Tesla China "single pedal" controversy settled
A recall announcement has settled the controversy over Tesla's " single-pedal mode" after " stall break-in". Recently, China's State Administration of Market Supervision and Administration (hereinafter referred to as "the General Administration") issued a notice indicating that Tesla will recall more than 1.1 million imported and domestic Model series models in the Chinese market due to a failure to allow drivers to select an energy recovery braking strategy and a possible failure to provide adequate warnings to drivers who depress the accelerator pedal deeply for long periods of time. Tesla will upgrade the OTA for the recalled models to add the option to recover braking strength and alert the driver when the accelerator is pressed deeply for an extended period of time.
1/4 of global sales recalled
Ltd. recalls some imported Model S, Model X, Model 3 and domestic Model 3 and Model Y cars produced between January 12, 2019 and April 24, 2023, totaling 1,104,600 units.
According to statistics, by the end of April this year, Tesla's global cumulative sales exceeded 4.07 million units. This means that this recall is more than 1/4 of its cumulative sales and is closer to the total number of Tesla sales in China from 2019. According to the data, Tesla's retail sales in China in the first four months of this year were 177,000 units, and the sales in 2019-2022 were 42,000, 138,000, 320,700 and 439,000 units respectively, totaling 1,116,700 units.
It involves all models on sale, covering almost all models sold in China in the past four years, which is not uncommon in recall cases. The announcement shows that more than 1.1 million recalled models did not allow the driver to select an energy recovery braking strategy. At the same time, the driver may not have been provided with sufficient warnings for prolonged deep depression of the accelerator pedal. The combination of the above factors may increase the probability of mis-stepping the accelerator pedal for a long time, which may increase the risk of collision and pose a safety hazard.
For the above problems, Tesla will push the features for the recalled vehicles through the vehicle remote upgrade (OTA) technology, including: providing options to allow the driver to select the energy recovery braking intensity on vehicles that do not have the energy recovery braking intensity option; adjusting the factory default state of the vehicle energy recovery braking strategy; and alerting the driver when the accelerator pedal is depressed deeply for a long time.
It is worth noting that prior to the release of this recall, some owners reported that they had received the release notes for Tesla's latest OTA "Version 2023.2.13.1". The instructions show that the upgraded version will have a new "Energy Recovery Braking" feature, providing two "Energy Recovery Braking" mode options: "Standard Mode" and "Low Mode".
Missteps and accidents
The Tesla recall concerns in addition to the entire recall, the number of large, but also because the recall is carried out under the General Administration to start defective investigation, which also reminds the outside world in recent years Tesla more " stall " accident.
In 2020, Mr. Chen, a Tesla owner in Wenzhou, was driving a Model 3 in a neighborhood looking for a parking space when the vehicle hit multiple cars at high speed, which he said was a "brake failure" that caused the accident. However, according to the EDR data retrieved by Tesla, Mr. Chen's vehicle was not on the brake pedal but on the accelerator pedal before the collision. In the end, Mr. Chen admitted that he had pressed the wrong pedal.
A year later, on the first day of the 2021 Shanghai Auto Show, Ms. Zhang, wearing a white T-shirt with the words "brake failure" printed on it in red, climbed into a Model 3 show car and shouted, "Tesla brakes are not working," which immediately put Tesla on the hot seat. Ms. Zhang said that her family was driving a Tesla vehicle when the brakes failed and collided with other vehicles, but repeatedly negotiated with the store to no avail. Tesla said, for the owner said the brake failure, after viewing and analyzing the vehicle data and site photos, found that the vehicle's speed before pressing the brake pedal was 118.5 km / h. During the braking period, ABS worked normally, the front collision warning and automatic emergency braking function started and functioned, no abnormalities were seen in the vehicle braking system. Currently, Tesla is suing Ms. Zhang for "infringement of its reputation" and demanding 5 million yuan, and the case is still under trial.
The more memorable "Tesla out of control" triggered by the right to defend occurred in November last year. A man driving a Tesla in Rao Ping County, Chaozhou, Guangdong Province, was about to park when the vehicle suddenly went out of control at high speed for 2 kilometers, causing 2 deaths and 3 injuries. According to the owner's family, his father drove the Tesla vehicle on the highway suddenly accelerated automatically, and stepping on the brakes did not help, eventually causing casualties. The report from Tesla shows that the vehicle's electric door was deeply depressed for a long time and remained at 100% for a time, with no braking action throughout. According to the report, the identification results of the accident have been released, and the third-party identification agency selected by the Chaozhou police said it would not release the results.
In recent years, Tesla " stall "" brake abnormal "" sudden acceleration " of the hot search constantly, so that some consumers have doubts about buying Tesla models. However, previously Tesla vice president Tao Lin has said that Tesla " loss of control " ratio is very small, the proportion of owners stepping on the wrong pedal in the accident is high. And the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a report showing that 246 cases of Tesla uncontrolled acceleration events were investigated, and all 246 cases were caused by stepping on the wrong pedal.
The "Single Pedal" Controversy
Although most of the cases of Tesla "stall" are still inconclusive, the high proportion of wrong pedal data also makes the outside world focus on whether Tesla's single pedal mode is reasonable.
In fact, after the global wave of car electrification began, " single pedal mode " was born. Single-pedal mode " is not " single-pedal design ", at present, the market in the sale of passenger cars, all retain the gas pedal (electric door, also known as the acceleration pedal) and brake two pedals. The so-called " single-pedal mode " refers to the driver manipulating the accelerator (electric door) pedal to complete the vehicle start, acceleration and deceleration, coasting and even braking operations. In the opinion of Yan Jinghui, a member of the expert committee of the China Automobile Dealers Association, although new energy vehicles have kinetic energy recovery functions, the vehicles are still equipped with brake pedals, and cannot rely on the kinetic energy recovery action in single-pedal mode to completely replace the brake function.
In fact, the " single pedal mode " is not unique to Tesla brand models, most of the pure electric models in the market are equipped with this function, such as Guangzhou Automobile Eyan, Xiaopeng P7, BMW iX3, Audi e-tron and so on. However, the single-pedal mode is turned off by default on most models and needs to be turned on by the driver when in use. But Tesla models that originally offered adjustable single-pedal mode changed to " forced " mode midway through. There are reports that Tesla previously made two kinds of calibrations on kinetic energy recovery to meet different driving experiences, namely " low " and " standard ". The " low " kinetic energy recovery is small, like the state of a fuel car when you let off the gas but do not apply the brakes, while the " standard " kinetic energy recovery is large, more like the state of the vehicle deceleration when you let off the gas and apply the brakes.
However, in June 2020, Tesla will remove " low" kinetic energy recovery from North American models and make " standard" kinetic energy recovery a standard, non-cancelable feature. Then, in 2021, after the first batch of domestic Tesla Model Y deliveries began, Tesla also removed the " low" option from the " kinetic energy recovery" adjustment option, and the new cars were set according to the " standard" kinetic energy recovery, which cannot be adjusted or cancelled. Tesla owners can only passively accept " single pedal mode ", which also makes the outside world for Tesla's approach to controversy.
In this regard, " Tesla customer support " microblogging has posted that energy recovery is a unique and efficient system for electric vehicles, through the vehicle deceleration process part of the energy recovery, making full use of each energy to increase the range. In the process of driving, the driver can realize the start-stop, acceleration, deceleration, following and other driving actions that a fuel car needs to constantly switch between the acceleration pedal and brake pedal through the simple adjustment of the accelerator pedal to reduce driving fatigue; in an emergency, energy recovery braking can effectively assist the vehicle braking system to slow down the vehicle and provide multiple guarantees for driving safety.
A Tesla owner told Beijing Business News reporter: " When I first started driving the Tesla model, I was not really used to the single pedal mode, because once the foot is lifted from the pedal vehicle speed reduction is obvious, it is difficult to control for newcomers to electric vehicles, but after getting used to the model is very power saving."
But there is also the view that if long-term use " forced single-pedal mode " driving will form a memory, when the vehicle in front of the emergency, the spirit is at a high level of tension often only lift the right foot, and forget to press the brake pedal." Driving habits are different, and car owners have different needs." Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the Passenger Car Market Information Joint Association, believes that this OTA upgrade by Tesla is equivalent to putting the initiative back in the hands of consumers, who can adjust the use of the pedal according to their own energy-saving needs, thus improving driving safety.
"The update is dedicated to reducing the probability of traffic accidents caused by deep pedal missteps." Tesla related sources told Beijing Business News that the launch of the function, on the basis of the product already has a wealth of safety features, to bring more multiple safety protection for users." This Tesla through the OTA recall, the new deep pedal acceleration pedal reminder function."