Tesla Data Leak Tips Thousands of Autopilot Safety Complaints

pcmag.com:

Tesla received thousands of complaints and crash reports about its Autopilot features between 2015 and 2022, which it tried to keep hidden, a German-language newspaper reports(Opens in a new window).

Leaked internal Tesla data, shared with Handelsblatt courtesy of an “unnamed informer," depicts a car maker with far more technical difficulties than previously thought. The complaints reportedly stretch back to 2015, with the most recent dated March 2022. 

As Jalopnik notes(Opens in a new window), the files allegedly included over 1,000 crash reports and a table of 3,000 incidents where drivers expressed safety concerns about Tesla’s driver assistance program. There are 139 complaints about unintentional emergency braking and 383 in relation to phantom stops from false collision warnings.

Another 2,400 reports are about self-acceleration issues, while 1,500 cases focus on braking problems. Most of the flagged incidents reportedly(Opens in a new window) came from owners in the US, though some originated in Europe and Asia. 

Handelsblatt’s editor-in-chief Sebastian Matthes explained in a public letter(Opens in a new window) that 12 people at the German publication analyzed and evaluated the files over six months. Alongside revealing that Tesla refused to answer a list of questions sent to them by Handelsblatt journalists, Matthes said: "The data paints the picture of an electric car pioneer who seems to have far greater technological problems than previously known."

In response, Tesla tells Elektrek(Opens in a new window) that it will initiate legal proceedings against a “disgruntled ex-employee” for the “theft of Tesla confidential information and employees’ personal data.” According to the electric car maker, the so-called