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Tesla Model 3 on Autopilot Crashes for the First Time in Greece

You You Xue is a Tesla Model 3 owner who, while definitely not endorsed by Tesla, decided to take a road trip with his car around the world, as Auto Evolution reports.

Currently, the man is in Europe, touring the Old Continent in his electric car. This past weekend, his trip ended abruptly in Greece, after the car crashed.

The incident, says Auto Greek News citing Xue’s Facebook page, took place on the E65 motorway in Florina. The driver says the Autopilot feature was engaged at the time of the incident, but still, the vehicle veered right and slammed into the concrete median of the road for no reason. 

“Vehicle was engaged on Autopilot at 120 km/h. Car suddenly veered right without warning and crashed into the center median (edit: divider at the exit fork). Both wheels (edit: one wheel) completely shattered, my door wouldn't even open correctly. I'm unharmed,” Xue wrote on Facebook. 

The crash took place on May 25, and Tesla has issued a statement to Electrek in response to this incident. The response keeps in line with the official stance of Tesla, assumed every time Autopilot is accused of crashing cars: the system is not autonomous, and the driver must keep his hands on the steering wheel at all times. 


Xue says that his left hand was on the wheel, but the car veered so hard as it was trying to take a highway exit at the last minute. 

There is, however, one very interesting piece of information accompanying the carmaker's reply: despite being available for order in some European countries, the Model 3 “has not yet been approved and homologated for driving outside of the U.S. and Canada.”

In addition to this, Tesla reminds people in Eastern Europe that the company “does not yet have a presence in Eastern Europe and that there is no connectivity or service available for vehicles there.”

As for Xue’s road trip, it obviously ended. The man asked his Facebook followers whether to send the car back to the U.S. to have it diagnosed and repaired or sell it in Europe as is. A third option, to have it inspected by Tesla personnel in Europe, has been provided to Xue by the electric car maker. 
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