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Cars collided. Bollard, brakes vibrate to avoid virtual collisions, and complaints that more than 2,400 cars are accelerating out of control. 100 gigabytes worth of internal Tesla documents have been leaked to a German newspaper. Handelsblatt Provide a sobering picture of the EV company’s technical limitations.

23,000 files found Handelsblatt In the year They cover cases in Europe, America and Asia between 2015 and March 2022, and appear to show serious flaws in Tesla’s Autopilot technology. The disclosures could face new pressure on reports that the company may have misled authorities or its customers about the safety of its vehicles.

The leaks could reinforce concerns among Tesla investors and analysts that the company has lost its way. Self-driving technology seems far from safe enough for the road, and it won’t be able to move viable new products from the drawing board to the showroom. Tesla hasn’t launched a new consumer vehicle since 2020, and is widely seen as lagging behind other automakers as they ramp up development of new EVs to meet growing demand. Half-hidden in the rush of revelations is a reminder of Tesla’s long-awaited “Cybertruck” secret report announced in 2019.

“Tesla urgently needs a new credibility story,” said Ferdinand Dudenhofer, director of the Center for Automotive Research in Duisburg, Germany.

The contents of the leaked documents are shocking, with reports of a near death at the hands of Tesla’s Autopilot. But analysts say it is not unexpected.

“It’s not that surprising to most of us who have been covering Tesla for a decade, and it’s not surprising to most Tesla customers,” said Matthias Schmidt, an independent automotive analyst in Berlin.

Schmidt said Tesla has taken a long time to “move fast and break things” to develop products, raising concerns about whether the new releases will be ready for the road. There have been 393 Tesla fatalities, 33 involving Autopilot. Schmidt accused Musk of “accepting the death of drivers as a result of technology transfer.” Musk did not respond to a request for comment for this story, nor did Schmidt’s allegations remain.

It is often difficult to separate the Tesla brand from the personality of the CEO. Musk has brushed off criticism of his products—mostly via Twitter, which he acquired last October for $44 billion. But the scale of the German leaks makes it difficult for Musk to sell his version of the story, Dudenhofer said.

“He has thousands of data, customer complaints, and at the same time he’s telling people that he’s the best product in the world,” Dudenhofer said, comparing it to the scandal at Volkswagen in the mid-2010s. The automaker has stated that it is reducing the environmental impact of its vehicles.

Dudenhofer blamed Tesla’s worsening woes on Musk, who splits his time between running Tesla, his rocket company SpaceX and Twitter, which has been in constant crisis since last year. “He doesn’t have to be CEO and run Tesla anymore,” Dudenhofer says, “because he’s going to make mistake after mistake.”

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