Consumer Reports is lowering the ratings of two Tesla vehicles because the automaker has not enabled the new models with the automatic emergency braking safety feature it said would come as standard.

The maker of electric vehicles continues to say it is working through software problems, but that has left owners without the promised feature, some for as long as six months. The previous Model S and Model X came with functioning AEB as standard. Models produced between late October 2016 and now do not. In a statement to Consumer Reports, Tesla says it expects the software update to come Thursday. The Tesla Model S loses two points in the ratings, dropping to a score of 85, from 87. The original higher score was based on the AEB system in the earlier version of the Model S.

The new lower score moves the ranking from the top spot in the ultraluxury car category to third behind the Lexus LS and BMW 7 Series, among the seven cars rated. For the Tesla Model X, the score drops to 56 from 58, moving it to near the bottom of the luxury midsized SUV category. "Automatic Emergency Braking and other safety features are a top priority, and we plan to introduce them as soon as they're ready," Tesla said in the statement. "We believe it would be morally wrong and counterproductive to our goal of improving consumer safety to release features before they're ready, and we believe our customers appreciate that."

Tesla declined to answer a question about any potential compensation for owners who have driven their vehicles for up to six months without the benefit of advanced safety functions and convenience features they may have expected much sooner. Consumer Reports has received four software updates to its Model S, but none has included AEB. Consumer Reports questioned Tesla in January about AEB as part of planning for the magazine's Annual Auto Issue, which focuses on vehicle testing and ratings. Tesla gave reassurances then that AEB would be launched soon.

The company further assured CR testers for the review of the Model S 60D in February that the update was weeks away. When the review was published March 17, the new AEB still had not been launched.