Tesla China receives apology from car blogger over dishonest braking test

Tesla China recently received an apology from prolific car blogger and influencer Chen Zhengang over a controversial braking test from 2021. As per the car blogger, his video misrepresented Tesla’s emergency braking performance to make it seem like the company’s vehicles were worse than they really are. 

The car blogger, who has millions of followers online, produced videos featuring a comparison between the automatic emergency braking systems of a Tesla Model 3 and an Xpeng P7. The car blogger was accused of manipulating the test, with some viewers observing that Chen was intentionally stepping on the Model 3’s accelerator during the braking test.

Despite Chinese netizens calling out the video for its apparent dishonesty, Chen’s automatic emergency braking tests garnered hundreds of thousands of likes. In 2022, reports emerged indicating that Tesla China had filed a defamation suit against the car blogger, as noted in a Sohu report.

$TSLA
China’s famous car blogger Xiaogang Mentors paid Tesla 120,000 yuan in compensation, and finally made a public apology to Tesla.

He produced a video of an automatic emergency braking comparison test between Tesla and Xpeng Motors, which he accused of manipulating the… pic.twitter.com/bvR0nRaOhV

— Tsla Chan (@Tslachan) November 7, 2024

As per recent updates from industry watchers, the car blogger has paid Tesla China RMB 120,000 ($16,790) in compensation. He also had to post a public apology admitting to the dishonest automatic emergency braking test. 

Following is the car blogger’s public apology. 

Apology Statement

Around April 29, 2021, I posted a video titled “Using my two cars to do an emergency brake test (Part 1)” on platforms such as Douyin, Kuaishou, Dongchedi, Toutiao, and bilibili (now removed).

During the testing and filming and editing of the above video, I did not conduct rigorous testing, did not use the same testing conditions, unilaterally omitted important content that was beneficial to Tesla cars, and unilaterally exaggerated the poor performance of Tesla cars. I failed to fulfill the duty of care that matches my professional identity and network influence, and I was at fault.

My behavior may mislead the audience and reduce the social evaluation of Tesla and its products, affecting the reputation of Tesla, and infringing on the reputation of Tesla. I deeply apologize for the damage I have caused to Tesla.

I will be careful in what I say and do in future video creation and take this as a warning. 

Apologizer: Chen Zhengang

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