Tesla Issues Warning to 285K Chinese Drivers

Thousands of the electric cars may experience dangerous cruise-control problems
By Josh Gardner,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 27, 2021 9:00 AM CDT
285,000 Teslas Require Safety Update
Electric cars are parked at a Tesla delivery location and service center in Corte Madera, Calif.   (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, file)

Tesla has taken steps to avoid further bad press in China, where owners of 285,000 of the electric vehicles have been told they must update their car software in order to fix a potentially dangerous cruise-control issue. Per the Wall Street Journal, China's State Administration for Market Regulation has called the move a recall. However, most owners can make the fix remotely and avoid trips to their dealer. The regulator said the defect has the potential to cause unexpected increases in speed in "extreme cases." The recall covers more than 90 percent of the vehicles produced locally at Tesla's China plant, the country's first and only to be fully foreign-owned.

The recall is another in a string of headaches for Tesla in China, including accusations of poor treatment of customers, per the AP. In April, a customer protested at a car show that faulty brakes on her family’s Tesla caused a crash that sent her parents to the hospital. After initially blaming the driver, Tesla issued a public apology to the unhappy customer and vowed to learn from the incident. Per the WSJ, Elon Musk has even previously had to assure China and its Tesla buyers that his company's cars would not be used to spy on China.
(More China stories.)

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