Tesla is helping a police investigation into a crash of one of its cars in China. However, the American producer of electric cars already states that the Model Y SUV that crashed at high speed earlier this month did not run wild.
Images of the crash caused a stir last week. First, it showed that the car in the town of Chaozhou in the southern province of Guangdong suddenly accelerates enormously. Then, after colliding with several other vehicles, it eventually skids and stops against a pole. A motorcyclist and a cycling student were killed in the mad ride.
According to reports on the Chinese social network Weibo, the driver was not in control of the vehicle during the drive. As a result, the brake would not respond. Tesla states, based on data it could read from the car in question, that the driver did not try to brake. However, the accelerator pedal would have been pressed firmly.
Accidents involving Teslas are getting a lot of attention in China. Previously there were already stories about faltering brakes. For example, during the Shanghai auto show last year, a Model 3 owner climbed onto the roof of a Tesla and shouted that she had almost died because the brakes on her car were not working. Tesla eventually apologized but did not admit anything was wrong with its vehicles.
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