Tesla in recent times has come under pressure when accidents involving its electric vehicles occur. The Autopilot has most times been fingered as the proximate cause of several crashes. However, the recent story from Norway gives a more rounded perspective on the importance of this technological and safety feature in EVs.

A Tesla driver in Norway who decided to drive while under the influence of alcohol has been saved from a possibly fatal crash. The driver fell asleep while behind the wheels of his Model S EV, but the Autopilot which was operational at the time carefully navigated the vehicle to a halt.

The Autopilot provides a safety net while driving as it uses a slew of technologies to provide navigational guidance to the driver. The incident happened in Norway’s eastern district last weekend.

Some part of the incident is believed to have been filmed, as other motorists watched the 24-year old man sleeping on the wheels while the Model S was in motion. The car then successfully parked by the roadside while the man remained unconscious, as onlookers tried to wake him up from his sleep.

The local police later arrived at the scene and established that the driver was drunk. The name of the man has not been mentioned. The police also released a public statement on the incident. The man had denied he was driving the vehicle at the time he was picked.

The Autopilot is often misunderstood and misused by drivers of Tesla’s EVs leading to sometimes deadly crashes. It is a driver-assist system and not a self-driving one. When activated, it regularly sends signals to the driver to hold the steering wheel. When these signals are repeatedly ignored, the car will navigate to a stop in a safe position.

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Electric vehicle maker Tesla will remotely update the Autopilot software in about 285,000 of its cars in China to prevent drivers from mistakenly activating the Autopilot feature while driving. This is after the country’s regulatory agency investigated claims that drivers inadvertently switch to Autopilot when driving.

The remote update is understood to affect both cars made locally and those from abroad. The state regulator, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation, believes there are safety concerns if the Autopilot is not firmed up. When the Autopilot turns on accidentally, the vehicle may accelerate rapidly or quickly slow down. Sudden acceleration or slowing down could, in extreme cases, cause a collision.

According to the state regulator, Tesla had already commenced the process of updating the software since Saturday. The bulk of the vehicles affected are the locally produced Model 3 and Model Y models, while more than 35,000 imported Model 3 will also be updated.

Tesla has had several issues relating to safety connected with the Autopilot in its vehicles in recent times. Some fatal collisions have also been recorded both inside China and in the US, among other countries. However, Tesla has continued to pursue greater development of the Autopilot feature, with safety concerns factored into their development.

Tesla has made steady progress in penetrating the Chinese market, which is arguably the largest EV market. Tesla’s China strategy has seen it rapidly invest in building factories in the mainland for its products to remain competitive. The company’s CEO Elon Musk has already hinted that China is its next biggest market after the US. In April, the company said that the US and China accounted for about 70% of its revenue.

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