Tesla China receives apology from car blogger over dishonest braking test

$Tesla (TSLA.US)$ $XPeng (XPEV.US)$ $BYD COMPANY (01211.HK)$ $NIO Inc (NIO.US)$
1) 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 the Tesla Model 3’s automatic emergency braking performance.
The car blogger, who has millions of followers online, produced videos in 2021 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.

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.

2) In another significant legal victory for Elon Musk and Tesla, a U.S. appeals court upheld a jury’s decision that cleared them of liability over the CEO’s infamous 2018 “funding secured” tweet. The lawsuit against Musk and Tesla was filed by TSLA shareholders back in 2018. As per the legal complaint, which was headed by investor Glen Littleton, the CEO’s “funding secured” tweet was misleading and had caused shareholders significant financial losses. The case went to trial, though a jury ultimately sided with Musk and Tesla in 2023.

3) My Take:

Although the 2 legal cases are not related, Elon Musk and Tesla won the lawsuit at about the same time is remarkable. I always believe that conducting tests to justify that one EV brand is better than the others is difficult and we should avoid such smear campaign. It reminds me of Dan O'dowd who founded the Dawn Project (someone like to quote) to conduct tests discrediting Tesla FSD. You can read here for the details:
Smear campaign video about Tesla FSD proved to be not true

The article shared here is a reminder to all who post on social media not to make untrue comments. As retail investors, it is important to ask for sources of information and verify its creditability.