Photo: Tesla Motors
A lot is hanging on the success of its Autopilot feature for Tesla, and so it's understandable why the company goes out of its way to protect it. To do that, it seems it had to order a survey among its German clients.
Almost one month ago, the German government analyzed Tesla's driving aid system and deemed it a "significant traffic hazard." However, the measures taken by the German Transport Ministry were not as severe as some expected, and only took the form of a letter sent to Tesla owners reminding them of what the Autopilot can and, most importantly, can't do.
Tesla was probably happy with the result, but it didn't want to allow the officials to have the last word on the matter, so it commissioned a third-party survey directed at German Tesla owners. Its goal was to prove that the government underestimated the intelligence of Tesla buyers and that letter was not needed.
The results were overwhelmingly in favor of the automaker, as the lowest score on any of the seven questions was 93 percent. That result was registered on two separate questions, but one of them related precisely to what had caused this whole debacle in the first place: "Has the name 'Autopilot' caused you to believe that the car is fully autonomous, meaning that it does not require the driver to be supervising the car?"
Seven percent of the people questioned answered "yes," which may not be huge, but it's enough for an accident or two. Tesla might have proved the German government overreacted, but it also showed1 that its message did not reach six percent of the respondents (one percent said they did not use Autopilot at all). With a pool of 675 people, that's 40 Tesla drivers who were under the impression that the car can drive itself.
It would be interesting to have a similar survey in the US, where the number of subjects would be greater, not to mention their diversity. Besides, it's common knowledge that people tend to say the right thing when asked about it, and not necessarily act accordingly in a real life situation.
The best part about all this, though, has to be Tesla's statement following the survey. The company released a dry, two-sentence message, as if saying "do we really need to speak of this again?":
"In response to Germany's Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA)'s suggestion that using the name "Autopilot" is misleading, we worked with a third-party to survey Tesla owners in Germany to better understand how they perceive Autopilot.
98% of customers surveyed said they understand that when using Autopilot, the driver is expected to maintain control of the vehicle at all times."
Tesla was probably happy with the result, but it didn't want to allow the officials to have the last word on the matter, so it commissioned a third-party survey directed at German Tesla owners. Its goal was to prove that the government underestimated the intelligence of Tesla buyers and that letter was not needed.
The results were overwhelmingly in favor of the automaker, as the lowest score on any of the seven questions was 93 percent. That result was registered on two separate questions, but one of them related precisely to what had caused this whole debacle in the first place: "Has the name 'Autopilot' caused you to believe that the car is fully autonomous, meaning that it does not require the driver to be supervising the car?"
Seven percent of the people questioned answered "yes," which may not be huge, but it's enough for an accident or two. Tesla might have proved the German government overreacted, but it also showed1 that its message did not reach six percent of the respondents (one percent said they did not use Autopilot at all). With a pool of 675 people, that's 40 Tesla drivers who were under the impression that the car can drive itself.
It would be interesting to have a similar survey in the US, where the number of subjects would be greater, not to mention their diversity. Besides, it's common knowledge that people tend to say the right thing when asked about it, and not necessarily act accordingly in a real life situation.
The best part about all this, though, has to be Tesla's statement following the survey. The company released a dry, two-sentence message, as if saying "do we really need to speak of this again?":
"In response to Germany's Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA)'s suggestion that using the name "Autopilot" is misleading, we worked with a third-party to survey Tesla owners in Germany to better understand how they perceive Autopilot.
98% of customers surveyed said they understand that when using Autopilot, the driver is expected to maintain control of the vehicle at all times."
Google News