IM CEO Apologizes for Misjudging Tesla Chaozhou Crash: Not Caused by Brake Failure

On February 5, Liu Tao, Co-CEO of IM Motors, publicly apologized on Weibo for his inappropriate remarks in November 2022 regarding the Tesla crash in Chaozhou. He acknowledged that, based on limited information at the time, he had wrongly speculated that the accident was caused by brake failure in a Tesla vehicle. He has since revised his view in light of the official traffic police and judicial forensic findings released in May 2023. The incident occurred on November 5, 2022, in Chaozhou, Guangdong, when a Tesla Model Y lost control, resulting in two deaths and three injuries. Tesla stated that its backend data showed the driver never applied the brakes during the entire event and instead kept the accelerator pedal fully depressed at 100%. Authoritative forensic analysis confirmed that throughout the accident, the accelerator pedal remained fully pressed with no brake signal detected, ruling out any malfunction in the braking or steering systems and verifying that the vehicle met China’s national safety standards. Liu Tao has deleted his original Weibo post and issued an apology.