Gary Zhou 
Tesla China’s assertive stance against inaccurate reporting and false news continues, with the company recently taking legal action against a Model 3 owner who previously alleged that his vehicle experienced a “brake failure” incident. The Tesla owner, who has maintained that his vehicle went “out of control,” shared the news on Weibo.
Tesla’s indictment to the vehicle owner was reportedly received a few days ago. Partly in response to the electric vehicle driver posting the results of an Event Data Recorder (EDR) report from the Wenzhou Automotive Engineering Society. After asking fellow Weibo users for help interpreting the EDR test’s results, the former Tesla owner was informed that the vehicle’s data recorder proved that he mistakenly pressed the accelerator instead of the brakes.
Simply put, in this instance, there was no “brake failure” that happened at all. The case simply involved the driver pressing the wrong pedal at the time of the incident. Interestingly enough, a third-party agency released the results. It would then be quite interesting to see the results of Tesla China’s investigation into the matter.
While Tesla China has taken a very direct approach against the owner who claimed that his car had a “brake failure” incident, speculations among industry watchers online suggest that the company may not really be seeking a substantial compensation in the case. Instead, Tesla China may simply require the owner to retract his statements and admit the alleged “brake failure” incident never happened.
Such admissions have already been released in recent months. As Tesla China’s legal team adopted a more assertive approach against false reports and falsified incidents in social media, the company has received a substantial amount of apologies from both social media influences and local media entities alike. One social media user, a Model X owner who posted a video of his Tesla allegedly experiencing a “brake failure” incident, later admitted that he posted the skit simply for “entertainment.”
