(Yicai Global) May 17 -- Tesla has refuted media reports that claimed its pick-up driving test was compulsory for new owners of its electric cars in China, a key market that has seen a string of accidents involving the US automaker’s vehicles.

The test is an optional activity for customers to enhance their experience when taking delivery of a new Tesla vehicle, the California-based automaker said in a statement on Sina Weibo yesterday.

Several accidents involving Tesla drivers in China were caused by their inexperience with the electric vehicles, according to local media reports. Some of them, including a woman who protested at Auto Shanghai last month, claimed the brakes failed.

To avoid human error and problems caused by a lack of understanding, Tesla needs to work with driving schools and the transport authorities to educate users about their new cars, Tao Lin, Tesla China’s vice president for external affairs, said in an interview with the press on May 10.

Some driving schools reportedly brought out tuition services for Tesla drivers last week, with a 10-hour course priced at about CNY2,000 (USD310).

Last month, Tesla’s sales slumped in China, its second-biggest market. Model 3 sales slumped more than 75 percent from a month earlier to a bit more than 6,200, according to the China Passenger Car Association, while those of the Model Y slid 47 percent to 5,400. 

But Tesla’s sales are always smaller at the start of each quarter than at the end of one, CPCA Secretary-General Cui Dongshu told Yicai Global earlier, adding that the carmaker’s sales should pick up by next month.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi