Model 3

Make
Tesla
Segment
Sedan

Every few weeks it seems there's a new controversial Tesla news story. Past instances have been crashes, concerns over FSD, or something Elon Musk said. But last week Tesla faced unexpected drama at the Shanghai Auto Show. A young woman named Zhang Yazhou hopped up onto the roof of a Tesla Model 3 on display and began shouting allegations that her own Model 3's brakes failed and led to an accident. She even wore a custom-made t-shirt that translated to "Tesla brake lost control."

The whole thing didn't last long because security quickly came and carried her away. Their attempt at using umbrellas to block the woman's t-shirt from being seen was more humorous than effective.

Anyway, Tesla quickly apologized for the way the situation was handled at its booth and promised to investigate the woman's claims. Her car's data logs have now been released to the public. The car was traveling at 74 mph 30 minutes prior to the crash. Only moments before the impact, it slowed to around 30 mph. The brakes were applied over 40 times in the thirty minutes before the crash. The car also went over 62 mph several times.

Tesla further points out in a statement posted on its Weibo account (sort of a Chinese version of Facebook) there's no dashcam footage of the crash because Zhang never created a "dedicated folder" for videos.

The side airbags never deployed because they didn't "reach the threshold" necessary for deployment. Zhang, meanwhile, believes Tesla messed with her car's data to cover its own tracks, but the carmaker claims that'd be impossible because its vehicle data is recorded using encryption technology. This means it can't be read, changed, or deleted. Tesla counters Zhang's claims with raw data which, as it interprets, that she was not operating the car at the designated speed limit.

Neither side refuses to budge from their respective claims. Even though Zhang's protest went viral on Chinese and Western social media, it's doubtful it'll have any negative impact on Tesla's popularity in the world's biggest automotive market.