"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.
Tesla China recall
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.
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.
In view of the above defects, Tesla (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. will upgrade the software for the 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 the vehicle 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 the safety hazards.
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 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has recently launched an investigation into Tesla's "ghost brakes" and led to a 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.
According to incomplete statistics, in less than a month since late January, Tesla has launched four recalls in the United States, involving more than 1.47 million units.
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's second domestic factory will be located in Shenyang?
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." ”
The recalled Tesla Model Y model is based on the Shanghai Securities News
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.
According to the data, Tesla's sales in the Chinese market have reached new highs many times, and in 2021, Tesla has delivered 936,000 new cars worldwide, an increase of 87% year-on-year, of which Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory delivered 484,000 vehicles, an increase of 235% year-on-year, accounting for 51.7% of Tesla's total global deliveries, becoming Tesla's first single market in the world.
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.
Intelligent electric vehicles need to reduce the cost of use
This is not the first time Tesla has recalled it in the domestic market.
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 times 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 the issue of steering knuckles.
On December 31, 2021, Tesla (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. recalled some domesticAlly produced Model 3 electric vehicles, a total of 144208 vehicles, mainly involving the trunk cover problem; at the same time, Tesla Motors (Beijing) Co., Ltd. recalled some imported Model S electric vehicles, a total of 19697 vehicles (mainly involving the front load compartment lock latch problem), and recalled some imported Model 3 electric vehicles, a total of 35836 vehicles (mainly involving the trunk cover problem).
"Intelligent electric vehicles represented by Tesla need to pay attention to training users and reducing the cost of use while actively optimizing products in the Chinese market." Some auto industry experts told reporters that with the electric and intelligent automobile revolution, more and more Chinese traditional fuel vehicle users and new users of the first car have begun to choose smart electric vehicles.
But on the other hand, due to factors such as the use of faults and the launch of new energy exclusive car insurance at the end of last year, the premium of intelligent electric vehicles represented by Tesla has risen sharply. Many of the car insurance of Tesla models rose by more than 100%, the car insurance of Xiaopeng Automobile rose by about 50%, and the premium of Ideal and Weilai Automobile also increased. Tesla owners reflect that the official website premium of Tesla Model3 P model was originally about 8,000 yuan, and now the official website is 18,000 yuan.
Some property insurance industry insiders said that the policy cost of China's new energy vehicles is currently mainly reflected in two aspects: one is that maintenance is expensive, and the other is that the insurance rate is relatively high. At present, the loss ratio of new energy vehicle insurance generally exceeds 85%, and the industry is facing greater underwriting loss pressure.
Xiaoxiang Morning News Comprehensive Securities Times, Shanghai Securities News
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