Project - Vehicular Crash safety Systems
CASE STUDY :
Tesla is experiencing growing pains but has willingly invited more criticism than other young companies because the automaker is brazen enough to pronounce ambitious goals and, most boldly, insists that its vision of the future of the automotive industry is the definitive one.
But Tesla is forcing the auto industry to rapidly change. Large, established automakers now are making fully electric and hybrid-electric cars. Automakers are starting to explore and include artificial intelligence (AI) in their cars, and now major automakers and U.S. Congressmen are discussing autonomous vehicles (AVs) and how best to innovate and regulate them.
Not only that, but Tesla's software design is state-of-the-art: the fact that Tesla can update vehicle software over-the-air (OTA) as if it were Apple updating an iPhone is unprecedented. As cars become more tech-savvy, Tesla is in the lead. But Tesla struggles to meet deadlines and frequently delivers flawed vehicles, and profitability remains elusive. Many use Tesla's failings to argue that the company shouldn't be followed as an innovator or even as a true automaker.
It turns out Tesla's story is far more complicated and nuanced than often portrayed, but the roots of its challenges come down to the company's finances and supply chain.
Not only that, but Tesla's software design is state-of-the-art: the fact that Tesla can update vehicle software over-the-air (OTA) as if it were Apple updating an iPhone is unprecedented. As cars become more tech-savvy, Tesla is in the lead. But Tesla struggles to meet deadlines and frequently delivers flawed vehicles, and profitability remains elusive. Many use Tesla's failings to argue that the company shouldn't be followed as an innovator or even as a true automaker.
It turns out Tesla's story is far more complicated and nuanced than often portrayed, but the roots of its challenges come down to the company's finances and supply chain.
Tesla didn't invent the electric car (Scottish inventor Robert Anderson did, in 1832), but it was Tesla who popularized, pioneered, and promoted the electric car ever since the company's founding in 2003. None of the major automotive manufacturers were making electric cars until Tesla made it cool in 2008 with its bombastic announcement of the first luxury electric car: the Tesla Roadster.
Since then, big automakers with lots of capital, solid supplier bases, and seasoned supply chains went to work in rapidly developing and churning out their own electric cars, as consumers and governments pursue eco-friendly, low-emissions transit options. The next electric car, released in 2010, was made by Mitsubishi Motors.
According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics data, the number of hybrid EVs sold in the U.S. didn't break by 100,000 until 2005. The bureau doesn't have data on the number of EVs sold until 2011, which was 9,750.
Since then, the EV market has exploded. By 2015, 71,044 EVs were sold in the U.S., and 384,404 hybrid EVs. Between January and September 2017, Tesla led the pack by selling 73,227 EVs, followed by Chinese automaker BYD, selling 69,094.
The number of miles traveled by each vehicle with Autopilot active or in manual driving, based on available data we receive from the fleet and do so without identifying specific vehicles to protect privacy. We also receive a crash alert anytime a crash is reported to us from the fleet, which may include data about whether Autopilot was active at the time of impact. To ensure our statistics are conservative, we count any crash in which Autopilot was deactivated within 5 seconds before impact, and we count all crashes in which the incident alert indicated an airbag or other active restraint deployed. (Our crash statistics are not based on sample data sets or estimates.) In practice, this correlates to nearly any crash at about 12 mph (20 kph) or above, depending on the crash forces generated. On the other hand, police-reported crashes from government databases are notoriously under-reported, by some estimates as much as 50%, in large part because most minor crashes (like “fender benders”) are not investigated. We also do not differentiate based on the type of crash or fault. (For example, more than 35% of all Autopilot crashes occur when the Tesla vehicle is rear-ended by another vehicle.) In this way, we are confident that the statistics we share unquestionably show the benefits of Autopilot.