London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2025

Tesla grilled by Chinese authorities over quality of Model 3 cars

Tesla grilled by Chinese authorities over quality of Model 3 cars

Five Chinese departments, including the State Administration for Market Regulation, ask the carmaker to comply strictly with the mainland’s laws and regulations and protect consumer rights.

Chinese authorities have raised issues concerning the safety of Tesla cars with executives of the world’s largest electric vehicle maker, urging it to comply with regulations and protect consumers.

The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) said it had conducted interviews with Tesla officials in Beijing and Shanghai recently over safety issues and incidents reported by consumers, including unintended acceleration, battery fires and over-the-air updates, together with Cyberspace Administration of China, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Emergency Management.

They asked the California-based EV maker to comply strictly with China’s laws and regulations, strengthen its internal management, assume primary responsibility for safety, maintain public safety efficiently and protect consumer rights, according to statement published on SAMR’s website late on Monday.

Competition in the world’s largest market for new-energy vehicles has intensified, pitting Tesla against the likes of home-grown EV start-ups such as NIO, Xpeng and Li Auto.

Electric car sales in China jumped 12 per cent to 1.17 million units in 2020, defying the consumption slump and depressed sentiment due to the coronavirus pandemic. Sales this year may increase by 50 per cent to 1.8 million units and up to 3 million by 2025, spurred by generous government subsidies and new models, according to an estimate by industry officials.

The meeting between Chinese authorities and Tesla executives came a week after the carmaker apologised to China’s State Grid for blaming the state-owned utility’s power system for damage caused to a Model 3.

A Tesla employee told the car’s owner in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, that the car’s inverter was damaged because of a current overload caused by the utility.

After State Grid denied the allegations, Tesla apologised to the company for misleading consumers. It added that the technical issue with the Model 3 car was resolved and further investigation into the problem was conducted.

Over the past few months, local media have reported several complaints lodged by mainland drivers about the quality of the Shanghai-made Model 3 cars.

“The intervention by the ministry-level authorities showed that complaints over Model 3’s quality had risen to such a level that regulators had to give a warning to Tesla to solve the problems,” said Gao Shen, an independent analyst on manufacturing sectors in Shanghai. “It remains to be seen whether harsh punishments, such as fines, would be slapped on Tesla.”

In December, a war of words ensued between online technology media PingWest and the US carmaker regarding the quality of its locally-made cars.
PingWest labelled the Shanghai Gigafactory 3 a “Giga-sweatshop” and accused Tesla of using substandard components in the locally built Model 3s.

Tesla denied the charges and threatened to take the tech news provider to court.

The Gigafactory 3 is Tesla’s first plant outside the United States. On January 1, it launched the Model Y, its second model manufactured in Shanghai. The new model has drawn a massive number of orders, and some buyers will have to wait until the second quarter for their cars to be delivered.

Comments

Oh ya 5 year ago
Wow 2 things. 1st china calling anyone on quality is a joke and 2nd why would anyone with at least 2 working brain cells get into a electric car? Remember what you have been told about your cell phone? Don't carry close to body, not to sleep near it, use wired headphones not wireless . It is all because of electromagnetic radiation and yet you will strap yourself and kids into a electric car. Well cook Eddy and the twins and at least you will not be able to breed more stupid people. And maybe look into what your closest power plant is burning to make the power to run your electric car. Good chance is coal. Ya thats really clean

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×