"Ghost Brakes" has been investigated by the United States, frequent car recalls due to quality problems, and stock prices have plummeted... In recent days, electric vehicle giant Tesla has stood on the cusp of the storm again, and the public opinion related to it has increased.
According to the news of the State Administration for Market Regulation on February 18, Tesla (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. recently filed a recall plan with the State Administration for Market Regulations in accordance with the requirements of the Regulations on the Administration of the Recall of Defective Automobile Products and the Implementation Measures for the Regulations on the Administration of the Recall of Defective Automobile Products.
From now on, Tesla will recall some of the domesticAlly produced Model 3 (12,003) and Model Y (14,044) electric vehicles produced between December 28, 2020 and January 15, 2022, for a total of 26,047.
Tesla China recalled 26,000 domestically produced Model 3 and Y electric vehicles
On February 18, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued a news release that Tesla (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. recently filed a recall plan with the State Administration for Market Regulations in accordance with the requirements of the Regulations on the Administration of the Recall of Defective Automobile Products and the Implementation Measures for the Administration of the Recall of Defective Automobile Products.
The electronic expansion valve of the heat pump in some vehicles within the scope of this recall will have a slight movement when positioning, because the software (version 2021.44 to 2021.44.30.6) has no correction function, which may cause the valve to be partially opened in the long run, the heat pump compressor to stop working, and the heating function in the car to fail.
In the above state, especially when the temperature outside the car is lower than minus 10 degrees, the windshield defrosting system cannot achieve the defrosting effect stipulated by the relevant national laws and regulations, and the decline of the defrost function adversely affects the driver's field of vision, thereby increasing the possibility of collision risk of the vehicle when driving in cold weather, and there is a safety hazard.
Tesla (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. will upgrade the software for vehicles within the scope of the recall through the vehicle remote upgrade (OTA) technology, and the user can complete the recall without going to the store; for vehicles that cannot be recalled through the car remote upgrade (OTA) technology, Tesla (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. will contact the relevant users through the Tesla service center to upgrade the software for the vehicle free of charge to eliminate safety hazards.
Data disclosed on the website of the State Administration for Market Regulation shows that this is the third time since December last year that Tesla has recalled domestic electric vehicles. The previous two were:
On December 3, 2021, Tesla (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. recalled some domestically produced Model Y electric vehicles, a total of 21,599 vehicles, mainly involving steering knuckle problems.
On December 31, 2021, Tesla (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. recalled some domestically produced Model 3 electric vehicles, totaling 144208, mainly involving trunk cover issues;
At the same time, Tesla Motors (Beijing) Co., Ltd. recalled some imported Model S electric vehicles, a total of 19697 (mainly involving the problem of front trunk lock latches), and recalled some imported Model 3 electric vehicles, a total of 35836 vehicles (mainly involving the trunk cover problem).
Tesla recalled 1.47 million vehicles in 1 month in the United States
In the United States, Tesla's recall scale is even larger, according to incomplete statistics, in the late January to the present less than a month, Tesla has launched four recalls in the United States, involving more than 1.47 million units.
On February 10, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced that Tesla has recalled 578,600 electric vehicles due to audio problems.
Vehicles in the recall include the Tesla Model S, Model X and Model Y produced between 2020-2022, and the Tesla Model 3 produced in 2017-2022. Boombox mode allows the vehicle to play audio through external speakers while driving, which may obscure the warning tone emitted by the pedestrian warning system.
On February 3, local time, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued an announcement that Tesla is conducting safety recalls on more than 817,000 vehicles because of problems with the seat belt tips of the relevant batches of vehicles. When the driver does not fasten the seat belt after the vehicle in question is started, the buzzer fails to start, resulting in no seat belt prompt ring.
It is also the largest recall in Tesla's history. Tesla's global sales in 2021 increased by about 87.4% y/y to 936,000 units. The size of the recalled vehicles is equivalent to 87% of its annual sales.
The recall involves all four models on sale under Tesla's umbrella. These include the Model S and Model X produced between 2021-2022, the Model 3 in 2017-2022, and the Model Y in 2020-2022.
In addition, on January 26, Tesla recalled 54,000 cars in the United States due to self-driving parking capabilities, and on February 1, Tesla recalled 26,700 cars due to the failure of the defrost and defogging system.
U.S. investigation into Tesla "ghost brakes"
The large number of car recalls is just one of the many problems Tesla faces. At present, Tesla's more difficult problem is related to the "ghost brake" incident.
The latest news shows that the United States has launched an investigation into Tesla's "ghost brakes", which directly led to a sharp decline in Tesla's stock price. On February 17, Tesla's stock price plummeted by 5.09%, and its single-day market value evaporated by $48.6 billion (about 307.6 billion yuan), shrinking to $905.7 billion.
On February 17, EST, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced that it has begun to investigate Tesla's autopilot assist system, involving some Tesla Model 3 and Model Y models in 2021 and 2022, totaling 416,000 vehicles.
The reason is that the agency received a complaint that Tesla's autopilot assist system Autopilot had an accidental activation of the brakes.
This phenomenon is often referred to as "Phantom Braking", that is, when the user turns on the autopilot assistance system of a Tesla vehicle, the vehicle will suddenly and without warning without braking, and many owners are worried about rear-end accidents on the highway.
NHTSA said it had received 354 complaints related to "ghost brakes" in the past nine months. In the three months before Feb. 2 alone, there were already 107 complaints related to "ghost brakes." By comparison, there have been only 34 related complaints in the last two years.
It is understood that although there are no reports of casualties in this "ghost brake" complaint. But since 2016, NHTSA has mastered at least 33 crashes caused by Tesla's "autopilot" that have killed 11 people.
In the report, NHTSA said the Office of Defect Investigation has conducted a preliminary investigation into the accidental braking problem to determine the scope and severity of the potential problem and to fully assess the potential related safety issues.
Tesla China: The second factory settled in Shenyang is false information
Despite frequent problems, Tesla's sales growth with its world-leading self-driving technology and strong cost control capabilities remained strong. According to the financial report data, Tesla delivered 936,200 vehicles in the whole of 2021, an increase of 87% over 2020.
Among them, the Shanghai Gigafactory delivered 484,000 units in the whole year, an increase of 235% year-on-year, accounting for 51.7% of global deliveries. In 2021, the Shanghai Gigafactory contributed more than 160,000 units to overseas market deliveries, meeting the needs of more than 10 countries such as Europe and Asia. The Shanghai Gigafactory has become Tesla's main manufacturing and export center.
In 2021, Tesla achieved revenue of $53.823 billion, an increase of 71% year-on-year; net profit of $5.519 billion, about 34.883 billion yuan, an increase of 665% year-on-year; this is also the first consecutive year since Tesla's listing.
On the earnings call, Musk said tesla deliveries will easily grow by more than 50 percent in 2022 and fully autonomous driving this year.
According to the latest sales data released by the China Automobile Association for the beginning of 2022, in January this year, Tesla China ushered in the "opening red" of 2022 with a delivery volume of 59,845 vehicles. It is worth mentioning that Tesla's export volume reached 40,500 units in January, accounting for nearly 80% of China's new energy vehicle exports.
Recently, Tesla's second factory project has also attracted market attention. On February 12, the "Liaoning Release" public account sponsored by the General Office of the People's Government of Liaoning Province pushed an article entitled "Shenyang Dadong District's "Five Grasps" and Strive to Be the Vanguard of Revitalization and Development", which mainly introduced the "Five Grasps" strategy for revitalizing and developing the Dadong District of Shenyang City, Liaoning Province. Among them, there is such a sentence: "Combined with the urban renewal of the civil official area, open up the industrial development space, and lay the foundation for the landing of major new energy vehicle projects such as Tesla." ”
According to a number of media reports, this may be the long-rumored second factory in Tesla's country that may be located in the Dadong District of Shenyang City. At present, Tesla's only factory in China is located in Shanghai, which is also Tesla's first gigafactory overseas.
In response to media reports that Tesla's second factory in China is about to settle in Shenyang's Dadong District, Tesla China said that this is false news. At present, the source "Liaoning Release" has deleted the relevant content.
At the end of last year, Musk said tesla will build a second factory in Asia. After the news was released, it triggered speculation from all sides. Tesla also said that it will start the site selection of the new factory in 2022 and will determine the location of the new factory in 2023.
Up to now, there have been "scandals" with Tesla's second factory in China, including Shenyang, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Qingdao, Xi'an, Hefei, Wuhan and so on.
Editor-in-charge: Tactical Constant