Tesla faced more than 750 brake complaints or was fined hundreds of millions of yuan.

Tesla faced more than 750 brake complaints or was fined hundreds of millions of yuan.

Tesla faced more than 750 brake complaints or was fined hundreds of millions of yuan. It is reported that NHTSA requires Tesla to provide on-site reports of all wrong braking, and Tesla must respond before June 20, 2022. Tesla faced more than 750 brake complaints or was fined hundreds of millions of yuan.

Tesla faced more than 750 brake complaints or was fined 1 100 million yuan. According to ABC4, on June 3, local time, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that it had received more than 750 complaints about Tesla's braking accident. Many car owners complain that there is something wrong with Tesla's autopilot system. "The car suddenly stopped halfway without warning."

Screenshot of related reports (Source: ABC)

According to the report, as early as May 4 this year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent Tesla a letter of 14 page, not only asking it to provide the complaint report it received, but also describing in detail the scene at that time, including whether the vehicle collided, whether anyone was injured at the scene of the accident, and whether the automatic driving assistance system and automatic emergency braking system of the car were in an "active" state at the time of the accident.

Since February this year, the complaints about Tesla received by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have more than doubled. It is mentioned in the letter that Tesla must respond to questions about autopilot braking before June 20, but at the same time, the company can propose an extension of the time limit.

Tesla Data Map (Source: new york Post)

In mid-February this year, the Associated Press reported that after receiving 354 complaints about "ghost brakes", the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said that it would investigate Tesla, mainly involving Tesla 202 1 and 2022 "Model 3" and "Model Y" models.

Because some users said that when Tesla's automatic driving assistance system is turned on, the vehicle will suddenly brake for no reason, so this problem is also called "ghost braking" by some car owners.

"Consumer feedback' ghost braking' incidents usually occur without warning, so I am very worried that similar problems will occur on the expressway and increase the risk of rear-end collision." The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.

At present, Tesla is at the cusp of public opinion. On June 2, local time, Reuters reported that Tesla CEO elon musk said that he was not optimistic about the economic situation, and the company needed to lay off about 65,438+00% of its staff and suspend global recruitment. When the news came out, it caused an uproar in the market. Affected by this, Tesla's share price plummeted by more than 9% on Friday night local time.

Tesla faced more than 750 brake complaints or was fined hundreds of millions of yuan. On June 3, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) issued a regulatory document. The document shows that since February this year, the number of complaints about Tesla's "ghost brakes" has increased from 354 to 758, more than doubling.

"Ghost braking" refers to the automatic braking of Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) or automatic driving system without sufficient reason. The system may mistakenly monitor the objects on the road, or predict the collision that will not happen and take unnecessary braking measures.

"Ghost braking" will bring great security risks. If the rear vehicle gets too close, it is likely to cause a rear-end collision.

It is reported that NHTSA asked Tesla to provide all on-site reports on wrong braking and asked whether Tesla's autopilot system was activated in these accidents. Tesla must respond before June 20, 2022, otherwise it may face a fine as high as $65,438+0.10.50 billion.

The focus of NHTSA's investigation is Model 3 and ModelY of 202 1-2022. However, the owners of the old Model 3 and Model Y also reported more and more "ghost braking" incidents, especially after the software was upgraded to a vision-assisted driving system in May 20021year.

The Verge, an American technology website, said that the "ghost brake" problem may be traced back to Tesla's decision to remove the radar sensors on the new Model 3 and Model Y cars last year. Before making this decision, Musk publicly expressed the hope that Tesla's assisted driving could be completely completed by the camera.

It is reported that radar sensors are used to help detect fast approaching objects, which are very common in many modern cars. They can work normally even in the case of low visibility, and are one of the sensors that provide data support for safety functions such as automatic emergency braking. Although modern cars also get data from other sensors (including cameras), automobile manufacturers tend to use multiple types of sensors, because if one type of sensor fails or fails to operate under certain circumstances, there will always be alternatives.

In February of this year, NHTSA launched an investigation on Tesla's "ghost brakes", involving about 465,438+0.6 million cars of Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, but there are no reports of car accidents or casualties caused by braking problems.

Michael brooks, Acting Executive Director and Chief Legal Counsel of the American Center for Automotive Safety, said: "The fact that so many complaints have been received in such a short time shows that NHTSA should intensify its investigation. Every month, we have hundreds of car owners who report that their emergency braking system has been activated by mistake. There may be more people with similar problems, but they have not reported to NHTSA. "

The report about Tesla's "ghost braking" first appeared on 202 1 10, when Tesla was forced to withdraw the test version of its fully automatic driving (FSD) 10.3, because of the wrong collision warning and unexpected braking after the system upgrade.

It is understood that NHTSA is conducting an in-depth investigation into the automatic driving accidents of all auto companies. Since 20 16, the agency has sent a team to investigate 34 accidents related to it, 28 of which involved Tesla cars.

Tesla faced more than 750 brake complaints or was fined hundreds of millions of yuan. In the latest regulatory document, the American automobile safety regulator announced that it would intensify the investigation of Tesla. Previously, the agency received 758 complaints called "phantom braking", that is, Tesla suddenly braked at high speed.

According to regulatory documents, the number of complaints about "phantom braking" of Tesla cars produced in 20021and 2022 rose from 354 in February to 758, which prompted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to ask Tesla to give a reply before June 20. If we don't respond in time, the automobile manufacturers will face a fine as high as $65,438+0.65,438+0.5 billion.

It is reported that the survey involved about 465,438+0.6 million vehicles of Models 3 and MODEL Y. At present, there are no reports of crashes or personal injuries caused by the above braking problems. These vehicles are equipped with some autopilot-assisted driving functions, such as adaptive cruise control and autopilot, so that they can automatically brake and turn in the lane.

However, NHTSA said in the published documents that these vehicles may accidentally brake when driving at high speed. The agency said: "The complainant reported that sudden deceleration and braking may occur without any warning and often occur repeatedly within a driving cycle." Many car owners in the complaint said that they were worried about a rear-end collision on the expressway.

This survey is the latest of many surveys conducted by American auto safety regulators on Tesla, including Tesla's driver-assisted driving system Autopilot and its advanced version of "Fully Automated Driving" (FSD) software. Although the name is easy to misunderstand, in fact, neither software can achieve automatic driving without the supervision of human drivers.

This is the fourth official investigation of Tesla by US regulators in the past three years. Since 202 1, 1, NHTSA is supervising the recall of 15 Tesla. In addition, since 20 16, the agency has sent investigators to investigate at least 33 crashes involving Tesla owners starting Autopilot, and 1 1 people were killed in the accidents.

In the latest complaint, a Tesla owner from Austin reported that his Model Y equipped with Autopilot automatically braked many times for no reason when driving on two-lane roads and highways.

The owner wrote in the complaint filed on February 2: "These phantom brakes include slow braking when slowing down and emergency braking when accelerating. They have greatly slowed down the speed, posing a personal safety threat to me and the passengers in the car and the passengers who may follow me. "

Repeated recalls for various reasons.

Just last week, NHTSA asked Tesla to recall nearly 579,000 cars in the United States, because the "Boombox" function can play sound through external speakers and give a vague sound warning when pedestrians see a vehicle coming.

Michael brooks, acting executive director and general counsel of the non-profit organization Automotive Safety Center, said: "The receipt of so many complaints in a short time shows that NHTSA should intensify its investigation. Every month, we have hundreds of car owners who report that their emergency braking system has been wrongly activated, and there may be more people who have not reported this problem to NHTSA. "

He also said that it is encouraging to see the enforcement actions taken by NHTSA against Tesla. But Brooks said that Tesla has been releasing software to cars driving on American roads, and these softwares have not been tested to ensure their safety.

Brooks wrote in an e-mail: "A piecemeal investigation of every concern cannot solve the bigger problems in Tesla's safety culture. The company continues to be willing to test its technology on the American public while distorting the performance of its vehicles. "

Due to other problems, Tesla recently recalled many vehicles, such as slowing down when encountering a stop sign, the heating system can't clean the windshield quickly, the driver won't be warned if he doesn't wear a seat belt, and the driver is allowed to play movies on the touch screen while driving. These problems should have been solved by online software update.

In August last year, NHTSA announced an investigation into Tesla Autopilot because it failed to find emergency vehicles parked on the road. The survey covered more than ten car accidents, resulting in 65,438+0 deaths and 65,438+07 injuries.

There are precedents for braking problems.

Before the latest investigation, Tesla recalled nearly12,000 cars in June last year due to similar phantom braking problems. The company released an online software update to fix the failure of its FSD software. In September last year, Tesla carried out a software update to improve the recognition ability of emergency lights in low light conditions.

Many selected Tesla drivers have started testing FSD software on public roads. The company warned that drivers must be ready to take over at any time because cars can't drive automatically yet. NHTSA also asked Tesla to provide information about automobile testing, including information that Tesla asked testers to keep confidential.

Safety advocates complain that Tesla should not be allowed to test its technology in the traffic environment of untrained drivers, and Tesla's software may malfunction, putting other drivers and pedestrians at risk. Most other car companies with similar software will use trained human safety drivers for testing.

In a statement in August 20021year, NHTSA said: "NHTSA reminds the public that no commercial motor vehicles can drive automatically at present. Currently available vehicles require human drivers to be ready to take over control at any time, and all laws require human drivers to be responsible for the behavior of vehicles. "