[단독]A Tesla driver in his 60s who crashed into a cafe made a mistake in a one-pedal driving operation.

Battery saving utility and benefits
Mistaking the accelerator pedal for the brake
Emergency situation, sudden acceleration, risk of accident
“Safety devices are desperately needed to prevent misuse of pedals.”

A Tesla parked in Yongin caught fire.
At around 7:40 pm on the 16th, a fire broke out​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​in a Tesla vehicle that was parked on a road in Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do. Although the fire department used 57 personnel and electric vehicle fire protection equipment, including fire extinguisher covers and portable fire extinguisher tanks, the fire​​​​ was extinguished in about 4 hours. Fortunately, there were no casualties. Provided by Gyeonggi Regional Fire and Disaster Headquarters

Recently, a Tesla electric car driven by a woman in her 60s crashed into a cafe in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, injuring 11 people. It was confirmed that an investigation is ongoing. Recently, with a series of electric vehicle fire accidents occurring in Incheon and Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, safety concerns are being raised about single-pedal driving, known as the electric vehicle flower.

● Controversy over the safety of single-pedal driving

According to the Dong-A Ilbo broadcast on the 18th, A, a woman in her 60s who injured 11 people, admitted negligence in the police investigation and said that she did not know how to drive​​​​​​ single-pedal. At the time of the accident, Mr. A said that while he was parking, he stepped on the accelerator pedal, mistakenly thinking that he had changed from forward gear to reverse gear, causing the accident. Normally, when reversing, you take your foot off the brake while driving, but in single-pedal driving, you must step on the accelerator pedal. The police believe that the accident occurred because the vehicle was accelerating rapidly forward at the time, but Mr. A, who was used to single-pedal driving, did not apply the brakes. After an investigation by the police, there were no traces of the brake lights being on at the time of the accident.

Single-pedal driving, which is mostly installed in electric vehicles, refers to the act of moving and stopping the vehicle with only one accelerator pedal. In electric vehicles, when you reduce the force of pressing the accelerator pedal, ‘regenerative braking’, which converts kinetic energy into electricity and charges, is activated, creating the braking effect . Regenerative braking strength can be adjusted in stages, and is called Tesla’s ‘Sustain Mode’, BMW’s ‘B Mode’, and Hyundai’s ‘i-Pedal’, which allows you to drive with one pedal, from acceleration to stop. ‘ according to the manufacturer.

According to the industry, most of the 476,000 electric vehicles registered in July this year are equipped with a one-pedal driving function. Mr Jo (67) said, “I drove a normal car for over 30 years and recently switched to an electric car and I’m very used to it, so I drive with care” . “

Recently, sudden acceleration accidents among electric vehicles have been on the rise, and single-pedal driving is sometimes cited as a cause. In the case of an electric taxi car that crashed into a wall in a residential area of ​​Itaewon, Seoul last November, the driver claimed that the vehicle accelerated suddenly, but it was confirmed that it did he stepped on the accelerator pedal six. times.

Some electric vehicle drivers also complain about the dangers of single-pedal driving. Tesla owner Kang (28) said, “When I was driving on a coastal road over the weekend, I felt the accelerator pedal for a brake on a curve and I almost fell into the since then, I have been paying attention to my daily commute. “

● “Safety devices are needed to prevent misuse of pedals”

Experts warn of the dangers of single-pedal driving, especially among older drivers. Professor Kim Pil-soo from the Department of Future Car Studies at Daelim University said, “If one-pedal driving becomes a habit, you may press the accelerator pedal incorrectly in an emergency situation where you have to apply the brake.” “Especially for older drivers, more than 9 out of 10 electric car sudden acceleration accidents occur as a result of single-pedal driving “It’s due to poor driving skills,” he explained.

Some say that necessary safety devices should be introduced to prevent pedal misidentification accidents. Japan, which has many older drivers, introduced a device to prevent pedal malfunction in 2012 and plans to make installation mandatory from June next year. Lee Ho-geun, a future professor of automotive engineering at Daedeok University, said, “We also need to provide additional safety devices that visually indicate that the driver is operating the accelerator or brake pedal.”

At the same time, Hyundai Motor Company implemented Pedal Malfunction Safety Assist (PMSA) to the recently released new electric vehicle model, ‘Casper Electric’. PMSA is a function that controls the car by considering it as a malfunction when the driver presses the accelerator pedal quickly and deeply even though there are obstacles in the direction of- 1 m in front and behind the vehicle. Since the accelerator pedal is fully depressed, the driving force and braking force control functions are designed to operate automatically when the time to reach 100% is less than 0.25 seconds.

Reporter Lee Chaewan [email protected]
Yongin = Reporter Seo Ji-won [email protected]
Reporter Jaehee Han [email protected]