Connect with us

News

Owner of new Tesla Model X crashes into building claiming the car accelerated on its own [Updated]

Did a new Tesla Model X suddenly accelerate while parking or was there driver error involved?

Published

on

Model X crash 1

An owner of a five day old Tesla Model X crashed into the side of a building after claiming the vehicle suddenly accelerated on its own. The owner took to the company’s forum to voice their strong concerns over the “major problem” Tesla had and suggested that the company should stop deliveries of its vehicles pending investigation of the accident.

Updated: Tesla has issued a statement regarding the incident.

“Our 5 day old Tesla X today while entering a parking stall suddenly and unexpectedly accelerated at high speed on its own climbing over 39 feet of planters and crashing into a building. The airbags deployed and my wife’s arms have burn marks as a consequence.

This could have easily been a fatal accident if the car’s wheels were not turned slightly to the left. If they were straight, it would have gone over the planters and crashed into the store in front of the parking stall and injured or killed the patrons. The acceleration was uncontrollable, seemed maximum and the car only stopped because it hit the building and caused massive damage to the building.

Advertisement

This is a major problem and Tesla should stop deliveries and investigate the cause of this serious accident. Tesla roadside assistance, who was my only contact, asked us to tow the car to AAA storage facility.”

The first responses from Tesla forum members was to suggest the story was a hoax. While there have been reports of Tesla owners claiming their Autopilot car crashed on its own, most of them have involved inadvertent usage of the Summon program or improper braking attributed to driver error, as later proved by Tesla.

Model X crash 2

This is the first report of a suspected sudden unintended acceleration incident when the car was neither in Autopilot, TACC, or Summon mode. Although any conclusions are merely speculative at this point, the circumstances, at first glance, seem eerily similar to the sudden unintended acceleration problem that beset the Toyota Prius almost a decade ago.

Is this a case of driver error, software malfunction, or something else? Many forum members have suggested that cruise control was accidentally activated. Forum member JJS offered this insight:  “The way cruise control works in the X is different that our Model S. In the Model S you have the ability to turn Cruise off by pressing in on the cruise stalk. This feature is not present in the X. So in the S if you turn it off then no matter what you do the the cruise stalk (san pushing it in and turning back on) nothing will happen.

“However in the X there is no way to turn the cruise off (at least not that I’m aware of) and thus if you inadvertently press on the cruise stalk you can indeed engage it. I hope this is something Tesla looks at and fixes on future Xes regardless of the outcome of this investigation.”

Advertisement

We do not have all the facts yet on this story. All we have is the owner’s narrative and photos. Tesla Motors has not yet had an opportunity to retrieve the relevant data from the car or otherwise respond. Theories abound but hard information is lacking at this point. We will advise you of any new developments.

 

Photo credits: Tesla Forum user puzant with assistance from mathwhiz.

Advertisement
Comments

News

Tesla talks Semi ramp, Optimus, Robotaxi rollout, FSD with Wall Street firm

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) recently talked about a variety of topics with Wall Street firm Piper Sandler, as the firm released a new note on Friday about their meeting with the company’s Investor Relations team.

According to the note from Piper Sandler, Tesla talked in detail about the Semi program, Optimus, and its potential valuation given its capabilities, the rollout of Robotaxi in Austin, and Full Self-Driving progress in the United States.

Tesla Semi Ramp

The Tesla Semi is set to enter mass production in 2026 at a dedicated factory near the company’s Gigafactory in Reno, Nevada.

The Semi has already been in pilot program testing, as Tesla has partnered with a few companies, like Frito-Lay and PepsiCo., to perform regional logistics. It has been met with excellent reviews from drivers, and it has helped give Tesla a good idea of what to expect when it makes its way to more companies in the coming years.

Piper Sandler said that it is evident Tesla is preparing for a “major ramp,” but it is keeping its expectations low:

Advertisement

“We’ve never expected much from this product, but we’d love to be proven wrong (Tesla is clearly prepping for a major ramp).”

Tesla Optimus and its value internally and externally

Optimus has been working in Tesla factories for some time, but its expectations as a product offering outside of the company internally have major implications.

Its role within Tesla factories, for now, is relatively low, but Optimus is still doing things to assist. By this time next year, Piper Sandler said Optimus should have bigger responsibilities:

“By this time in 2026, Optimus should be moving/staging parts within Tesla’s facilities.”

Outside of Tesla, Optimus could be a major beneficiary for companies as it could be a more affordable way to handle tedious tasks and manual labor. The firm believes that if Optimus can work 18-hour shifts, a cost of $100,000 per unit “would be justified.”

Advertisement

Tesla Robotaxi Expansion

The big focus of the firm with Robotaxi was Tesla’s expansion of the geofence in Austin this week. It was substantial, bringing the Robotaxi’s total service area to around 170 square miles, up from the roughly 90 square miles that rival Waymo is offering in the city.

Tesla Robotaxi geofence expansion enters Plaid Mode and includes a surprise

Tesla has doubled its geofence three times since its launch in late June, and it also revealed that its fleet of vehicles has expanded by 50 percent. It did not give a solid number of how many vehicles are operating in the fleet.

Tesla Full Self-Driving v14 launch

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite is set to have a fresh version, v14, rolled out in either September or October, and there are some pretty high expectations for it.

CEO Elon Musk said:

Advertisement

“The FSD release in about 6 weeks will be a dramatic gain with a 10X higher parameter count and many other improvements. It’s going through training & testing now. Once we confirm real-world safety of FSD 14, which we think will be amazing, the car will nag you much less.”

There is also some expectation that v14 could be the public release of what Tesla is running in Austin for Robotaxi. The firm confirmed this in their note by stating it “should enable Tesla owners to use software that is on par with Robotaxis in Austin.”

The only real hold up would be regulator skepticism, but Tesla can alleviate this with strong data.

The firm maintained its ‘Overweight’ rating and the $400 price target it holds on the stock.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

News

Tesla starts Full Self-Driving rollout to owners in Australia

“To have this car drive me around Brisbane for an hour, we’re talking in the city, motorway, spaghetti bowl of on-ramps, it handled it so well. It was mind-blowing.”

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla has already started rolling out its Full Self-Driving suite to owners in Australia after officially launching the driver assistance suite in the country yesterday.

Earlier this week, Tesla seemed to be moving toward the launch of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in Australia after numerous media members received early access to test its performance.

Tesla officially launched Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in Australia yesterday. The company told media members who got early access to the suite that the rollout would begin with Hardware 4-equipped Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.

Tesla launches Full Self-Driving in a new region

The release would be slow and gradual, with the process performed in stages.

Advertisement

The first stage of the rollout has already begun in Australia:

Tesla is reminding drivers in Australia who are using the suite for the first time that they must not become complacent while FSD is in operation. It is not fully autonomous and still requires the driver to remain attentive to road conditions and the vehicle’s surroundings.

Advertisement

Currently, the suite is only available to purchase outright, and it comes at a cost of $10,100. A subscription model is in the works, similar to the one in the United States, but Tesla has not yet announced its plans or pricing model for this.

Australia is the sixth country to receive Full Self-Driving (Supervised), or at least some version of it, as the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, and Puerto Rico all have access to the suite currently. In China, it is slightly different and is referred to as “City Autopilot” due to regulatory boundaries.

Early reviews of the suite have been very strong, as local media have also had the opportunity to try it, with one journalist saying, To have this car drive me around Brisbane for an hour, we’re talking in the city, motorway, spaghetti bowl of on-ramps, it handled it so well. It was mind-blowing.”

Continue Reading

News

Tesla expands crazy new lease deal for insane savings on used inventory

Tesla was able to work through the hurdles in three states, expanding the deal to New York, New Jersey, and Florida.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla

Tesla has expanded its new lease deal, offering people insane savings on used inventory.

Last week, we reported on Tesla offering crazy good lease deals on some of its used inventory, as people were able to grab monthly payments for as little as $225 per month with no money down.

There was only one catch: the deal was only available in California and Texas.

Tesla offers new deal on used inventory that you won’t want to pass up

However, Tesla has been working hard to get the lease deal expanded, and it finally has. Last night, Tesla’s VP of Finance, Sendil Palani, confirmed the deal had made it to three additional states.

Advertisement

Palani explained that the deal was only available in California and Texas because the leasing process requires working through regulatory hurdles in each state. He said it “involves a nontrivial amount of work,” which makes things more difficult to iron out.

Tesla was able to work through the hurdles in three states, expanding the deal to New York, New Jersey, and Florida. It is currently active in those states, Palani said:

Advertisement

Tesla is really making a concerted effort to push its inventory out the door, and many areas already are running low on both new and pre-owned inventory. It has cut prices on some new inventory, while offering these new lease deals on used vehicles that remain.

It is beneficial to the consumer for obvious reasons: cheaper payments and the ability to get a great deal on a car for no money down. Tesla is also getting rid of vehicles that were once thought to be intended for the Robotaxi fleet, but it appears these older hardware vehicles are no longer in the company’s plans for that purpose.

This is the first time Tesla has offered lease deals on used inventory, as it has only offered an outright purchase option in the past. In an effort to boost deliveries and rid itself of older cars, these lease deals are truly beneficial for both parties. It is only a wonder how long they will last.

Continue Reading

Trending