Rare story: Tesla owners have to ‘pay’ the manufacturer $ 1,400 for calling the Model X a ‘suicide toy’

The owner of a Tesla Model X in China had to pay the manufacturer $1,400 for calling his SUV a “deadly toy” or a “suicide toy”.

Mr. Wen, who claimed that while driving his car from Fuyang to Zhenghou, the car’s brakes did not work while the car automatically slowed down from 100 km/h to 60 km/h while he did not have any effect.

He shared this with a series of press in China and called the Model X a “suicide toy”. Tesla’s communications department in China noticed this and filed a lawsuit against Wen.

The case went to court when Mr. Wen said no one from the manufacturer had contacted him after the car’s incident. However, in court, Tesla presented evidence that they contacted him on the day of the incident, asking for information about what happened. Tesla also said that it had repeatedly tried to reach out to inspect the Model X, but were refused by the owner.

In the end, the court concluded that the owner’s actions had “damaged the social image” of Tesla.

The car owner is required to apologize for his statements, but the apology must be previewed and approved by the court. This apology was later posted on the legal news site of Henan province (China). Mr. Wen was also ordered to pay $1,400 within 10 days after the trial ended.