Tesla Has Plans For A Sub Model 3 Car And Responds To “Unintended Acceleration” Claims

• New Sub-Tesla Model 3 would compete with the Chevy Bolt, VW ID.3 and others.
• Apparently, image comes from a Tesla document pertaining to a facility to be built in China.
• And, Tesla says there’s no such thing as ““unintended acceleration” in their vehicles.

Tesla stories are so constant and numerous that we’ve come to the point that we need to combine some into one to leave other car manufactures a chance to be heard and read. In this round, it looks as though Tesla is working on a new core model which would sit below that of the Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV.

Carbuzz has reported that the image, or rendering, you see “purportedly comes from an official document released by the company regarding a new design and engineering facility that Tesla recently announced it plans to build in China.”

While we’ve not seen the document, the rendering and the story seem legitimate enough especially when considering that Musk and Tesla know no limits. Now, the “fact” that this image of a small hatchback-like compact car was part of a document slated for a Chinese factory could lead one or many to consider that the car will be reserved for other markets than North America, we think it’ll be another world that, should it be built, will find its way here.

Meanwhile, we reported a few days ago that Tesla could be faced with an investigation by the NHTSA into “unintended acceleration” claims following a petition.

To this, Tesla responded in the blog section of its website:

“This petition is completely false and was brought by a Tesla short-seller. We investigate every single incident where the driver alleges to us that their vehicle accelerated contrary to their input, and in every case where we had the vehicle’s data, we confirmed that the car operated as designed. In other words, the car accelerates if, and only if, the driver told it to do so, and it slows or stops when the driver applies the brake.

While accidents caused by a mistaken press of the accelerator pedal have been alleged for nearly every make/model of vehicle on the road, the accelerator pedals in Model S, X and 3 vehicles have two independent position sensors, and if there is any error, the system defaults to cut off motor torque. Likewise, applying the brake pedal simultaneously with the accelerator pedal will override the accelerator pedal input and cut off motor torque, and regardless of the torque, sustained braking will stop the car. Unique to Tesla, we also use the Autopilot sensor suite to help distinguish potential pedal misapplications and cut torque to mitigate or prevent accidents when we’re confident the driver’s input was unintentional. Each system is independent and records data, so we can examine exactly what happened.

We are transparent with NHTSA, and routinely review customer complaints of unintended acceleration with them. Over the past several years, we discussed with NHTSA the majority of the complaints alleged in the petition. In every case we reviewed with them, the data proved the vehicle functioned properly.”

We will be keeping track of this one.