple times with multiple cars, the publication says, and the brakes are cooled between tests to ensure they don’t overheat.

Tesla said the company’s own tests have yielded far better results.

“Tesla’s own testing has found braking distances with an average of 133 feet when conducting the 60-0 mph stops using the 18″ Michelin all season tire and as low as 126 feet with all tires currently available,” Tesla said. “Stopping distance results are affected by variables such as road surface, weather conditions, tire temperature, brake conditioning, outside temperature, and past driving behavior that may have affected the brake system.”


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