Just after the Spring Festival, Tesla was once again on the hot search.
Foreign media reported that an exposed Tesla internal document shows that Tesla has reduced the allocation of the New Model 3 and Model Y cars manufactured by the Shanghai Gigafactory, removing an electronic control unit (ECU) in the electric power steering system of the new car, and before the reduction, the above models will be equipped with two related electronic control units.
At the same time, Tesla's reduction has been going on for a while, but it has not released specific information to the outside world, and it is unknown how many new cars have been affected. However, according to foreign media reports, "tens of thousands of cars shipped to customers in China, Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany and other parts of Europe" have been affected, and there is no further information on whether Tesla has made a similar decision on new cars sold to North America (the United States and Canada).
In response to the rumored reduction news, Tesla customer service responded to the outside world: "Every car we leave the factory must be in line with national regulations." Obviously, since the official has not explicitly denied the reduction, it means that this matter is most likely true. For Tesla's reply of "avoiding the heavy and light", many netizens said: "This is taking off the pants and farting." ”
Will the reduction affect the use?
In fact, Tesla's reduction in allocation has had certain signs before. Tesla CEO Musk wrote on Twitter at the beginning of the year: "Oh my God, this year is a nightmare for the supply chain, and this nightmare is not over!" Meanwhile, on January 26, on an earnings call, Musk also said that Tesla is facing a "chip shortage hell" in 2021.
According to internal documents and information revealed by two Tesla employees, it is precisely because of the "chip shortage" and the pressure of sales targets in the fourth quarter of 2021 that Tesla has to choose to reduce the allocation of an electronic control unit to ensure the delivery of more new cars.
So, without an electronic control unit, will it affect the daily driving and driving safety of the vehicle? Before answering this question, let's first understand what the electronic control unit in the power steering system is doing.
Previously, traditional cars relied on mechanical devices to transmit steering, which was done by turning the motor, steering rack, and pinion. However, many new car manufacturers now abandon the traditional steering device and use electric power steering system, and the electronic control unit reduced on Tesla is an important component of the electric power steering system, which can convert the steering wheel rotation signal into the wheel steering of the vehicle.
However, the electric power steering system of many brands of electric vehicles will only be equipped with an electronic control unit, and Tesla will be equipped with two before, of which this reduction is a redundant accessory. The response to the foreign media interview with Tesla employees was that they did not think it was necessary to inform the customer of the news, because the part was a redundant backup and did not work in the current L2-level assisted driving system.
But is "redundant" really unnecessary? The answer is clearly not.
Tesla previously equipped the vehicle with two electronic control units for the purpose of the L3 level or higher assisted driving system. In today's environment, Tesla's products only open L2-level assisted driving functions to users, so only one of the two electronic control units is used, and the other is in a "standby" state.
For whether the reduction will cause safety hazards, "New Car New Technology" consulted a brand of automotive engineers, he said: "Because in Tesla's current products, this part is temporarily not involved in the work, so this reduction will not affect the normal use of users, nor will it cause safety hazards to driving safety." ”
However, the automotive engineer also said that although it will not affect users at this stage, it may have a great impact on the future experience. He said: "Tesla's redundant electronic control unit is prepared for higher-level driver assistance functions, without this person who is likely to buy this batch of cars, they will not experience higher-level assisted driving." ”
Originally, Tesla's models support full-stack OTA upgrades, that is, when the L3 and above level of assisted driving functions, in the case of technical maturity and laws and regulations permitted, Tesla owners can upgrade through OTA to achieve a higher level of intelligent assisted driving.
When the assisted driving system reaches L3 level or above, the steering system requires two or more electronic control units in the process of releasing the steering wheel to automatically steer and drive the vehicle. At this time, this redundant spare parts that tesla has reduced comes in handy.
That is to say, if Tesla abandons the responsibility for the tens of thousands of new cars that have been delivered, then in the future L3 level assist driving function is open, this group of car owners is likely to be unable to experience high-level assisted driving functions through OTAs.
It is not impossible to reduce allocation, the way is the most important
To be honest, the "chip shortage" problem is not only affected by Tesla, whether it is a traditional car company, or a new car-making force; it is a first-line brand in the market, or a third- or fourth-tier brand, and the entire automotive industry has been deeply affected by the "chip shortage" since 2020.
Due to the "chip shortage", tesla is not the only one that has to choose "reduced allocation", so as to ensure the supply of products. But the problem is that the vast majority of car brands that "reduce the allocation" will explain the "reduction" and clarify the solution to consumers.
In October last year, Ideal Car offered consumers a plan to reduce the number of car purchases: due to the insufficient supply of millimeter-wave radar chips, some models can be delivered in the form of three radars, and consumers will reload them later. Xiaopeng Motors has also introduced a similar plan, consumers can refer to models that do not have radar installed relatively early.
There are similar situations in traditional car brands, such as "New Car New Technology" when visiting Roewe dealers before, the store staff informed that due to the impact of "chip shortage", only one electronic remote control key can be given, and the other is a mechanical key, and after the chip is not lacking, the remote control key will be supplemented.
Through several cases of "allocation reduction", it can be found that for the matter of having to reduce allocation because of "lack of core", as long as the brand can make information public and provide reasonable solutions, then consumers are not incomprehensible and acceptable.
Back to this Tesla allocation reduction incident, Tesla's biggest problem is not to reduce the allocation of new cars, but at the same time, it does not clearly explain the situation to consumers, and provide corresponding solutions, such as waiting for the chip is not in shortage and then recalling and installing it back, or compensating consumers for losses.
More importantly, this is not the first time that Tesla has "reduced the allocation". As early as 2020, dozens of Tesla Model 3 owners reported to the media that without their knowledge, the HW3.0 version of the autopilot hardware that they purchased was "reduced" and replaced by an HW2.5 version with a performance difference of 21 times.
On March 10, 2020, the First Department of Equipment Industry of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology interviewed Tesla (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. about the illegal assembly of HW2.5 components in some tesla Model 3 vehicles. Order the latter to immediately rectify in accordance with the relevant provisions of the "Measures for the Administration of Road Motor Vehicle Manufacturers and Product Access", effectively perform the main responsibilities of the enterprise, and ensure the consistency of production and product quality and safety.
At that time, Tesla explained to the media that since Tesla's Shanghai factory began to resume work and production on February 10, based on the supply chain situation, some of the standard endurance upgrade Model 3 models installed hardware for HW2.5. But Tesla did not explain why consumers did not inform them before they picked up their cars.
It is clear that although there are lessons from the past, Tesla has not learned its lesson and repeated the same mistakes.
AUTHOR Shen Liming
"What's the difference between not writing and salted fish?"