the Autopilot found responsible for an accident in the United States

TESLA – The US authorities believe that the semi-autonomous driving system "has allowed the driver to disengage from driving", which is strictly prohibited.

(Article updated on September 5, 2019 at 11:45 am) In January 2018, an accident involving a Tesla in Autopilot mode (semi-autonomous driving) that had struck a fire truck, prompted an investigation by the California highway authorities, the NTSB. The institution issued a final report on September 3, which found Tesla partly responsible for the accident. After analyzing the data from the Tesla Model S involved, she determined that her Autopilot function was active for the 13 minutes before the crash. During this period, the driver kept his hands on the steering wheel for only 51 seconds, while it must be held permanently, according to the regulations in force. The driver did not listen to the many warnings from the vehicle, which however continued to drive in Autopilot mode despite not following these rules. The NTSB therefore judges Tesla partly responsible for the accident, because its system "allowed the driver to disengage from driving." The road policeman, however, considers that the driver, who was not injured, is also responsible for the accident, as he could have "taken measures to avoid the collision or limit its damage" if he had maintained his Warning.

In response to this report, Tesla claims to have made several updates to its systems since the accident in 2018, including the frequency of warnings to the driver and the conditions for their activation. For its part, the NTSB points to the lack of transparency of Tesla in this area. After an accident in Florida in 2016 involving a Tesla in Autopilot mode, the NTSB had asked six semi-autonomous car manufacturers, including Elon Musk's company, to develop applications to better detect the inattention of drivers and drivers. alert in case of failure. "All manufacturers except Tesla responded to explain the operation of their systems and the efforts implemented," said the NTSB.

It's been sixteen years since Tesla started looking for a high-end electric car. The automaker was founded in 2003 by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, who will soon be joined by his iconic character and current leader, Elon Musk. The name of the company comes from Nikola Tesla, inventor of engineering in electricity and mechanics. The company has forced all major manufacturers to seriously engage in electrical. After a very difficult period in 2018, marked by difficulties in production and delivery, Tesla has succeeded in 2019 to increase the rate of construction and sale of its vehicles. The company must now prove that it can maintain these levels over the long term. News, prices, models, stores in France … here is everything you need to know about Tesla.

Tesla has been present in France since 2010, when it opened its first French store in Paris. The manufacturer relies on a direct sales model to customers on the Internet or in its stores. Since his arrival, Tesla has expanded its presence in France. In addition to Paris, the manufacturer now has stores in Chambourcy, Le Chesnay, Vélizy-Villacoublay, Nantes, Bordeaux, Aix-en-Provence, Nice and Lyon. Potential customers can test and order a vehicle. Sales representatives are also present in Lille, Rennes, Toulouse, and Strasbourg.

Tesla has established a vast network of electric charging in the country. It consists of both its home charging stations, Superchargers, and charging sites at partner companies, such as hotels or shopping centers. Their location is available on the Tesla website. The map below lists all chargers in the Tesla network in France.

Click on "enlarge the map" then zoom in on the territory that interests you to see them.

In France, sales of Tesla are confidential, but still in strong progression. Thus, while the brand had sold 1252 vehicles in 2018 (according to the car registration data), it has sold 3730 just between January and June 2019. A good growth due to the arrival on the market French Model 3, the cheapest Tesla. It has become the second best-selling electric car in France, still far behind Renault's Zoé (8877 registrations between January and June 2019).

Here are the starting prices of the models marketed by Tesla in France. The final bill can vary greatly depending on the choice of options, including batteries and the addition of the "fully autonomous" driving mode (actually semi-autonomous, optional at 6300 euros). All prices include an ecological bonus of 6000 euros.

• Price of the Tesla Model 3: from € 42,600 (ecological bonus included).
• Tesla Model S price: from 85 000 euros (ecological bonus included).
• Price of Tesla Model X: from 90 700 euros (ecological bonus included).
• Tesla Roadster price: from € 172,000 (ecological bonus included).

Comparison of different Tesla models

Model	Starting price	Autonomy	time 0-100 km / h	Max speed
Model 3	€ 42,600	355 – 500 km	3.5 – 5.6 seconds	210 – 250 km / h
Model S	85,000 €	416 -540 km	2.5 – 4.2 seconds	225 – 250 km / h
Model X	90,700 €	417 – 542 km	3.1 – 5.2 seconds	210 – 250 km / h
Roadster	172,000 €	1000 km	2.1 seconds	400 km / h

The most affordable of all Tesla models, the Model 3, is a 350-kilometer sedan, according to Tesla. Available from 42,600 euros (ecological bonus included) in France, it must allow Tesla to impose the electric car to the general public. Its first deliveries began in February 2019 in Europe.

This car meets a great interest: more than 450,000 bookings were recorded by the company even before the vehicle was released. But it's also a huge challenge, as Tesla's success now rests on its ability to rapidly reach massive production capabilities, which the world's leading manufacturers have taken decades to perfect in order to fulfill all these orders. Tesla has repeatedly missed its weekly and quarterly production targets in 2018, but has significantly improved by the end of 2018 and in 2019. By mid-October 2018, the manufacturer has exceeded 100,000 Model 3 factory outlets, from after the Tesla Model 3 Tracker, an estimation model of its production developed by Bloomberg. It has taken Tesla a year and a half to reach this figure since the start of the production of the Model 3. A speed of execution much higher than the production rates of Model S and Model X, which shows the progress of Tesla in the matter. Then it announced to have broken its production record, with more than 87,000 vehicles built in the second quarter of 2019, including 77,000 units just for the Model 3. But Tesla is still far from becoming a major industrialist. automobile. By comparison, the 20 largest global manufacturers produce between 1 and 10 million cars a year each.

• Starting price : € 42,600 (ecological bonus included)
• Battery life: Between 355 and 500 kilometers
• Time to go from 0 to 100 km / h: 3.5 to 5.6 seconds
• Maximum speed : 210 to 250 km / h

The Model S is the first sedan designed by Tesla, whose deliveries began in 2012 in the United States. It is bigger and much more expensive than the Model 3, with a first prize of 85,000 euros. The Model S benefits in exchange for a higher power and autonomy (450 kilometers with the first price battery), and can take advantage of the Superchargeur electric charging network for free, whereas the owners of Model 3 will have to pay. It also has a better onboard screen, a larger trunk and additional technologies.

• Starting price : 85 000 euros (ecological bonus included)
• Battery life: Between 416 and 540 kilometers
• Time to go from 0 to 100 km / h : 2.5 to 4.2 seconds
• Maximum speed : 225 to 250 km / h

The luxury SUV of Tesla. The Model X is the most spacious Tesla, with a cockpit seating up to seven people. It is known for its Falcon rear doors, which open upward rather than laterally as on most vehicles, and facilitate parking in tight spaces.

Starting price : 90 700 euros (ecological bonus included)

Battery life: Between 417 and 542 kilometers

Time to go from 0 to 100 km / h : 3.1 to 5.2 seconds

Maximum speed : 210 to 250 km / h

Tesla is preparing a crossover (between sedan and SUV), Model Y. Unveiled in March 2019, it should enter production in the first half of 2020. The vehicle is already available for booking in France, although it will not be delivered before 2022 in Europe. The Model Y is in an intermediate price range between the Model 3 and the luxurious Model S and X, with a first prize of 58,000 euros (including the eco bonus).

Starting price : € 58,000 (ecological bonus included)

Battery life: Between 368 and 540 kilometers

Time to go from 0 to 100 km / h : 3.5 to 5.9 seconds

Maximum speed : 192 to 240 km / h

The first Tesla, marketed between 2008 and 2012. It is with this sports car that the company began to demonstrate that electric cars could achieve performance comparable to that of thermal cars. Its design is the result of a partnership with the British manufacturer Lotus. Tesla announced the commercialization in 2020 of a new Roadster from 172 000 euros. The car would be able to reach 100 kilometers per hour in 2.1 seconds and exceed 400 kilometers per hour at maximum speed, all with the promise of a range of 1000 kilometers.

• Starting price : 172 000 euros
• Battery life: 1000 kilometers
• Time to go from 0 to 100 km / h: 2.1 seconds
• Maximum speed : 400 km / h

For drivers who would like to have more options for less or get their hands on a vehicle quickly, the company offers on its site used Tesla – Model S and Model X – as well as exhibition models. cheap. However, it should not be seen as a way to get a price-priced Tesla: offers start at almost 90,000 euros, more expensive than Model S without options.

This is one of the flagship features of the brand, previously optional and now present in series on all its vehicles (except Model Y not yet released). This is a semi-autonomous level 2 driving mode, which allows the vehicle to drive alone, to stay on a lane, or to handle jerky traffic in traffic jams on simple routes such as the highway . The driver must keep his hands on the steering wheel. . Unlike other manufacturers, Tesla has made the choice to offer this feature very quickly, as of 2015, to improve it in real conditions and to acquire a maximum of data to prepare more sophisticated autonomous driving levels.

In late 2018, Tesla released an improved version of the Autopilot, which she calls "fully autonomous driving". It manages motorway lane changes, as well as insertions and exits of these sections, as well as overtaking of vehicles. Automatic parking and exit parking features have also been added. However, this set of functions is far from being a "fully autonomous driving", as Tesla also acknowledges on its website: "Current features require active monitoring by the driver and do not make the vehicle autonomous. future use of these unattended features depends on proven reliability from billions of kilometers of testing to be significantly higher than that of human drivers, as well as regulatory approval, which may take longer in some countries . "

To go even further, Tesla boss Elon Musk has promised that by 2020, his vehicles will be fully autonomous, which will allow Tesla to launch its own autonomous VTC service, or even to offer Tesla owners to win money by turning their vehicles into taxis without a driver. An announcement received with much skepticism by the experts of the autonomous driving, as this promise seems impossible to hold, as well for technological reasons as regulatory. Even in the United States, yet very liberal on the subject.

To better understand how Tesla's driver assistance works and the decisions it makes, a hacker and a Tesla Motor Club member replicated the vision of a Tesla during a trip to Paris. The software classifies all of its environment: other vehicles on the road, but also those on the sidewalk, just like pedestrians. The program must also identify in real time the marking on the ground, which allows the vehicle to stay automatically on its way. Such systems are the foundation of all driver assistance technologies (ADAS), but also of autonomous driving, albeit more sophisticated.

However, Tesla's marketing around this feature, even in the name of "autopilot", seems to have suggested to users that their vehicle was already fully automone. The automaker's cars have been involved in a number of accidents, some fatal ones, in which drivers ignored the vehicle's warnings and did not regain control of the operation as the machine required. System failures have also caused fatal accidents. Like when in 2016 an American motorist hit a vehicle arriving on his right, and that the car had not detected. Tesla then accused Mobileye of its supplier of obstacle detection and emergency braking systems and separated from them.

Another important differentiator from its competitors, Tesla designs and produces its own batteries. This is a crucial element of its R & D, as the improvement of the autonomy of the batteries, and therefore of the distance covered in one charge, is a major criterion for buyers. This know-how has even allowed the company to diversify: it now sells separately its batteries, Powerpack and Powerwall to store the electricity produced by solar panels at home and in business.

Since the acquisition of SolarCity (another company controlled by Elon Musk) in 2016, Telsa also offers its own solar panels. Or more precisely, "solar tiles" resembling traditional roofs, but capable of transforming solar energy into electricity. These production and storage systems are even starting to be used on islands, such as Samoa, which are not connected to the power grid and have been relying on diesel generators to supply electricity.

But this solar panel business is currently struggling to take off. In an attempt to revive it, Tesla began testing a new business model in August 2019. In six US states, the company offers solar panels in the form of monthly subscriptions, ranging from $ 50 to $ 250 depending on size. panels and the desired power. Their installation is free, but not their disassembly: the customer will pay a fee of $ 1500 if he no longer wants to use the solar panels Tesla.

Accustomed to thunderous declarations and exaggerations of all kinds, Elon Musk seems to have once crossed a limit, that of the strict rules that govern the communication of listed companies. The US Securities Regulator, SEC, filed a lawsuit against the Tesla CEO on September 27, 2018 for fraud and asked that he be removed from office at Tesla. In August of the same year, Elon Musk had announced his intention to release Tesla from the stock market at a price of 420 dollars per share. And to say that he had secured funds for this transaction from investors. He had come to recognize that he did not really have the funds, before completely abandoning his plan.

But the SEC has not forgotten. Because falsely assuring to have secured funds can be considered as a manipulation of the investors, who could be incited to buy shares or not to sell theirs, put in confidence by this declaration. According to the SEC's complaint, the announcement of Elon Musk surprised even his own teams: Twelve minutes after his first tweet on August 7, the director of investor relations contacted Musk's chief of staff for him. ask if the ad was real. Between this tweet and the end of September, the Tesla share lost 20% of its value. Elon Musk has finally reached a compromise with the SEC: he and his company will have to pay $ 20 million each. The South African has also been forced to let go of some of his power. CEO Tesla almost since its inception, he is now only DG. He was replaced in November 2018 as chairman of the board by Robyn Denholm, already a board member of Tesla. She was until now financial and strategic director of the Australian telecommunications group Telstra, a position she left to devote full time to Tesla.

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