Editor’s Note: This article comes from WeChat WeChat official account "Chedongxi" (ID:chedongxi), and is published by 36Kr with authorization.
Author | Keke
Edit | Han Xiao
In the face of frequent out-of-control doubts, Tesla finally gave a powerful counterattack-began to disclose the "black box" data of the vehicle to the owner.
Just a few days ago, Tesla launched the EDR data extraction kit in the United States and official website, with a price of $1,200 (about 7,768 RMB).
The full name of EDR is Event Data Recorder, which can record the data related to vehicle dynamics and safety system in a period of time, including vehicle speed, steering wheel angle, whether the seat belt is fastened and so on.
With the driving data recorder, people will have the opportunity to restore the vehicle state before the accident as truly as possible, so as to explore the cause of the accident, which is called Tesla’s "black box".
This data extraction kit includes all the hardware needed to extract the data. After purchasing the kit, the owner needs to download the Tesla EDR data extraction program and register the MyTesla account to obtain the data and export it as a PDF file.
In the last year or two, rumors that Tesla is out of control have been frequently exposed in major media, and the radical rights protection behavior at the Shanghai Auto Show has pushed Tesla to the forefront.
But unfortunately, at present, a few rights-defending car owners and Tesla hold their own words, and the investigation results of authoritative organizations have not yet been announced, making Tesla’s out-of-control incident a Rashomon sweeping the world.
With Tesla starting to sell EDR kits, consumers, third-party organizations and regulatory authorities can read the vehicle data themselves to restore the truth. I believe that this "Tesla out of control storm" that has been raging is about to subside.
This EDR data extraction kit is introduced by CrashDataGroup, which includes hardware such as in-vehicle cables, USB PCAN communication cables, D2M cables, etc., and is protected by hard-shell boxes outside.
A suite contains all the hardware needed to export EDR data, and the price is $1,200 (about 7,768 RMB), which is $334 (about 2,162 RMB) lower than the total price of all the hardware sold separately.
Because different Model S manufactured at different times require different hardware, CrashDataGroup will adjust the hardware configuration according to the information provided by the owner. At present, the kits they provide can be adapted to each model of Model S, Model X, Model 3 and Model Y.
In addition, Tesla Roadster, which was shipped from 2008 to 2012, was not equipped with EDR driving data recorder. CrashDataGroup did not launch a data extraction kit for this model, but introduced two other data extraction methods for the owners.
After purchasing the kit, the owner also needs to download the Tesla EDR data extraction program and register the MyTesla account. The good news is that downloading programs and registering accounts are free. Then the owner can access and retrieve the data and export the data records in PDF format.
CrashDataGroup, which launched the data extraction suite, provided some samples of EDR records, which showed what people finally saw in PDF files.
Taking Model 3 described in the sample as an example, assuming a collision occurs, EDR will record the vehicle body state data such as the vehicle speed at the moment of collision, the lateral and longitudinal accelerations, the time taken to reach the maximum acceleration, and also record the human operation data such as which seats are occupied and whether the seat belts are fastened.
If people want to know more about what happened at the moment of collision, they can refer to more data recorded by EDR. For example, the table of vehicle speed, accelerator pedal opening and motor speed within 5 seconds before collision. If the accelerator pedal opening increases sharply and the motor speed and speed also increase in a period of time before the collision, then the driver is likely to step on the accelerator as a brake.
The example shows that the driver only slightly stepped on the accelerator pedal 2.4 seconds before the collision (the pedal opening is 4.8%), and the motor speed and speed also gradually decreased, which shows that the driver did not mistake the accelerator as a brake.
As for the braking system, the driver stepped on the brakes intermittently for three times within five seconds before the collision. 4.5 seconds before the collision, the driver stepped on the brake for the first time, probably because the pedaling duration was too short and the ABS anti-lock braking system did not intervene.
Then the driver stepped on the brake for the second time between 3.0 seconds and 2.5 seconds before the collision, and the ABS system intervened, but it didn’t seem to work in time.
From 1.5 seconds before the collision to the moment of the collision, the driver stepped on the brake for the third time, and the ABS system successfully intervened and played a role, but unfortunately the collision could not be avoided.
In addition, the car body stabilization procedure is in an intervening state.
It can be seen that for some reason, the driver failed to step on the brake pedal at the first time. The authoritative department can make further investigation according to EDR records to dig deep into the cause and effect of the accident.
In recent one or two years, rumors of Tesla losing control frequently broke out in China. Among them, the rumor of brake failure is probably the most common and the most frightening one, and examples of steering failure and charging failure are not uncommon. In the face of doubts and even accusations, Tesla has always said that there is no problem with its products, and the causes of accidents are human error by drivers or failure of charging facilities.
The radical rights-defending behavior at the Shanghai Auto Show pushed Tesla to the forefront of public opinion. However, the rights-defending car owners and Tesla officials have always held their own words and refused to give in, and the state authorities have not given a clear answer for the time being.
With the passage of time, perhaps out of dissatisfaction with Tesla’s secretive and frequent throwing of pots, people gradually stopped focusing on whether the brakes failed, but began to argue whether Tesla cut corners and whether Tesla could be responsible for the lives and property of consumers in China.
This can’t be entirely blamed on China consumers. With the continuous expansion of the automobile market in China, consumers in China have a deeper understanding of automobile products and automobile industry, and the requirements for comprehensive quality of vehicles, especially safety, are bound to increase rather than decrease.
If Tesla wants to prove that there is nothing wrong with the safety of his vehicle, it is a good way to prove his innocence by making the driving data public.
With the driving data as the basis, the owner can find out the cause of the accident more easily. For traffic control departments and insurance companies, the process of traffic management and insurance responsibility can also go faster. If there is a problem with Tesla vehicles, the practice of disclosing data can also reflect Tesla’s sense of responsibility and win a wave of praise, which is also a wake-up call and spur for Tesla itself.
More importantly, public data can calm people’s hearts and make rumors self-defeating.
For example, in an accident once reported by Chedong, EDR data helped the owner to find the real cause of the accident and let the insurance company complete the accurate insurance liability.
The story took place in the United States. A driver driving a Tesla car shuttled through a narrow and tortuous parking garage, and crashed into other innocent vehicles at a downhill turn, and one of them was even pushed through the wall.
Afterwards, Dai Dai insisted that the accidental acceleration caused by the forced takeover of the intelligent driving system led to the accident. However, after the owner retrieved the data left by the EDR driving data recorder, he found that there was something hidden.
The data shows that the driver realized that he needed to step on the brakes to slow down from 0.8 seconds before the collision, but the accelerator pedal pedaling stroke increased sharply due to misoperation, and he stepped on the floor oil from 0.4 seconds before the collision to the collision position. At the same time, within 5 seconds before the collision, the driver did not step on the brake pedal. In addition, the careless driver didn’t fasten his seat belt all the way.
Obviously, the driver mistakenly used the accelerator as a brake, and this accident was caused by human error of the driver.
Admittedly, it is gratifying that the owner can get the EDR data and then restore the truth, but the process of obtaining the data by the owner is not smooth sailing. He first contacted Tesla officials to ask for EDR data records, but Tesla said that he refused to provide them because he did not live in California. After the owner’s appointed lawyer contacted Tesla, the technicians charged $1,300 before handing over the EDR data to the owner.
Now, with the EDR data extraction kit, other people can access and retrieve EDR records without spending too much time and money if they encounter a situation similar to that of this car owner, and export the data as a PDF file for evidence in court.
Unfortunately, this kit is only sold in the United States and Canada for the time being. However, Che Dongxi asked the Tesla official, and the other party said that the data extraction kit suitable for China Tesla models is under development and will be listed as early as this year.
Tesla EDR data extraction kit includes all the hardware needed to read and retrieve driving data, and can adapt to most models of Tesla, which is a very convenient tool for Tesla owners.
This tool can enable car owners to obtain driving data in a shorter time and at a lower cost, and will be used as objective evidence in traffic management and insurance liability determination, which will help to highlight the fairness and justice of road law enforcement.
With the synchronous development of China automobile market and national automobile industry, consumers in China have a deeper understanding of automobile products, and the demand for vehicle safety has only increased. At this time, however, a radical act of safeguarding rights made "Tesla’s brake failure" a hot topic of discussion among the whole people, and the state authorities failed to give an answer for the time being.
If this kit can be put into use in large quantities in China, the driving data will become more transparent, and some rumors about Tesla will surely be broken.
Finally, it should be pointed out that no matter what the vehicle itself is, people’s safety concept should not be relaxed. In addition to venting personal anger, what deserves people’s attention most is how people cooperate with technology to improve traffic safety together, rather than arguing whether the technology itself is perfect.