Photo: Tesla
Tesla is fighting back in China against claims of selling unsafe vehicles and, perhaps more importantly, pressure from the government to change some of its policies. Following a highly mediated incident at 2021 Auto Shanghai, the EV maker has released the data logs in the crash that prompted it.
Earlier this week, the Tesla booth at the 2021 edition of Auto Shanghai became the scene of a one-person protest. One woman, the owner of a 2020 Tesla Model 3, got on top of a displayed Model 3 to vent her frustration over being sold what she claimed was a car with faulty brakes. The woman was arrested shortly afterwards, but her story went viral.
It turns out that, earlier this year, her car was involved in an accident, with her father at the wheel. The Model 3 slammed into the back of another vehicle, causing injuries to two passengers inside, and the owner claimed that the car had faulty brakes. She asked for a full refund on the car and compensation for lost wages.
While Tesla was transparent about failed negotiations with the owner, including an investigation that ruled there’d been no issue with the brakes, at least two government entities stepped in to ask for some kind of measures against the company. Tesla apologized, saying it could have handled the customer’s complaint in “a more timely manner” though, from what was known, it’d done pretty much it should have.
Now, Tesla has released the data logs in the crash, Bloomberg reports. They back Tesla’s story, namely that the driver had been speeding (he was going more than twice the legal limit), so that was the main factor in the crash. He also braked more than 40 times in the 30 minutes preceding the accident, and as he sped into the rear of the other car. Before the accident, the Model 3 was traveling at 118.5 kph (74 mph), and the speed before impact was 48.5 kph (30 mph). In other words, braking worked, but the high speed made it impossible to avoid the collision.
This is just the latest problem Tesla has been facing in China. Another crash here and the possibly Autopilot-related fatal accident from Texas, together with the backlash caused by the one-person protest, are getting authorities all riled up. Electrek reports that police are banning Teslas from driving on the highway in Guangzhou, China, over "safety concerns."
China makes up 30% of Tesla sales, so whatever happens here to rock the boat can effectively topple it.
It turns out that, earlier this year, her car was involved in an accident, with her father at the wheel. The Model 3 slammed into the back of another vehicle, causing injuries to two passengers inside, and the owner claimed that the car had faulty brakes. She asked for a full refund on the car and compensation for lost wages.
While Tesla was transparent about failed negotiations with the owner, including an investigation that ruled there’d been no issue with the brakes, at least two government entities stepped in to ask for some kind of measures against the company. Tesla apologized, saying it could have handled the customer’s complaint in “a more timely manner” though, from what was known, it’d done pretty much it should have.
Now, Tesla has released the data logs in the crash, Bloomberg reports. They back Tesla’s story, namely that the driver had been speeding (he was going more than twice the legal limit), so that was the main factor in the crash. He also braked more than 40 times in the 30 minutes preceding the accident, and as he sped into the rear of the other car. Before the accident, the Model 3 was traveling at 118.5 kph (74 mph), and the speed before impact was 48.5 kph (30 mph). In other words, braking worked, but the high speed made it impossible to avoid the collision.
This is just the latest problem Tesla has been facing in China. Another crash here and the possibly Autopilot-related fatal accident from Texas, together with the backlash caused by the one-person protest, are getting authorities all riled up. Electrek reports that police are banning Teslas from driving on the highway in Guangzhou, China, over "safety concerns."
China makes up 30% of Tesla sales, so whatever happens here to rock the boat can effectively topple it.
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