Car stuff (public number: chedongxi)
Author | The Way
Edited | Mumi
According to foreign media reports, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched an investigation into Tesla's "ghost brake" problem, involving 416,000 cars.
"Ghost brakes" are accidental braking of a car when the driver activates the autopilot system.
In May 2021, Musk said that removing a radar sensor used in the self-driving system could solve the ghost brakes. That same month, Model 3/Y models in North America (the United States, Canada, and Greenland, among others) removed radar sensors and equipped them with cameras.
However, the surge in complaints showed that removing the radar didn't do much to fix the ghost brakes.
First, the removal of radar faults has not been reduced 354 complaints in 9 months
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on February 17, local time, that it will launch an investigation into Tesla's "ghost brake" incident.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration noted in its notice of investigation that the administration had previously received a total of 354 complaints in the past nine months. The complaint alleges that while using the Advanced Assisted Driving System (ADAS) features of Tesla vehicles, including adaptive cruise control, the vehicle accidentally braked while driving at high speeds. This is a very serious problem because "ghost brake" incidents often occur on highways and vehicles slow down sharply, which increases the risk of collisions with trailing vehicles.
The survey, which involved Tesla's 2021 and 2022 Model 3 and Model Y, involved about 416,000 cars in total. Thought-provokingly, this information coincides with the timing and model when Tesla announced the removal of millimeter-wave radar.
▲ Tesla owner complaint data counted by the Washington Post
Second, frequent failures after the removal of radar It is difficult to predict based on vision alone
Ben Morris, the owner of the Model Y in 2021, complained that this was his third Tesla, but the car's ghost brake problems were more pronounced than his previous cars. While his 2017 Model X had ghost brakes before, this was a very rare occurrence. But after the release of the vision-based autonomous driving system in May 2021, it seems that this problem will occur almost every day.
Tesla removed the Model Y's radar in May last year, and although Tesla explained in October last year that the ghost brake was caused by the FSD software update and recalled the new version of the FSD in time, the problem remained unresolved. More and more people are beginning to doubt Tesla's solution to self-driving based on vision alone.
Third, 15 recalls in 5 months Nearly half of the problems are solved by software
Due to the excessive frequency of Tesla recalls, Che dong recently compiled a piece of information, using a table to compare and analyze Tesla's recalls and solutions in different regions in the past six months.
▲Tesla recall statistics table in the United States
▲ Tesla recall statistics in other regions
According to the table, Tesla recalled 15 times in 5 months, involving nearly a million vehicles. The reasons for the recent recalls have been that the car's "Boombox" function violated traffic safety standards, the defrosting and defogging system failed, the seat belt tone failed, and the automatic parking function was at risk of crashing.
For recalled vehicles, tesla's approach is nearly half to do OTA updates, followed by free inspection and replacement of parts. In terms of difficulty, OTA updates are relatively simple for Tesla, so what Tesla really needs to solve is to update the problem parts. However, the ghost brake problem is not something that can be solved with a simple OTA update and the installation of radar.
Fourth, the owner's complaint is ignored after review or recalled
Shortly after the start of 2022, Tesla has carried out three recalls in the United States, and this recall is still possible. The incident will be conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Office of Defect Investigation (ODI), which involves a review of service announcements and owner complaints. Based on the results of an engineering analysis by the Defect Investigation Office, the investigation may be closed or escalated to a recalled vehicle.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said complainants reported ghost braking that could have occurred without warning and often recurred in a single drive. Tesla owners have already complained to Tesla about ghost brakes, but most of their complaints have been dismissed by Tesla, which has been replied that this is normal.
▲ Tesla owners encounter ghost brakes while driving
Conclusion: Tesla's pure visual self-driving solution may need to be improved
At present, there is no news that Tesla has removed the millimeter wave radar of Chinese vehicles, and NHTSA's investigation of Tesla has not stopped. Complaint after complaint seems to indicate that Tesla's purely visual self-driving scheme should be improved.
With the continuous growth of new domestic car-making forces, Car companies such as Weilai and Xiaopeng have also continuously launched new models with radar, and consumers have more and more choices, and they do not necessarily have to choose Tesla. For a few hundred radars, and lose the user's trust in brand safety and then choose the loss caused by other car companies, which is more important, Musk should be very clear.