South Korean singer sues Tesla after he says Model X SUV sped up on its own and crashed through his garage 

  • Ji Chang Son filed a class action suit against Tesla, claiming his white Model X drove through his garage as he was slowly pulling in
  • The company says its investigation shows the crash was solely due to Son pressing down on the accelerator '100 percent'
  • Tesla says the singer/actor gave the company an 'ultimatum' to pay up or he would 'use his celebrity status to hurt Tesla' 

By Kiri Blakeley For Dailymail.com

Published: 17:33 EST, 31 December 2016 | Updated: 20:31 EST, 31 December 2016

A South Korean celebrity residing in California is suing Tesla for what he says is a sudden acceleration that his car had in his garage, driving through his home's wall.

Ji Chang Son, 46, a well-known singer and actor in South Korea, said he was driving into his garage in September, when the white electric SUV Model X he was driving suddenly sped up and crashed through his house. He posted pictures of it to Facebook.

He filed suit in US District Court in the Central District of California seeking class action status based on other reports of the same issue, reports Electrek, which has also been documenting alleged cases of sudden Tesla accelerations.

Ji Chang Son, a South Korean celebrity, says his Tesla Model X sped up and drove straight through his garage in California 

Tesla owner Son posted pictured of his wrecked SUV to Facebook, saying the car suddenly accelerated in his garage

The lawsuit cites seven other complaints registered in a database compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), according to Reuters.

Son alleges product liability, negligence and breaches of warranty, and seeks unspecified damages.

Tesla, however, is strongly fighting back, not only saying the accident was solely Son's fault, but saying he threatened the company if it didn't pay up.

'We take the safety of our customers very seriously and conducted a thorough investigation following Mr. Son’s claims. The evidence, including data from the car, conclusively shows that the crash was the result of Mr. Son pressing the accelerator pedal all the way to 100 percent,' said Tesla, according to a statement given to Electrek.

Son (left) was in a successful singing group in the '90s and Tesla says he tried to use his famous status to 'hurt' the company in Korea

It further went on to say that Son tried to use his celebrity status to shoehorn a payout.

'Before filing his class action lawsuit against Tesla, Mr. Son had threatened to use his celebrity status in Korea to hurt Tesla unless we agreed to make a financial payment and acknowledge that the vehicle accelerated on its own. However, 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,' said the defiant company.

Electrek notes that the issue may be driver fault after all, but that the vehicle is 'insanely fast' for an SUV and therefore 'a lot less forgiving if someone was to press the wrong pedal.'

Son is a member of the musical duo The Blue as well an actor who has starred in various television series.  

Tesla has claimed the the Model X is the safest SUV in history. 

 

 

 

 

Comments (88)

Share what you think

 View all

The comments below have not been moderated.

 View all

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Add your comment

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now