https://peertube.tv/videos/watch/e281e37b-95c8-482b-8541-b6067e83d932 At the tail end of 2016, Nikki sat on a press call with other journalists — and Tesla CEO Elon Musk — after the automaker announced its latest iteration of its semi-autonomous driver assistance system: Tesla Autopilot 2.0. She asked a simple question: since Volvo had just promised to indemnify drivers against blame if its semi-autonomous system caused an accident, would Tesla do the same thing? Elon Musk said "No" — but not with a simple reply. He did so by railing against automotive journalists who he accused of killing people. It's been ten years — and we just heard of an automaker finally promising to indemnify its customers from blame, and financial costs, if its semi-autonomous system caused an accident. Enter BYD, which is making that bold promise in relation to its own system — God's Eye. But while BYD is making the pledge, and the automotive media is excited by the promise, there's a layer of nuance missing. So today, we're going to dig deep, examine the past and the present, and ask just why Tesla never offered indemnity — while BYD now is. Unfortunately, it's not for the reasons we'd hope. And the two firms' very different approaches come back to the same base motivation: money and survival. ⏱️ Chapter Breakdown: 00:00 - Introduction 01:10 - The Question That Got Me Blacklisted 07:21 - World Heart Rhythm Week 09:02 - Please Support The Channel 10:12 - What BYD Announced 11:34 - Understanding SAE Levels of Autonomy 13:56 - Most People Don't Understand Autonomous Driving 15:14 - Where The Technology Actually Was In 2015 16:55 - Tesla's Promises 20:25 - Why Tesla Knew Its System Wasn't Ready 23:23 - Protecting Tesla From Its Own Promises 24:43 - The Challenges of Offering Liability 29:48 - It's About Advertising And Brand Loyalty 30:59 - The US And China Are Very Different 32:03 - China Is Less Litigious Than The US 33:59 - China Is Trending Toward Mandatory Indemnity 35:31 - It's About Competitive Edge 36:05 - BYD's God's Eye Has A Problem 38:35 - A Very Smart PR Stunt 40:04 - Money. And Survival. 40:45 - Thanks, And Goodbye! 📊 Sources and Further Reading: The Story Electrek — BYD God's Eye indemnity announcement: https://electrek.co/2026/06/01/byd-gods-eye-accepts-liability-tesla-never-has/ xAutoWorld — Full transcript of October 2016 Tesla Autopilot press call: https://xautoworld.com/news/transcript-elon-musk-autopilot-2-conference-call/ SAE Levels of Driving Automation Official SAE J3016 visual chart (free to share): https://legacy.sae.org/binaries/content/assets/cm/content/blog/sae-j3016-visual-chart_5.3.21.pdf SAE J3016 full standard: https://www.sae.org/standards/content/j3016_202104 Tesla, BYD, Safety Concerns Reuters — Tesla FSD Mad Max mode investigation: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/tesla-autopilot-safety/ Autoblog — BYD God's Eye serious problems: https://www.autoblog.com/news/byds-gods-eye-self-driving-system-is-running-into-serious-problems Bloomberg — BYD God's Eye user complaints: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-24/byd-s-god-s-eye-flaws-expose-risk-of-rush-into-high-tech-cars World Heart Rhythm Week Official WHRW2026 page — Arrhythmia Alliance: https://heartrhythmalliance.org/aa/us/get-involved/world-heart-rhythm-week Long QT Syndrome Resources Johns Hopkins Medicine — LQTS overview: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/long-qt-syndrome-lqts Boston Children's Hospital — LQTS in young people: https://www.childrenshospital.org/conditions-treatments/long-qt-syndrome 👥 Today’s Sponsors 🌱 Electric Vehicle Association - https://www.myeva.org ⚡ EnergySage - https://www.kqzyfj.com/click-101290941-16952262 — ✊ Get Involved 🗳️ https://indivisible.org/town-hall-resources ❤️ Support the Show 📰 https://www.transportevolved.com 🔥 https://www.patreon.com/transportevolved ☕ https://ko-fi.com/transportevolved 📺 https://www.youtube.com/transportevolved 👕 https://www.redbubble.com/people/TransportEVd/ 🛍️ https://amzn.to/40xOyjm ₿ 1QRZRGCCXUKPDZ2DZ9KX9JYJXMZDYHYGFZ0MN4WH 💬 Join the Conversation 🐘 https://mastodon.transportevolved.com/@show 💬 https://discord.gg/9WAjfQn 💬 https://fluxer.gg/mcj8aehg 🌀 https://bsky.app/profile/transportevolved.bsky.social 🔁 Subscribe to our 2nd channel - https://www.youtube.com/transportevolvedtake2 🎙️ Credits: Host, Script, Editor: Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield Color: Vi Horton Art & Animation : Erin Carlie Producer: Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield Music: via Artlist.io Wed, 17 Jun 2026 07:53:47 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://peertube.tv https://peertube.tv/client/assets/images/icons/icon-1500x1500.png https://peertube.tv/videos/watch/e281e37b-95c8-482b-8541-b6067e83d932 All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://peertube.tv/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.