Tesla says it has 'no way of knowing' if autopilot was used in fatal Chinese crash

The damage amassed during the collision that killed Gao Yaning made the car 'physically incapable' of determining if autopilot was engaged, the company said

Tesla Motors is investigating the cause of a fatal crash in China involving one of its vehicles but said that it has "no way of knowing" if its semi-automated autopilot system was engaged at the time of the accident.

"Because of the damage caused by the collision, the car was physically incapable of transmitting log data to our servers," the company said in a statement on Wednesday.