Tesla accused of ignoring customer complaints over autopilot safety

Drivers claim cars ‘too dangerous for the road’ in documents leaked by whistleblowers

(26 May 2023)

Tesla has been hit by claims it is ignoring customer concerns about potentially lethal flaws with its Autopilot driver assistance system after a data leak.

Thousands of files shared by whistleblowers with German newspaper Handlesblatt detail Tesla’s handling of crash investigations, in which customers claimed their cars are “simply too dangerous for the road”. 

The drivers named in the leaks and contacted by the newspaper accused Teslaof brushing off their concerns about its Autopilot technology. 

It is alleged that employees are given strict guidelines over how to reply to complaints, with some drivers claiming that Tesla workers were urged to avoid written communication to “offer as little attack surface as possible”, Handelsbatt said. 

The Autopilot software, launched in 2015, is a set of driver assistance and safety tools that include automatic cruise control, lane guidance and automatic braking. 

Tesla, under the orders of billionaire chief executive Elon Musk, has also launched a more advanced “full self-driving” version of its system in North America.

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The files shared with Handlesblatt included details of 2,400 complaints about cars accelerating unexpectedly and 1,500 automatic braking problems – including 139 cases of unintentional emergency braking and 383 “phantom stops”.

One customer, who complained about his car “phantom braking”, claimed Tesla showed an “absolute lack of any concern given the seriousness of the security problems”. 

The leaked data included information on more than 1,000 crashes.

Tesla’s lawyers said Handlesblatt was in possession of “stolen Tesla confidential information” that it believed had been leaked by a “disgruntled ex-employee”.

The company said a former employee had “misused his access as a service technician to exfiltrate information in violation of his signed non-disclosure agreement, Tesla’s data management policies and practices and EU and German law”. 

Tesla was contacted for comment.

The newspaper said it was publishing the information as it believed the data leak included exceptional information in the public interest.

Data protection authorities in Brandenburg, where Tesla’s German gigafactory is located, and in the Netherlands have been examining the apparent breach, which also included personal information on thousands of Tesla employees. 

According to internal guidelines for Tesla, the company told employees to avoid writing down certain information about complaints from customers.

One document told employees: “Do not copy and paste the report below into an email, text message or leave it in a voicemail to the customer”. 

Tesla is battling multiple legal claims in the US over deaths where its Autopilot system was allegedly engaged. 

In one case, the family of Gilberto Lopez, who was killed in a collision with a Tesla Model S in 2019, is suing the driver and the company. The driver allegedly did not break at a red light or try to avoid Lopez’s Honda, despite his Autopilot system being engaged.

Tesla has said the accident was “in no way caused by the actions or omissions of Tesla”.

Link: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/05/26/elon-musk-tesla-leak-autopilot-safety-electric-cars/