Tesla is firing back at claims that some of its cars have experienced ‘sudden unintended acceleration.’
In a statement released today, Tesla says that allegations that its cars have been accelerating without drivers ever pushing down on the pedal are ‘completely false.’
‘This petition is completely false and was brought by a Tesla short-seller. We investigate every single incident where the driver alleges to us that their vehicle accelerated contrary to their input, and in every case where we had the vehicle’s data, we confirmed that the car operated as designed,’ says the company, referencing ‘short-sellers’ who hedge bets that the company’s stock will decrease in value.
‘In other words, the car accelerates if, and only if, the driver told it to do so, and it slows or stops when the driver applies the brake.’
Tesla is under investigation after 127 complaints were sent to the National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) claiming certain models experienced ‘sudden unintended acceleration’. Pictured is an incident in 2018 in Mountain View, California where a Tesla electric SUV crashed into a barrier after it suddenly accelerated
As noted by The Verge, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has often railed against ‘short-sellers,’ or traders who profit from a company’s stock decreasing in value, claiming that they spread false rumors for a profit.
In this case, Musk and Tesla are blaming short sellers for a recent petition against the company that alleges its Model 3, Model S and Model X, which were made and sold from 2013 through to 2019, are unsafe.
The petition claims that a flaw caused cars to spontaneously accelerate and has caused 110 crashes and 52 injuries, with many drivers stating the incident occurred when they attempted to park in a garage or at a curb.
Others claimed the sudden acceleration happened while in traffic or when using driver assistance systems.
The NHTSA defines ‘sudden acceleration incidents’ as ‘unintended, unexpected, high-power accelerations from a stationary position or a very low initial speed accompanied by an apparent loss of braking effectiveness.’
Three years ago, news spread of a brand-new Tesla Model X SUV when it suddenly accelerated at ‘maximum speed’ by itself, jumped a curb and slammed into the side of a shopping mall. The owner of the Model X said the vehicle was only five days old and his wife, who was behind the wheel at the time of the incident, had not activated any self-driving features at the time of the crash.
In one complaint, a driver said a 2015 Tesla Model S 85D in California was closed and locked when he claimed ‘a few moments later the vehicle started accelerating forward towards the street and crashed into a parked car.’
A Tesla driver in Avondale, Pennsylvania, was pulling into a parking spot at an elementary school when the vehicle accelerated on its own, the complaint said adding: ‘It went over a curb and into a chain link fence.’
Another complaint said a Tesla driver in Andover, Massachusetts was approaching her garage door ‘when the car suddenly lurched forward: and ‘went through the garage door destroying two garage doors.’
The Tesla allgedly stopped when it hit the garage’s concrete wall.
The flaw is said to have caused 110 crashes and 52 injuries, with many drivers stating the incident occurred when they attempted to park in a garage or at a curb. Others claimed the sudden acceleration happened while in traffic or when using driver assistance systems
In October, the agency said it was reviewing whether Tesla should have recalled 2,000 of its electric cars in May instead of issuing a software upgrade to fix a potential defect that could have resulted in battery fires in Model S and Model X vehicles from the 2012-2019 model years.
Three years ago, news spread of a brand-new Tesla Model X SUV when it suddenly accelerated at ‘maximum speed’ by itself, jumped a curb and slammed into the side of a shopping mall.
The owner of the Model X, Puzant Ozbag, said the vehicle was only five days old and his wife, who was behind the wheel at the time of the incident, had not activated any self-driving features at the time of the crash.
Although not listed as an incident in the petition, a Tesla Model X crashed on Highway 1010 in Mountain View back in March 2018 that left one dead.
Walter Huang was traveling down the road when his vehicle suddenly accelerated a few seconds before the crash while driving in autopilot.
