[Son Ji-chang's Facebook]
Son Ji-chang, an inactive South Korean singer-actor, has been locked in a truth game with US electric vehicle maker Tesla Motors over his sports utility vehicle Model X that allegedly crashed into his garage due to sudden and spontaneous acceleration.
The celebrity filed a lawsuit with a US court last week, claiming his Model X suddenly accelerated on September 10 when he was parking it into the garage, ramming through his living room.
The case came after Tesla is trying to open its first electric car retail shop and charging stations in South Korea.
On his recent Facebook post, Son said he decided to file a lawsuit because Tesla did not admit the car's errors. He claimed Tesla had dragged its feet in investigating the incident and tried to shift responsibility on him after taking away the car's activity recorder.
"I was deeply disappointed at the company's attitude ... After all, (Tesla) did not admit its errors and I've decided to launch a lawsuit through consultation with my attorney," Son wrote.
[Son Ji-chang's Facebook]
He accused Tesla of slandering him by alleging that he demanded money by taking advantage of his fame. "If the wall was concrete, not wood, I would have died or get hurt badly." Son, 46, starred in a slew of South Korean television shows, dramas, and movies in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He has been inactive since 2005.
The US company said that Son "threatened to use his celebrity status in Korea to hurt Tesla" unless the company "agreed to make a financial payment and acknowledge that the vehicle accelerated on its own", according to Gizmodo, an American IT specialist online media.
"The evidence clearly shows the vehicle was not at fault. Our policy is to stand by the evidence and not to give in to ultimatums," a Tesla spokesman was quoted as saying.
Gizmodo said Son's lawsuit cited seven other similar complaints against Tesla, but the company maintained that in all these instances, the driver was at fault.
Sudden and spontaneous acceleration has been a controversial issue in the car industry for many years. According to data released by South Korea's consumer watchdog, thousands of suspected cases have been reported in the last ten years. None was recognized by companies which never admit relation to the unexpected behavior of their cars.
However, many experts claim electrical interferences of unknown sources affecting computing systems and engine parts cause the car to enter an unexpected, uncontrollable state. Some engineers have succeeded in reenacting the situation under lab conditions.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
