Tesla’s Autopilot system under scrutiny in fatal crash

Staff member cleans the hood of a Tesla Model S electric car near a display advertising Tesla’s self-driving features at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition

Tesla faces new scrutiny in China about its vehicle Autopilot system after state television broadcast allegations that a man killed in a crash had activated the driver-assist feature of his car.
The state broadcaster CCTV aired a report about a January crash that killed 23-year-old Gao Yaning. The report included apparent dash cam footage of the car slamming into a slow-moving orange truck.
An official interviewed in the report said the car’s Autopilot feature was active at the time of the crash. CCTV reported Gao’s family has sued Tesla in a Beijing court, though the lawsuit was not available in online court records. Officials at the court did not answer the phone yesterday, a Chinese holiday.
Tesla said in a statement that the car was too damaged in the wreck to transmit data to company servers, and that Gao’s family had not cooperated with the company’s investigation.
“We have tried repeatedly to work with our customer to investigate the cause of the crash, but he has not provided us with any additional information that would allow us to do so,” it said.
A spokeswoman for the company did not respond to questions about what the car had reported before the crash.
The nationally broadcast report was a potential setback for Palo Alto, California-based Tesla’s efforts to expand in China, the world’s largest auto market. Tesla has explored building a manufacturing plant in China, but under national regulations that would require it to partner with a domestic company.
Both in China and the U.S., Tesla has faced scrutiny and criticism over its marketing of driver-assist features. Last month, the company revised language on its Chinese website that it said would make clearer to drivers that its Autopilot system was not self-driving.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are investigating the May death of a 40-year-old Tesla driver in Florida. The Tesla driver-assist feature was engaged during the crash of the Tesla Model S sedan. AP

Tesla says France fire caused by badly tightened connection

Tesla says that a fire in one of its electric cars in France broke out because an electrical connection had not been tightened properly.
The company said in a statement to The Associated Press yesterday that “usually, these electrical connections are installed by a robot, but for this car this connection was installed manually.”
The three people aboard the Model S sedan escaped unharmed when it caught fire during a promotional tour last month in the resort city of Biarritz.
Tesla said it was the only time such an incident had occurred. It did not elaborate on how the loose connection sparked a fire.
The U.S. government investigated Tesla in 2013 after two fires in Model S sedans, but closed the investigation after Tesla made changes to the cars.