Tesla recalls 20,000 vehicles in China. Is the suspension risk due to Chinese people’s driving habits?

Almost at the same time when Ideal ONE played word games about recall and upgrade, which caused a wide range of discussions in China, Tesla filed a record with the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and decided to recall a total of 29,834 Model S and Model X vehicles. The reason was that the suspension components may have the risk of breaking when subjected to a large external impact, and the improved suspension connecting rods will be replaced. However, this recall only occurred in China, and no action was taken in other overseas markets, even the US market. This touched the hearts of Tesla owners who are used to overseas recalls but indifferent in China.

1. Chinese car owners become Tesla's "shield" for not recalling overseas vehicles

But the story is far from over. Just when domestic consumers thought that Tesla had set a good example for other international auto giants or multinational companies, they never thought that a letter from Tesla's lawyers to NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) would expose Tesla's capitalist face. In that letter, Tesla attributed the suspension parts breakage problem in China to the driving habits of Chinese drivers, completely denied that there were hidden dangers in its vehicle suspension, and stated that the damage was not a quality problem, but was caused by the abuse of some Chinese car owners. What is even more unacceptable to domestic consumers or law enforcement authorities is that Tesla said, "We can only choose to voluntarily recall, otherwise we will bear a heavy administrative burden." Such a statement seems to make Tesla seem forced.

Just as many domestic consumers have questioned Ideal ONE, for an OEM, it is not possible to attribute the defects of vehicle components to the driver's driving habits. Even if Tesla's vehicles have broken components after a collision, consumers cannot bear the consequences. The OEM is fully capable of avoiding the occurrence of related problems through more robust designs in advance. Whether it is by increasing the load of external impact in the simulation stage, or in the later vehicle durability test, through more demanding road environments and testing methods, it is also possible to simulate various so-called "rough" driving habits of consumers in the future. And these, it seems that Tesla did not take into account in the early development process. Because not only in China, but also overseas, Tesla has also had many cases of broken axles.

2. Lack of local engineering technology centers is the crux of the problem

At present, Tesla does not have a research and development center with strong engineering and technical capabilities in China, so the driving habits and usage preferences of Chinese consumers cannot be input into Tesla's global engineering center. The situation of suspension component breakage is essentially that these parts have not been additionally reinforced. From the perspective of engineering development alone, it is not difficult to solve. As an emerging car company, Tesla does not have the test and certification specifications that have been precipitated by century-old factories like GM and Ford, nor does it have an exclusive test track developed in combination with its own test and certification specifications. Without such an exclusive test track, it is difficult to conduct high-intensity real vehicle testing and complete the simulation of the ten or even fifteen-year service life of the entire vehicle in about half a year. In addition, there is no way to combine the actual situation in China, so it is not surprising that there are more cases of broken axles in China. 

As competition in the domestic automobile market becomes increasingly fierce, it is urgent for foreign automakers to establish engineering technology centers in China if they want to continue to launch models that satisfy Chinese consumers. Taking GM, Ford and FCA, which are all American companies, as examples, the biggest reason why GM's performance in China far exceeds the latter two is that it has a Pan Asia Automotive Technology Center in China. From interior and exterior design, engine tuning to vehicle platform development, Pan Asia has fully acquired the ability to develop complete vehicles through 20 years of construction. This not only helps GM develop localized models that meet the aesthetics of domestic consumers, but also solves various engineering problems in a timely manner. Therefore, for Tesla, while accelerating the localization of its models, it is also urgent to establish an engineering technology center like Pan Asia in China.

Seeing that the stock prices of brands such as Tesla, BYD, and Weilai have been soaring, occupying three seats among the top five automobile companies in the world, whether it is Volkswagen, GM, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, or Jaguar Land Rover, the focus of all product research and development has now tilted towards electric vehicles. According to the research and development process of these international automobile giants, in about two to three years, many pure electric vehicle models will be born that directly target the technical indicators of Tesla's existing models. Whether in terms of cruising range, charging time, or the level of vehicle networking and unmanned driving, the gap between Tesla and Tesla will be greatly shortened. Although Tesla is also constantly investing in the research and development of new models and new technologies, the principle of diminishing marginal returns will make Tesla face greater pressure than in the past few years. At that time, as a rising star vehicle manufacturer, its defects in areas including chassis and interior that require a lot of engineering experience accumulation will slowly be exposed. When the avant-garde styling, large screen on the center console, OTA update of vehicle software and electric motors to bring the ultimate driving experience are no longer exclusive to Tesla, the traditional indicators of measuring cars such as brand appeal, chassis control, vehicle NVH, and fine interior workmanship will once again become important indicators for people to judge the quality of a car model. If Tesla cannot surprise consumers with low-cost models below $25,000 or L4-level driverless technology at that time, then Tesla will definitely not be as popular as it is today in three or four years. So for Tesla, instead of still showing off everywhere, it is better to be down-to-earth and build a stronger local engineering technology center in China, the world's largest electric vehicle market, as soon as possible.