Tesla Takes a Stand: A Rare Response to Washington Post's Autopilot Critique

December 12, 2023

By Kevin Armstrong

Tesla Responds to WP Story

Tesla

In a notable deviation from its typical media strategy, Tesla has issued a pointed rebuttal to a recent Washington Post article criticizing Autopilot. This response is rare for Tesla, which generally remains silent in the face of media critique. The company's statement begins emphatically: "While there are many articles that do not accurately convey the nature of our safety systems, the recent Washington Post article is particularly egregious in its misstatements and lack of relevant context."

According to Tesla, the misrepresentation starts in the story's second paragraph. The Post states the driver of a Tesla who caused a crash in Key Largo in 2019 said he was “driving on cruise,” but that wasn’t the end of his statement. He continued, “I expect to be the driver and be responsible for this.” The Post had the driver's statements to police, reports, and statements made in litigation supporting that claim.

The Role of Driver Responsibility

The article goes downhill from there. The four reporters who contributed to this “exclusive” repeat known information, such as the ongoing investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The company points out that the Tesla driver in this 2019 incident settled with the crash victims, acknowledging individual responsibility. Tesla also highlights that Autopilot restricted the vehicle's speed to 45 mph, but the driver manually maintained a higher speed, which requires pressing the accelerator pedal. This was a critical factor in the crash.

Refuting Misleading Allegations

Tesla refutes several allegations in the Washington Post article, clarifying that the lawsuit regarding the Key Largo crash does not mention driver complacency or the so-called "Operational Design Domain." The company also notes that the driver involved in the collision admitted to his responsibility, countering claims of over-reliance on the Autopilot system.

The company emphasizes the role of driver responsibility, even when Autopilot is active. The company states that while Autopilot is a Level 2 driver-assist system, it requires the driver to always be in control and attentive. Tesla also mentions advanced safety measures like torque-based (the nag) and camera-based monitoring systems to ensure driver engagement.

Challenging Media Bias

Tesla's statement challenges what it perceives as biased and incompetent media reporting. The company argues for the necessity of balanced reporting that acknowledges both the potential and limitations of advanced driver-assistance systems.

Addressing the safety concerns, Tesla provides compelling statistics: In the 4th quarter of 2022, there was one crash for every 4.85 million miles driven with Autopilot engaged, compared to one crash every 1.40 million miles without Autopilot. This data, Tesla argues, demonstrates that Autopilot significantly enhances safety, contradicting the narrative presented in the Washington Post article.

Concluding its response, Tesla reaffirms its commitment to road safety and technological innovation. The company expresses its willingness to collaborate with global regulators to enhance safety on the road further.

This detailed response from Tesla underscores the importance of comprehensive and balanced media coverage, especially when discussing advanced technologies like Autopilot. However, does Tesla have the time, patience, or resources to combat all the adverse, biased reporting against it? It may have no choice but to correct misconceptions and highlight its dedication to improving automotive safety.

Tesla FSD V12.4 - Features and Release Date

May 16, 2024

By Not a Tesla App Staff

The greatly anticipated FSD v12.4 is around the corner, with Elon Musk mentioning that it will be going to employees this weekend, with limited external testers next week.

Several significant improvements are coming with V12.4, which is being compared to the leap in performance that was previously seen between V12 and V11.

Improved Comfort and Reduced Interventions

There are quite a few improvements expected with V12.4, which Musk has said will be focused on user comfort by reducing hard accelerations and sudden braking. According to Musk, FSD v12.4 is also expected to have a 5-10x improvement in time between user interventions, which means that Tesla is rapidly approaching its goal for the Robotaxi announcement on August 8, 2024.

Steering Wheel Nag Removal

FSD V12.4 is expected to eliminate the steering wheel nag, as Musk confirmed its removal last week. The camera-based driver monitoring system will be taking over, providing a hands-free experience. These improvements will most likely benefit owners who have cabin cameras with infrared lights the most, while Tesla may continue to use steering wheel nag as a fallback mechanism.

Driverless Autopark

The second key feature that may be included in v12.4 will be Banish Autopark, previously known as Reverse Summon, allowing you to choose a parking spot, exit the vehicle and have the car park itself. Whether this feature makes it in v12.4 is yet to be seen, but Musk has mentioned that parking without a driver is coming soon.

Automatically Seek Parking Spot at Destination

Finally, your Tesla will now traverse a parking lot and automatically enter Autopark mode when arriving at a destination, according to a post from Musk.

Eligibility and Branch

Tesla recently added FSD v12.3.6 to the 2024.14 branch with updates 2024.14.5 and 2024.14.6. This makes it very likely that Tesla’s next FSD version will also be based on 2024.14, meaning that it will be available to any vehicle on 2024.14.x.

For users on update 2024.3.25, this means that they’ll receive all of the features included in updates 2024.8 and 2024.14, which should make it a massive update.

Release Date

Musk has mentioned that FSD V12.4 is going out to employee vehicles for internal testing this weekend, with external testing starting next week. The rollouts typically go slower than predicted but looks like we may see this begin shipping to customers by the end of the month.

U.S. Raising Tariff Rates on Imported EVs and Batteries From China: How It Affects Tesla

May 15, 2024

By Not a Tesla App Staff

Today, as part of a broader change of tariff rates on Chinese goods, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that he’ll raise tariffs on electric vehicles imported from China, increasing the rate from 25% to 100%, effective this year.

This increase won’t just impact the import of vehicles, but also the rate for lithium-ion batteries produced in China, which will be moving from 7.5% to 25%.

Impact on Competition

The immediate impact of this new regulation is significant for Chinese manufacturers, who have been regarded as Tesla’s largest and greatest competition. Given the tariff hike, this means that new Chinese manufacturers, such as Nio, XPeng, or BYD, will either need to set up production in North America, or be subject to the increased import tariff.

Nio’s vehicles cost between $40,000 USD to $70,000 USD in China based on today’s conversion rates, and with an import tariff of 100%, an imported vehicle’s price would be doubled to $80,000 USD to $140,000 USD, not including other fees. Chinese manufacturers will have to closely weigh the advantages and disadvantages of opening up the North American market, with challenges including vehicle homologation, new tariffs, and a difficult EV market.

Tesla and Chinese Tariffs

Elon Musk recently visited China, engaging with officials to build a foundation for what is currently the world’s largest electric vehicle market. With the potential import of Chinese EVs becoming restricted to the United States, this places Tesla in an advantageous position over its Chinese competitors who have yet to establish their brands in North America.

On the other hand, this could also impact Tesla, as they import Chinese batteries for usage in some vehicles in the United States.

Tesla does not import Gigafactory Shanghai vehicles to the US, but has been increasing North American battery production lately, with expansions in Lathrop, California and a new facility in Sparks, Nevada.

Canadian Tariffs

In Canada, the Model 3 and Model Y are currently being imported from Gigafactory Shanghai. Given Canada’s close following of US foreign policy, this could impact either the prices of Tesla vehicles in Canada or have Tesla shipping vehicles from Fremont and Texas to the United States once again, should Canada also adopt a similar tariff policy.