Another fatal Tesla crash on Autopilot goes to trial, but with new evidence this time
Another fatal crash on Tesla Autopilot is going to trial, and while Tesla has won all of them in the past, this one has new evidence that could help the plaintiffs.
Over the years, there have been a handful of fatal crashes involving Tesla’s Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) features, more commonly referred to as their brand names: Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) Package.
The families of the victims have taken the accidents to trials for wrongful death at times, but Tesla always won.
That’s because, in virtually all cases, Tesla was able to show that the driver was not paying attention at the moment of the accident or leading up to it. When using Autopilot or FSD Beta, Tesla tells drivers that they need to pay attention at all times and to be ready to take control at all times.
If drivers are not doing that, they are misusing the system.
However, some have argued that Tesla should take more responsibility for creating an exaggerated level of confidence in its ADAS systems and to limit the misuse by better ensuring that drivers are paying attention.
Now, a new trial is about to take place, and the lawyers of the family of the deceased Tesla driver have uncovered evidence that they claim shows Tesla knew it was too easy to abuse Autopilot.
The trial is about one of the most publicized Tesla Autopilot accidents. We reported on it extensively when it first happened and in follow-ups regarding several investigations of the crash.
The Tesla Autopilot Crash
The crash occurred in March 2018 and involved Apple engineer Walter Huang.
Huang was driving his Model X on Autopilot when it entered the median of a ramp on the highway as if it were a lane, a common problem with Tesla’s Autopilot at the time. About 150 meters after entering the median, it hit a barrier.
The impact was quite severe because there was no crash attenuator since it was already destroyed by a previous crash. The driver was rushed to the hospital, but he died of his injuries.
NHTSA investigated the accident and confirmed that the vehicle was using Autopilot at the time of the crash. However, according to phone data, it blamed the driver, who was playing a video game on his phone, and the lack of a crash attenuator, which affected the severity of the crash.
The Trial
The family has sued Tesla for wrongful death, and it is going to be quite an uphill battle for them because it looks like he was using his phone while driving, which is a traffic violation and against Tesla’s guidance on how to use Autopilot.
That said, the family’s lawyers benefit from learning from previous similar trials and they are taking a different approach. They are not denying Huang’s misuse of Autopilot, but they are focusing on Tesla’s communications, which they claim led to the driver misusing Autopilot.
As we previously reported, as part of the discovery process for the trial, the family’s lawyers have focused on several statements made by Tesla, and specifically Elon Musk, about Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving efforts that could lead drivers to be overconfident in the systems.
In its defense, Tesla went as far as bizarrely claiming that some of Musk’s comments on the matter might have been deep fakes without specifying which ones.
The trial is now set to start next week in a San Jose court and more pieces of evidences are coming out as the court determines what they will be able to show to the jury.
Reuters report on an email that Jon McNeil, then Tesla’s president, sent to CEO Elon Musk and Sterling Anderson, Tesla’s head of Autopilot at the time, in which McNeil admitted to reading emails while using Autopilot:
“I got so comfortable under Autopilot, that I ended up blowing by exits because I was immersed in emails or calls (I know, I know, not a recommended use),.”
The lawyers are also arguing that Tesla never never “studied how quickly and effectively drivers could take control if Autopilot accidentally steers towards an obsacle,” based on Tesla witnesses and experts.
It sounds like the trial is going to revolve around what Tesla communicated to owners and what it has done internally to ensure owners use its systems safely.
But it will also focus on the fact that after the accident, Tesla has taken more steps to ensure driver attention, including introducing driver monitoring through its cabin-facing camera and more recently, it even had a recall to increase driver alerts to pay more attention when using Autopilot and FSD Beta.
The fact that Tesla had a recall recently over the issue could play a big role in this trial as it wasn’t the case in the previous ones won by the automaker.
Electrek’s Take
When cases involve a death, it’s always a sensitive matter, and the Tesla community is quick to put all the blame on the drivers.
That’s especially easy to do when the driver was using his phone at the moment of the crash, which is not legal, and he had seemingly more than a few seconds to react when the Autopilot made a mistake and went into the median.
That said, I think it is reasonable to explore, at least, the possibility that Tesla has contributed to the misuse of its own ADAS system.
We can’t deny that misuse was, and maybe still is, fairly common among Tesla owners at the time of this crash. We even reported on Elon Musk’s own wife at the time posting videos of her misusing Autopilot on her Instagram.
Now, on a legal basis, I don’t know how valuable this argument is, but it sounds like some experts think there’s a case.
Matthew Wansley, a Cardozo law school associate professor, agrees that Tesla had an obligation to prevent “foreseeable misuse”:
“If it was reasonably foreseeable to Tesla that someone would misuse the system, Tesla had an obligation to design the system in a way that prevented foreseeable misuse.”
Either way, I think it can’t hurt to debate the issue, especially if it helps publicize the fact that Tesla drivers need to pay attention at all times when using Tesla’s ADAS systems.
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Porsche unveiled its new Cayenne EV today, and it comes with an option for something we haven’t seen out of a factory-equipped car before: inductive charging.
Over the years, we’ve heard plenty of attempts by companies to trick consumers into thinking that it’s possible to make an electric car that doesn’t need to charge.
From Toyota’s dumb “self-charging hybrid” claim, to the new fad of “range extenders”/EREVs (aka plug-in hybrids with a bigger battery), to all manner of solar vehicles, people seem to think that convincing customers that they don’t need to plug in will get them to buy an EV (or, will help them greenwash their gas-guzzling hybrids).
And now the next entry into that group has arrived: the Porsche Cayenne electric, which can indeed be driven without ever plugging in, or gassing up, or even parking in the sun.
It does have to be parked somewhere specific though: over a pad in your garage. Because this car can be equipped to use inductive charging, right out of the factory.
Inductive charging uses magnetic fields to transfer electrical power, as opposed to conductive charging, which uses a plug. Inductive charging is how phone charging mats work, but in this case, it’s scaled up significantly in size and power.
We’ve seen a few inductive charging projects before, but they’ve always been aftermarket or experimental so far. Or, they’ve been targeted more at commercial or fleet buyers (buses, for example).
There is one mass-produced EV which is rumored to have inductive charging capability, the Tesla Cybertruck, and we know that Tesla is working on a charging pad, which will be helpful if autonomous vehicles ever roll out properly. But nothing has been announced as available yet.
Porsche, however, is ready to announce that the capability is coming to its upcoming Cayenne EV. Porsche has shown off its inductive tech before, but now we got to see it ourselves when we checked out the Cayenne in a studio preview.
Porsche says that its inductive charging system can push 11kW of power, which is plenty for overnight home charging (on the car’s 113kWh battery). It does this at 90% efficiency – not as much as the ~95% of conductive charging, but still quite good. It also requires an extra ~33lbs of coils and wiring onboard the car, which is a significant if not massive weight gain.
To activate the system, the charging pad makes contact with the car via wide-band wireless communication to determine location, then activates when you park in just the perfect spot. The car’s screen shows guide lines to help you find the way to where you need to be – or there’s always the tennis-ball-on-a-string trick if you want to go low tech.
When we tried it out in LA, once we got the system up and running (hot tip: don’t daisy chain two extension cords if you want your inductive charging pad to work), it quickly charged at 11kW, at least according to the in-car system.
The inductive charger includes a lot of safety features to ensure nothing weird happens. Even though it only uses magnetic fields, the mat includes sensors to detect any living or metal objects nearby, it will stop (yes, this includes your cat that likes to sleep under the car, and yes, Porsche gets asked this question often). We saw this happen once in the studio demo, but it quickly turned back on after deciding everything was okay.
The Cayenne will still have its regular conductive charging ports, capable of 11kW AC or 400kW DC charge. But for those who want to forgo the plug, at least at home, the mat is an available option.
That said – pricing and availability are still TBD. The system costs €7k in Europe, plus an electrician, but we don’t know what it will cost in the US yet.
So, there’s still a chance that someone else beats Porsche to the “first” moniker – possibly Tesla, given that it seems to be close to offering an inductive charging system. But there are a lot of hurdles to ensure that the system is reliable in every type of weather and real world situation, and lots of electrical codes to follow. So, it looks like the race is on.
Electrek’s Take
I was quite interested in talking to the engineers about this system, because I hadn’t actually experienced inductive charging in an EV before.
People have been talking about this for a long time, and I used to be excited about the concept of electrified roads where cars could just drive on them and get a charge and never have to plug in.
However, after conversations over the years and experience with how easy driving and charging an EV is, I came to think that inductive charging is mostly a gimmick, and that we will likely rely on conductive charging in the long term (and especially that in-highway charging is a boondoggle that’s never going to be a good option, especially when catenary/pantograph systems exist).
That said, there are still niches and benefits to be had. In a potential fully autonomous future, we’ll need to figure out autonomous charging, and inductive charging could be a good answer for that.
In addition, some drivers do have difficulty with cables. While the NACS cable is much easier to handle than the old CCS cable, an older driver or one with mobility issues might have a hard time plugging in a car. Inductive charging could be good for them.
Or, heck, maybe someone is just lazy. Or doesn’t like cords. And doesn’t mind spending money for these marginal improvements. We can imagine there are Porsche buyers who could fit that description.
I still think the take rate will be relatively low, but it will be interesting to see real world tests of this, how buyers get along with it, and what sort of problems they manage to solve. As much as I’m a skeptic of inductive charging’s usefulness and acknowledger of its limitations, it’s nice to see new things get tried sometimes.
What do you think about Porsche’s inductive charging system? Would you prefer it to conductive charging? How much would you pay to add this option to your EV? Let us know in the comments.
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The Inster, Hyundai’s most affordable EV, is Germany’s best-selling small electric car and top overall vehicle priced under €25,000.
The Hyundai Inster is Germany’s best-selling small EV
After launching the Inster in Europe in late 2024, Hyundai’s smallest and most affordable EV quickly became one of the most popular electric cars in the region.
According to JATO Dynamics, the Hyundai Inster was the 19th most popular EV across Europe in June, outselling the Dacia Spring, Hyundai Kona, and Toyota bZ4X.
In Germany, the heart of Europe, Hyundai’s most affordable EV is making an even bigger impression. Since this summer, the Hyundai Inster is Germany’s best-selling small EV so far in 2025 and just won the Golden Steering Wheel award for best car under €25,000 ($28,900) by AUTO BILD & BILD am SONNTAG.
Hyundai said the recognition is proof that its vehicles are resonating with buyers across Europe. The Korean automaker will continue expanding its EV lineup, from the small Inster to the three-row IONIQ 9.
The award comes after the Inster was crowned the 2025 World Electric Vehicle at the World Car Awards ceremony in the spring, held during the New York International Auto Show.
Hyundai’s electric city car starts at just €25,000 ($28,900) in Germany. Despite its small size, the Inster delivers up to 370 km (230 miles) WLTP driving range, fast charging (10% to 80%) in 30 minutes, and a surprisingly spacious and feature-rich interior.
The Inster features dual 10.3″ driver display and infotainment screens with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as part of Hyundai’s digital cockpit.
By 2027, Hyundai plans to electrify all vehicles sold in Europe. The Inster and IONIQ 9 are now rolling out across the region, and Hyundai plans to build momentum with new EVs, including the IONIQ 3, which will go into production in Hungary in the first half of 2026.
In South Korea, Hyundai’s home market, the Inster is sold as the Casper Electric. The compact EV is sold in Japan, Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Asia.
Although those in the US won’t get to see the Inster or IONIQ 3, Hyundai still has one of the most affordable EVs you can get your hands on. With leases starting at just $189 per month, the Hyundai IONIQ 5 is still America’s best deal for an electric vehicle.
Interested in a test drive? We can help you get started. You can use our link to find available Hyundai IONIQ 5 models near you.
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Environment
MP Materials stock surges on Pentagon-backed deal to develop rare earth refinery in Saudi Arabia
MP Materials surged Wednesday on a deal with the U.S. Department of Defense and the Saudi Arabian Mining Company, Maaden, to develop a rare earth refinery in the kingdom.
The U.S. rare earth miner’s stock was last up about 9%.
MP and the Pentagon will hold a 49% stake in the joint venture, the company said. Maaden’s position will be no less than 51%. The Defense Department will finance the U.S. portion of the venture with MP providing technical and marketing expertise.
The binding agreement to form the joint venture comes after MP and Maaden signed a memoranum of understanding back in May. The agreement will “significantly expand MP’s global footprint” and is structured to “ensure U.S. oversight and alignment with national security objectives,” the company said.
MP Materials stock over the past six months
MP is also holding talks on a possible collaboration to standup magnet manufacuring in Saudi Arabia.
The Pentagon struck a landmark deal with MP in July that includes an equity stake, a price floor, and offtake agreement. The Trump administration is investing in MP as it seeks to reduce U.S. dependence on China for rare earth imports and stand up a domestic supply chain.
MP CEO James Litinsky has described the company as the U.S. “national champion” for rare earths. Rare earths are crucial inputs in U.S. weapons platforms, electric vehicles, clean energy technology, semiconductor manufacturing and consumer electronics.
Goldman Sachs initiated converage of MP on Tuesday with a price target of $77, implying about 32% upside from Monday’s closing price.
“We believe MP’s downstream expansion into refining and magnet production, accelerated by a partnership with the US government, will strategically position MP as a key supply chain component for rare earth refining and magnet production,” Goldman analyst Brian Lee told clients.
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