Autopilot problems worse than feared?

The Handelsblatt evaluated 100 gigabytes of data for the so-called Tesla Files, which are said to come from the IT system of the electric car manufacturer. It becomes clear that Elon Musk’s company has more problems with the autopilot than was previously known.

The autopilot of the electric car manufacturer Tesla has been criticized for some time. One research of Handelsblatt now shows that the condition could be even more devastating than previously thought.

Tesla files: 100 gigabytes of data

For the research has that Handelsblatt 100 gigabytes of data evaluated. The newspaper received the approximately 23,000 files from insiders. The data is said to come from Tesla’s IT system and reveal how bad the autopilot of Elon Musk’s company really is.

The authenticity of the data has proved that Handelsblatt checked by the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology. The experts came to the conclusion that there was no evidence that “the data set did not come from IT systems belonging to or in the environment of Tesla”.

In addition to Excel files with private addresses and salaries of more than 100,000 current and former employees, the data also contains various documents marked as confidential.

Among them are a suspected secret report on problems with cybertrucks and “many” documents with notes on autopilot accidents.

This is how Tesla reacted to the data leak

Tesla, meanwhile, describes the leaked data as “stealing confidential information and personal data.” The company wants to take legal action.

This was shared by Tesla’s house lawyer Joseph Alm Handelsblatt with. He also requested in a letter “to send the company a copy of the data and then to delete all other copies immediately”.

Tesla has reason to believe that a ‘disgruntled former employee’ prior to his departure ‘abused his access as a service technician’ to smuggle information out of the company.

The 65 questions of Handelsblattbut the company has left unanswered the safety concerns surrounding autopilot, among other things.

How bad is the autopilot?

The Handelsblatt found “thousands of complaints about driver assistance systems” in the Tesla files

Customers describe how their cars suddenly brake or accelerate abruptly. Some got away with a fright, others said they ended up in a ditch, hit walls or crashed into oncoming vehicles.

According to the Handelsblatt more than 2,400 complaints about self-acceleration. I relate more than 1,500 to problems with the braking function such as unwanted emergency braking or phantom braking as a result of false collision warnings. And the number of accidents caused by the autopilot also exceeds the 1,000 mark.

The oldest complaints date back many years. These are from 2015. The most recent are from March 2022. Most of the problems were in the USA, but there are also complaints from Europe and Asia.

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