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Tesla Q4 2018 Vehicle Safety Report: 1 accident per 2.91M miles with Autopilot engaged
Tesla has released the results of its Q4 2018 Vehicle Safety Report. Just like the company’s previous report in Q3 2018, Tesla released updated numbers for incidents that occurred both when Autopilot was engaged and when the driver-assist feature was deactivated.
Tesla released its first Vehicle Safety Report after the third quarter of 2018. During that period, the electric car maker registered one accident or crash-like event for every 3.34 million miles driven with Autopilot active, and one accident or crash-like event for every 1.92 million miles driven with Autopilot disengaged. During the time of the Q3 report’s publication, the NHTSA’s data noted that a car crash was recorded in the United States for every 492,000 miles driven.
In its Q4 2018 report, the company noted that its numbers include instances when its electric cars were hit by another object or vehicle. That said, here are the overall results of Tesla’s Q4 2018 Vehicle Safety Report.
“In the 4th quarter, we registered one accident for every 2.91 million miles driven in which drivers had Autopilot engaged. For those driving without Autopilot, we registered one accident for every 1.58 million miles driven. By comparison, NHTSA’s most recent data shows that in the United States there is an automobile crash every 436,000 miles.”
It should be noted that the fourth quarter covered the winter months of 2018, which have less daylight and result in more challenging driving conditions. This generally causes more incidents for all types of vehicles, both electric and fossil fuel-powered. The NHTSA does not release quarterly statistics for car crashes, though a closer look at the agency’s GES database shows that a similar pattern (an uptick in incidents during the winter months) was exhibited in 2014 and 2015. The NHTSA’s data for 2016 is currently unavailable.
Tesla’s vehicles, thanks to their all-electric design, are among the safest cars on the road. Being made of ultra-high-strength steel and aluminum, Tesla’s vehicles are sturdy. The electric cars have extra large crumple zones as well due to their all-electric design. These, together with a combination of passive safety, active safety, and automated driver assistance, work hand in hand help Tesla’s vehicles attain their stellar safety ratings from agencies like the NHTSA.
Elon Musk’s statements about the safety of Tesla’s electric cars are not empty. After all, the company’s vehicles are known for their high ratings with agencies like the NHTSA. The Model 3 and the Model X have gained perfect 5-Star Safety Ratings, and the Model S infamously broke one of the agency’s crash testing gear when it was being tested due to its durability. Today, the Model 3, Model S, and Model X stand among the NHTSA’s vehicles with the lowest probability of injury during accidents.
In true Tesla fashion, though, the company continues to make improvements on its vehicles’ safety features, as teased in recent patent applications hinting at safer airbag deployment systems using seat sensors, and damage monitoring systems that could proactively warn drivers when a component needs service or repair.
Tesla’s Q4 2018 vehicle safety report can be accessed in full here.
Tesla has left a single loophole to purchase Full Self-Driving outright. On Sunday, the option officially disappeared from the Online Design Studio in the United States, as Tesla transitioned to a Subscription-only purchasing plan for the FSD suite.
However, there is still one way to get the Full Self-Driving suite in an outright manner, which would not require the vehicle owner to pay monthly for the driver assistance program — but you have to buy a Model S or Model X.
Months ago, Tesla launched a special “Luxe Package” for the Model S and Model X, which included Full Self-Driving for the life of the vehicle, as well as free Supercharging at over 75,000 locations, as well as free Premium Connectivity, and a Four-Year Premium Service package, which includes wheel and tire protection, windshiel protection, and recommended maintenance.
🚨 Tesla increased the price of both the Model S and Model X by $10,000, but both vehicles now include the “Luxe Package,” which includes:
-Full Self-Driving
-Four years of included maintenance, tire and wheel repairs, and windshield repairs/replacements
-Free lifetime… pic.twitter.com/LKv7rXruml— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 16, 2025
It would also be available through the purchase of a Cyberbeast, the top trim of the Cybertruck lineup.
This small loophole would allow owners to avoid the monthly payment, but there have been some changes in the fine print of the program, as Tesla has added that it will not be transferable to subsequent vehicle owners or to another vehicle.
This goes for the FSD and the Supercharging offers that come with the Luxe Package.
For now, Tesla still has the Full Self-Driving subscription priced at $99 per month. However, that price is expected to increase over the course of some time, especially as its capabilities improve. Tesla seems to be nearing Unsupervised FSD based on Musk’s estimates for the Cybercab program.
There is the potential that Tesla offers both Unsupervised and Supervised FSD for varying prices, but this is not confirmed.
In other countries, Tesla has pushed back the deadline to purchase the suite outright, as in Australia, it has been adjusted to March 31.
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Tesla Sweden’s port deal sparks political clash in Trelleborg
The extension of Tesla’s lease has drawn criticism from the local Social Democratic opposition.
Tesla Sweden’s lease agreement at the Port of Trelleborg has triggered a political dispute, with local leaders divided over whether the municipally owned port should continue renting space to the electric vehicle maker amidst its ongoing conflict with the IF Metall union.
Tesla Sweden’s recently extended contract with the Port of Trelleborg has triggered calls for greater political oversight of future agreements.
Tesla has used the Port of Trelleborg to import vehicles into Sweden amid a blockade by the Transport Workers’ Union, as noted in a report from Dagens Arbete (DA). By routing cars via trucks on passenger ferries, the company has maintained deliveries despite the labor dispute. Vehicles have also been stored and prepared in facilities leased from the municipal port company.
The extension of Tesla’s lease has drawn criticism from the local Social Democratic opposition. Initially, the Port of Trelleborg hinted that it would not enter into new agreements with Tesla, but it eventually opted to renew its existing contract with the EV maker anyway.
Lennart Höckert, an opposition councilor, described the port’s decision as a “betrayal of the Swedish model,” arguing that a municipally owned entity should not appear to side with one party in an active labor dispute.
“If you want to protect the Swedish model, you shouldn’t get involved in a conflict and help one of the parties. When you as a company do this, it means that you are actually taking a position and making things worse in an already ongoing conflict,” Höckert said.
He added that the party now wants politicians to review and approve future rental agreements involving municipal properties at the port.
The proposal has been sharply criticized by Mathias Andersson of the Sweden Democrats, who chairs the municipal board. In comments to local media, Andersson described the Social Democrats’ approach as “Kim Jong Un-style,” arguing that political leaders should not micromanage a company governed by its own board.
“I believe that the port should be run like any other business,” Andersson said. He also noted that operational decisions fall under the authority of the Port of Trelleborg’s board instead of elected officials.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s X sees outage on Monday as users report issues
Monday’s outage follows a similar issue that befell the social media platform in mid-January.
X experienced an outage on Monday morning, with tens of thousands of users reporting that the platform failed to load across both desktop and mobile. The disruption began around 8:02 a.m. ET, as per Downdetector data, and quickly escalated in the U.S. and U.K.
Monday’s outage follows a similar issue that befell the social media platform in mid-January.
Shortly after 8 a.m. ET, Downdetector showed a sharp rise in incident reports. At one point, U.S. complaints exceeded 40,000, while U.K. reports climbed past 6,000. Earlier in the outage, filings had already crossed 11,000 in the U.S. and 3,300 in the U.K., as noted in a TechRadar report. X users in other locations, such as the Philippines and Costa Rica, also reported similar issues.
Users attempting to access X were met with a “something went wrong” message. Feeds did not refresh, posts failed to appear, and both the social media platform’s app and web versions appeared affected by the issue. The outage struck during peak weekday usage, amplifying its visibility across regions worldwide.
X has not issued an official explanation for the latest outage or confirmed what caused the service disruption. The scale of complaints drew comparisons to the platform’s major outage in November 2025, which resulted in users being met with “Internal server error / Error code 500” messages, as well as Cloudflare-related error notices.
The incident also comes just weeks after X experienced a similar downtime in mid-January. That outage seemed more notable, however, with more than 100,000 users reporting issues with the social media platform on Downdetector.
Tesla leaves a single loophole to purchase Full Self-Driving outright
Tesla Sweden’s port deal sparks political clash in Trelleborg
