Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Tesla’s Vice President of Vehicle Engineering, Lars Moravy, dismissed a recent iSeeCars study as “clickbait,” disputing its claim that Tesla vehicles have the highest fatal accident rates among all car brands.
The study analyzed 2018-2022 model-year vehicles involved in fatal crashes from 2017 to 2022, finding Tesla vehicles had a rate of 5.6 fatal accidents per billion miles, compared to the average of 2.8. Tesla’s Model Y SUV was cited with a rate of 10.6, over double the 4.8 average for SUVs.
“Fatal accidents are tragic – we aim to avoid them, safety first. This math is incorrect – crash test data is real; Teslas are among the safest cars,” Moravy wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The study claims Tesla’s result surpasses all the other brands including Kia, which has a rate of 5.5, and Buick, with 4.8. In comparison, the national average fatal crash rate for all vehicles in the U.S. is at 2.8 per billion miles.
“Maybe a bad denominator in the per mile calc, by end 2022, US MY miles driven >7B, M3 ~19B. iSeecars=clickbait – not safety regulator,” Tesla’s executive added.
The company started earlier this week a new incentive offering three months of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) and free Supercharging for customers who take delivery of a new Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, or Cybertruck until the year end.
Earlier in the week, Tesla reduced the starting lease price for the Model Y in the U.S. to $299 per month (down from $349 per month), matching the starting lease price of the Model 3.
In the last earnings call, Tesla said it expects “slight growth in vehicle deliveries in 2024” hinting at a new quarterly record of more than half a million units delivered.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
