Tesla’s battle with the FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) campaign in China continues after a Model X owner claims the brakes on his all-electric SUV are faulty. The man was caught admitting that the story is fabricated, telling local media that “I know my car has nothing wrong with it.”
Over the past several months, Tesla has been sparring with owners in China who appear to be a part of an effort to derail the company’s momentum in the country. It all started a couple of months ago at the Shanghai Auto Show when a woman invaded Tesla’s booth at the event by jumping on top of a Model 3 and claiming that her brakes had failed during a drive with her father. The drive ended in an accident, and she blames it on Tesla’s “faulty brakes.”
She was sentenced to serve a few days in jail and has made every attempt to make her case as public as possible. She has gone as far as spraypainting the car as it sat outside of a Tesla showroom in China and has also denied any attempt that Tesla has made to resolve the issue. The automaker published a lengthy statement in May, indicating that it had offered to pay for a third-party company to assess the potential of a brake issue while paying for the study. She denied this and also said that data released by the automaker, which proved that the owner’s father, who was driving the vehicle at the time, traveled at excessive speeds during the journey and also had utilized the brakes successfully many times in the moments leading up to the accident, could have been fabricated or tampered with by Tesla.
The Tesla Model Y is leading China’s electric SUV segment by a wide margin
This hasn’t been the only instance, and those who have decided to turn against the automaker have made it abundantly clear that there will be more attempts in the future to claim that Tesla’s vehicles are faulty and dangerous.
Model X Owner claims faulty brakes, Tesla responds
Now, a Model X owner in China named Mr. Wen is claiming that his vehicle has faulty brakes and is demanding that Tesla provide him with a newly refreshed Model X.
According to a statement on Tesla’s Weibo page, Wen suffered an accident in his vehicle, and Tesla reached out to him to figure out the issue. “At present, the initial remote diagnosis of the cause of the vehicle alarm is the right front wheel speed sensor, and the vehicle used by Mr. Wen at the time of failure…may be due to contamination of the wheel speed sensor or damage to the sensor line,” Tesla said (via @Ray4Tesla). “Mr. Wen’s vehicle has traveled more than 175,000 kilometers, which has exceeded the vehicle warranty.”
Tesla then suggested that the vehicle be towed to a Service Center in China so that it could be examined to determine the reason for failure and fixed properly. However, Wen has continued to drive the car over 800 kilometers, Tesla says, and has gone as far as claiming on the internet “that the vehicle has failed and it was dangerous.”
Tesla says it hopes that Mr. Wen will allow the company to conduct inspections and repair the car so it can be used normally as soon as possible.
Mr. Wen admits to media that “I know my car has nothing wrong with it”
According to Tesla, the blog Teslabot broke a recording of Mr. Wen admitting that the car has no issues. In a series of statements, he said, “I know my car has nothing wrong with it,” and “The coil is aging, or it is worn during the car wash. This is suspected to be the problem, my car will not have any major problems.”
Wen said that he didn’t have money to find media exposure and that “If you don’t make trouble, you can defend your rights normally, our police station will not participate.”
- Credit: Tesla Weibo via @Ray4Tesla
- Credit: Tesla Weibo via @Ray4Tesla
According to the post on Weibo, the media outlet Henan Guan Lei TV has deleted all of the reports of Tesla vehicle issues in China.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time that those who have claimed that Tesla’s vehicles have issues have admitted that their story was fabricated. It’s actually happened on several occasions, with many of the perpetrators admitting that their issues were made up for media attention.
Tesla has also battled falsified and non-verified reports of lackluster sales figures. Most recently, a claim that indicated Tesla’s registrations in China in May had reduced by 50% was shrugged off by the Secretary General of the Chinese Passenger Car Association.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below, or be sure to email me at joey@teslarati.com or on Twitter @KlenderJoey.
News
Neuralink Head of Surgery teases exciting Tesla Optimus update
If successful, the test could result in Neuralink patients accomplishing impressive feats using Optimus.
 
														Neuralink’s Head of Surgery has teased what could very well be the an incredibly ambitious and insane collaboration with Tesla Optimus, Elon Musk’s humanoid robot that is expected to start initial trial production sometime next year.
If successful, the test could result in Neuralink patients accomplishing impressive feats using Optimus.
Neuralink’s current trials
Neuralink recently shared a video of Alex, the second human recipient of its Telepathy device. Alex is part of Neuralink’s PRIME study, and he was selected to be the first patient to control a robotic arm using only his mind. As could be seen in the video, Alex is now capable of operating household appliances using a robotic arm that he controls with his mind.
In response to the video, which was posted by Neuralink co-founder and President DJ Seo, the startup’s Head of Surgery Mechanical Engineering, Danish Hussain, joked that the company is really just helping out people. This was despite critics arguing that Neuralink is some giant evil corporation. “We’re literally just out here helping the homies eat pretzels lol,” the Head of Surgery ME wrote. 
Next steps with Optimus
The Neuralink Head of Surgery ME’s comments caught quite a bit of attention on X, with some, such as Elon Musk, highlighting that Neuralink is actually a pretty small company. Other commenters also asked whether Neuralink would eventually train its patients with Tesla Optimus V2, a humanoid robot. Hussain shared an exciting response: “We’re starting simple, but this will happen very soon!” he wrote in a post on X.
Having the capability to control an Optimus robot using only the mind would most definitely be a life-changing ability for Neuralink’s patients. Of course, Tesla might wait until Optimus V3 gets rolled out before such a trial might happen, as that is the variant of the humanoid robot that seems to be heading for mass production. Either way, it seems like an age where Optimus robots can be controlled by thoughts using a Neuralink implant may be coming sooner than expected.
News
Tesla Supercharger Network is so reliable, it’s pushing Model Y sales
Tesla’s Supercharger network is proving to be a key factor in the company’s dominance in several key markets.
 
														Tesla’s Supercharger network is proving to be a key factor in the company’s dominance in several key markets. These include Norway, which has become a place of strength for the new Model Y.
This was hinted at by Tesla’s Director of Charging, Max de Zegher, on social media platform X.
Supercharger network sets the industry standard
As noted by the Tesla executive, the Model Y accounted for 29% of all vehicle sales in Norway in September. Part of the vehicle’s success was likely due to the reliability of the Supercharger Network, which is class leading even in Norway, where 98% of new cars sold are electric.
De Zegher emphasized on X that Tesla Superchargers are still in a class of their own. An EPSI survey of nearly 1,500 Norwegian EV drivers supported his claim, as Tesla Superchargers retained first place in customer satisfaction for the fifth consecutive year. 
The EPSI Survey‘s results
Respondents to the EPSI survey praised the Supercharger network’s strong uptime, abundant capacity, and user-friendly digital solutions, placing it ahead of other operators such as Uno-X. Survey researchers highlighted that Tesla has set the standard when it comes to simplicity in the charging process.
Drivers also cited competitive pricing and seamless plug-and-charge functionality as major reasons they prefer Tesla’s network, especially in Norway’s extreme winter conditions where reliability is critical.
“Tesla has set the standard for simplicity in the charging process. Combined with competitive prices, this means that many electric car drivers say they are likely to choose Tesla again the next time they need to charge,” EPSI noted in a post.
News
Tesla top exec Tom Zhu highlights Elon Musk’s “prime directive” for FSD
Zhu’s comments emphasize Tesla’s uncompromising focus on safety, which has made the company’s vehicles among the safest on the road.
 
														Tesla Senior Vice President for Automotive Tom Zhu, a key executive behind the company’s success in China and Giga Texas, recently highlighted the “prime directive” of Full Self-Driving (FSD).
Zhu’s comments emphasize Tesla’s uncompromising focus on safety, which has made the company’s vehicles among the safest on the road.
Echoing Musk’s vision for safe autonomous driving
Zhu’s post quoted Musk’s statement from 2021, where the CEO reportedly stated that FSD must avoid accidents even if the most ridiculous events happened in the middle of the road. Zhu stated that beyond everything, Tesla’s systems like Autopilot and FSD are designed to keep passengers safe.
“Elon said it in 2021: “For self-driving, even if the road is painted completely wrong and a UFO lands in the middle of the road, the car still cannot crash and still needs to do the right thing. The prime directive for the autopilot system is: Don’t crash. That really overrides everything. No matter what the lines say or how the road is done, the thing that needs to happen is minimizing the probability of impact while getting you to your destination conveniently and comfortably,” Zhu stated.
“The prime directive, the absolute priority, is to minimize the probability of injury to yourself or to anyone on the road, to pedestrians, or anything like that. It can’t be dependent on the road markings being correct.”
Tesla leadership rallies behind global FSD rollout
Tom Zhu, who previously led Tesla China through its record-breaking growth phase, now oversees automotive operations worldwide. He has reportedly become a problem solver for Elon Musk over the years, with previous reports stating that he was brought in to help Giga Texas optimize its vehicle production ramp.
Zhu’s comments may sound ambitious, but FSD has proven that it values safety above all else over the years. This was highlighted recently in an incident in Australia, when a Model Y was hit by what could very well be a meteor. Despite the impact and part of its windshield melting, the vehicle was able to drive safely and keep its passengers safe.
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