On February 8, according to the US Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC), in order to cope with the chip shortage crisis while achieving the fourth quarter of 2021 sales targets, Tesla quietly removed some of the two electronic control units in the bogie of some domestic Model 3 and Model Y cars, including tens of thousands of vehicles delivered in China, Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany and other parts of Europe, but Tesla did not disclose this situation.
According to reports, Tesla employees said in internal communication that if the owner wants to achieve the L3 automatic driving function, that is, do not operate the steering wheel vehicle for automatic driving, then the vehicle needs to have a dual electronic control unit system, and after removing one of them, it may be difficult to achieve automatic driving.
The electric power steering system system controls the wheel rotation by reading the owner's steering wheel steering, and its role is to convert the steering signal of the steering wheel into the wheel steering of the vehicle, which is used in the L3 level automatic driving scenario, and Tesla has not yet implemented the L3 level automatic driving function, so engineers believe that the part is redundant, currently only supports backup functions, and removing the control unit will also save Tesla money in the short term, as long as the system changes will not be a problem. Of course, if Tesla implements L3 level assisted driving functions and allows drivers to release the steering wheel, it will need a dual electronic control unit system, and these vehicles will need to be modified.
CNBC quoted Tesla employees as saying that Tesla has discussed whether to disclose it to users, and employees have also discussed whether the safety reliability or function of the car will be reduced after removing parts, but Tesla believes that there is no need to inform customers of the news after discussion, at least until the L3 level automatic driving function has been launched, this adjustment will not inform customers.
Of course, in response to the relevant news, the surging news contacted Tesla China's official customer service, the official customer service said that "every vehicle we leave the factory must be in line with national regulations." ”
It is worth mentioning that this is not the first time that Tesla has reduced allocation due to chip problems. According to CNBC, in May 2021, Tesla quietly removed the front passenger seat waist support on the Model 3 and Model Y models. The feature was also simply removed without Tesla offering any discounts or informing in advance. In response, Musk said on Twitter, "Records from Tesla show that the adjustable waist support function is barely used." When almost never used, it's not worth adding to this purchase for everyone. ”
In November 2021, some Tesla owners reported that the new vehicle has no USB interface in the central control and rear row, only the hole is reserved, and the wireless charging function of the mobile phone is also reduced, but Tesla did not inform consumers of the reduction in vehicle allocation in advance. Tesla officials responded that the reason for the reduction is because of the shortage of chips and components, and it is expected to gradually refill the USB interface from December.
Under the influence of chip shortage, many car companies can only try their best to reduce the lack of cores and have an impact on automobile sales. For example, in October 2021, Ideal Auto introduced a new delivery plan to deliver first and then reload radar. The content of its delivery plan: a three-radar model with a front forward forward 1 + rear 2 angle millimeter wave radar installed for the user, and a free reload for the user from December to the Spring Festival next year. In November 2021, due to the serious shortage of radar chips, Xiaopeng Automobile delivered the model that lacked millimeter-wave radar, and then reloaded after the subsequent millimeter-wave thunder arrived at the goods. However, the above car companies have informed the reduction of allocation, and provided some price concessions to compensate consumers, while Tesla has quietly removed the parts, the incident has been widely publicized, do not know what kind of actions will be taken by the owners of this part of the vehicle?
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