(Tesla is an experience store located in Jiading, Shanghai. This newspaper's data room/image)
A draft for soliciting opinions has pushed Tesla to the forefront of public opinion. Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (hereinafter referred to as "MIIT") publicly solicited opinions on five mandatory national standards, including "Technical Requirements and Experimental Methods for Passenger Car Braking Systems".
The China Business Daily reporter noticed that behind Tesla's high attention, the additional requirements for vehicles equipped with electric regenerative braking systems in the above solicitation draft include the following clauses: for Type A and vehicles with both Type A and Type B electric regenerative braking systems, the braking effect achieved by releasing the accelerator pedal in forward gear cannot slow down the vehicle to a stop.
According to public reports, the "A-type electric regenerative braking system" refers to the braking energy recovery of the accelerator pedal, commonly known as the "single pedal mode" by the outside world. It is a vehicle's strong kinetic energy recovery mode, and the most well-known one that provides this function is Tesla.
After the above draft for soliciting opinions was released, there were rumors in the market about whether Tesla's "single pedal mode" would be banned. What is the impact of the publication of the above draft for soliciting opinions on the use of Tesla's "single pedal mode"? On June 5th, the reporter also contacted the relevant person in charge of Tesla, who stated that there is currently no information available. However, Tesla had previously responded to the public by stating, "This standard has not yet been officially released and implemented, and it does not affect existing products and functions."
Driver's driving habits attract attention
"Single pedal mode" does not mean that the vehicle only has one pedal. "Tesla has always had two pedals," a salesperson from Tesla Shanghai explained to reporters on June 7th, "A single pedal is an unofficial statement with misleading suspicion."
Regarding the advantages of the "single pedal mode", visiting professor Zhang Xiang from Yellow River University of Science and Technology told reporters that in the "single pedal mode", car owners only need one pedal to complete acceleration and deceleration actions, and do not need to move their feet back and forth to complete the above actions. "The disadvantage is that if car owners develop a habit of using a single pedal, they may make mistakes when emergency braking is needed."
What is the relationship between "single pedal mode" and power recovery? Zhang Xiang explained that if a single pedal is released, the vehicle will enter the energy recovery stage, and the motor will become a generator, converting the kinetic energy generated by the electric vehicle's sliding into electrical energy and then storing it.
In the view of automotive analyst Wan Chunlei, the release of the draft for soliciting opinions by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology this time is a good thing. "The draft for soliciting opinions only limits the calibration of zero speed for kinetic energy recovery magnetic moment braking. The main function of kinetic energy recovery is not affected at all, and the mandatory maintenance of brake pedal usage habits brings more safety necessity. This content change is not only based on the optimization of institutional rules under the ever-changing variable factors of the user end, but also on the evolution of inclusive products and the prevention of safety risks in product use."
The reporter noticed that in the draft for soliciting opinions, the driving habits of drivers were also mentioned. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stated in the solicitation draft that in recent years, with the gradual widespread application of A-type electric regenerative braking system technology, drivers may develop corresponding driving habits by controlling the accelerator pedal for a long time to achieve braking and parking, which may lead to misuse such as accidental stepping in emergency braking conditions. "To clarify the positioning of Type A electric power regeneration as an auxiliary braking system, this requirement is proposed based on thorough industry research and discussion, aiming to guide drivers to develop good driving habits and ensure driving safety. Considering the current status of industry technology and products, this clause provides a separate transitional period."
Wan Chunlei told reporters that consumers have misunderstandings about the anti drag magnetic moment braking function of the kinetic energy recovery motor and the so-called single pedal function. Most products on the market have different levels of kinetic energy recovery, which can be freely chosen by users. Users were initially enthusiastic about these features. However, since Tesla's products abolished the user choice of strong, medium, and weak users, Tesla's outstanding advantage of the "single pedal mode" has emerged and received strong promotion. As a result, the usage rate of disc hydraulic wheel edge brakes has significantly decreased, and some consumers even choose not to change the brake discs for a long time to reduce maintenance costs.
"However, there has been an increasing trend of individual safety disputes and potential accident cases related to the single pedal function. Afterwards, Tesla officially launched a safety targeted OTA (June 2, 2022) for the single pedal function, and later even returned to allowing users to freely choose between strong, medium, and weak levels." said Wan Chunlei.
Tesla FSD's entry into China accelerates
In fact, as a major player in domestic new energy vehicles, Tesla has never lacked attention in the Chinese market. In addition to the use of the "single pedal mode" which has attracted external attention, the progress of Tesla FSD's entry into China has also been closely monitored by both the industry and beyond.
According to reports citing insiders, Tesla China is preparing to file its FSD feature with relevant departments in order to promote this feature this year. It is reported that Tesla is also considering launching a subscription system in China and is expected to push the service to Tesla users who have subscribed to FSD in the coming months. The person in charge of Tesla stated that there is currently no information on the authenticity of the above information.
According to public information, Tesla's autonomous driving products can be divided into three categories: AP, EAP, and FSD. Among them, AP is the most basic version, and EAP is for enhanced driving assistance, both of which can be used in China. As Tesla's highest level autonomous driving product, FSD's main functions include navigation assistance driving, automatic lane changing, automatic parking, intelligent summoning, traffic signal recognition, and automatic turning of urban roads based on navigation routes.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is generous in praising FSD. At Tesla's 2023 shareholder meeting, Musk stated, "FSD will be 10 times safer than human driving, it is better and safer than human drivers."
On the afternoon of April 28th, Musk visited Beijing. On the day of the visit, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers and the National Computer Network Emergency Technology Coordination Center issued a notice on the testing of four safety requirements for automotive data processing (first batch), stating that all models produced by Tesla's Shanghai Super Factory meet the compliance requirements, making it the only foreign-funded enterprise that meets the compliance requirements.
Musk's visit to China may accelerate the landing of Tesla FSD in the Chinese market, which also demonstrates its importance to the Chinese market. The International Research Report of Bank of Communications pointed out that the gradual promotion of Tesla FSD in China is expected to bring about a "catfish effect", accelerating the development and implementation of intelligent driving by Chinese car companies.
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