Federal Motor Transportation Authority on Tesla: “The road is not an experimental area”

The German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) wants all car manufacturers to know what software updates they install on their cars. However, the exchange between electric car maker Tesla and KBA is very difficult, said KBA president Richard Damm. suddetsche zeitung,

“If we do not receive any information, we cannot rule out that the systems are not compliant,” Dam told the newspaper, Sanctions may also include fines and possibly a ban on operations. KBA doesn’t want to stop new technologies by any means, but it wants to move forward with a sense of proportion. “The road is not an experimental field, it is about safety in traffic and ultimately about human life,” Damm stressed.

determines the scoring

The KBA boss takes a serious look at how Tesla activates certain vehicle functions based on drivers’ scoring and their driving behavior. This is not the right way. A vehicle and automation system must be secure and robust enough to be operated by all drivers.

When testing new functions, KBA will not rely only on documents and explanations, but will look closely and examine them practically, Damm said. The KBA testing laboratory was also expanded during the diesel scandal; In Flensburg, where KBA is based, 40 engineers thoroughly tested the cars themselves. It took several attempts before Mercedes-Benz was approved for highly automated driving in December 2021.

Dam is also important for the vast amount of data Tesla uses about its peers and drivers. He does not know that it is important to check and regulate the operation and transfer of data in accordance with the data protection law from traditional manufacturers. According to the report, Tesla apparently handed over data on speed criminals to police in Berlin last year. Tesla’s “autopilot” driver assistance system has long been criticized for various accidents in the United States. In October 2021, the company withdrew public beta testing of an advanced driver assistance feature.

According to the KBA, there were a good 66,000 Tesla vehicles on German roads as of January 1, 2022. A year ago it was a cool 34,000. The US company may continue to grow in Germany, as Model Y e-cars are delivered this week from the new Tesla factory in Grunheide, near Berlin.

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