Tesla joins Volvo and Mercedes in walking back ‘self-driving’ terminology
Tesla joins Volvo and Mercedes in walking back ‘self-driving’ terminologyhttp://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/tesla-china-wording-change-autopilot-selfdriving-driver-assist/
By Bruce Brown — August 15, 2016 8:13 AM
If you call a car “self-driving,” people expect it can drive itself — despite warnings to the contrary. That lesson was underscored for Tesla in China after an Autopilot accident this month. As a result, Tesla is changing its Chinese website and bumping up training for Tesla Chinese staff, according to Reuters.
A Tesla driver driving with Autopilot mode engaged in Beijing crashed into a car partially parked on the left side of the highway. Tesla said it did not detect — from data continuously transmitted from the car — that the driver had both hands on the wheel at the time of the crash. Chinese law requires drivers keep two hands on the steering wheel at all times.
Tesla has maintained all along that Autopilot is not a self-driving mode and has warnings to that effect in the manual and in the vehicle when Autopilot is engaged. Previously there appeared on the automaker’s Chinese website the term “zidong jiashi,” which literally translates to “self-driving,” although it also means “autopilot,” and the term “autopilot” also appeared several times, Reuters reported. Late Sunday the words were removed and replaced by a term that translates to “self-assisted driving.”
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A Tesla employee not authorized to speak to media told Reuters that Tesla’s China staff have received additional training following the August second crash. The company re-emphasized that employees demonstrating the autopilot function must keep both hands on the wheel. Tesla drivers told Reuters the opposite had been the case, that Tesla sales personnel took their hands off the wheel to demonstrate the function.
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= new reply since forum marked as read
A few months ago a Tesla burned to a crisp in Norway, while charging.
Tesla will update the Model S software for safer charging following a Supercharger fire
Electrek.co March 2016
https://electrek.co/2016/03/17/tesla-supercharger-fire-update-software-short-circuit/
Now this: Tesla Model S catches on fire during a test drive in France
Electrek.co August 15, 2016
As part of its ‘Electric Road Trip’ tour for the summer, Tesla stopped in Biarritz, France to promote Model S and Model X over the weekend.
During a test drive in a Model S 90D, the vehicle suddenly made a loud noise and sent a visual alert on the dashboard stating that there was a problem with “charging”. The Tesla employee giving the test drive made the driver park the car on the side of the road and all three (the driver, the Tesla employee and another passenger) exited the vehicle.
The Tesla Model S caught on fire only a moment later (pictured above), according to witnesses. The story is still developing. We are talking to members of the Tesla Motors Club in France and reaching out to Tesla.
Firefighters arrived quickly on the scene to control the fire, but the vehicle was completely destroyed. The result was reportedly similar to the remains of the Model S that caught fire while Supercharging in Norway earlier this year...snip
Read More: https://electrek.co/2016/08/15/tesla-model-s-catches-fire-test-drive-france/
Buy a Tesla and be prepared to take it to the shop every few months, and hope you (or your kids and pets) don't get caught in a lithium fire.
http://teslamotorsclub.com
