Californian vehicle authority DMV are Tesla’s advertising statements a thorn in the side
Lawsuit filed in late July
If the lawsuit is successful, there will be immense consequences for Tesla
According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) filed a lawsuit against EV giant Tesla back in late July. Accordingly, the group is doing under CEO Elon Musk “false advertising” for the autopilot system and the “Full Self-Driving” technology. On the Tesla website, the systems are advertised as being more powerful than they actually are. Two complaints were filed by the DMV at the end of July, accusing Tesla of making or disseminating statements “[…]that are untrue or misleading and not based on fact,” the Los Angeles Times quoted from the documents as saying.
Tesla’s advertising a sham?
The US Tesla website advertises as follows: “All you have to do is get in and tell your car where to go. If you don’t say anything, your car will look at your calendar and take you as an assumed destination.” Your Tesla finds the optimal route, navigating urban streets, complex intersections and freeways.” The DMV describes such formulations as misleading. In particular, given that elsewhere on Tesla’s website it is stated that “the features currently enabled require active driver monitoring and do not render the vehicle autonomous”. According to DMV statements, Tesla cars cannot “operate as autonomous vehicles”. The vehicle authority sees Tesla’s disclaimer of liability, which points out that drivers must continue to actively intervene in what is happening, as a contradiction to the preceding advertising statement.
If the lawsuit is successful, Tesla faces immense problems
If the lawsuit is successful, the Musk group faces a variety of problems. According to the Los Angeles Times, the proposed remedies include revoking licenses to build and sell vehicles within California. However, an actual punishment could be much milder. In an email to the LA Times, a DMV spokesman said, “[…]that Tesla be required to better advertise to consumers and better educate Tesla drivers about the capabilities of Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features, including warnings regarding feature limitations.”
Tesla’s autopilot more often in the focus of authorities
The Tesla autopilot has long been the focus of various authorities. It was not until June that the US traffic authority NHTSA ordered further investigations into the system after a series of rear-end collisions occurred. Despite numerous allegations, customers still seem to rely on Tesla’s services. For example, 32 percent of all respondents to an AutoPacific study stated that Tesla enjoys their greatest trust in the development of safe and reliable fully autonomous vehicles. Above all, the media attention that benefits Tesla and Elon Musk should play a major role. Like about a year ago, when the autopilot stopped the vehicle of an unconscious driver.
Editorial office finanzen.net
Leverage must be between 2 and 20
No data
More news about Tesla
Image Sources: Katherine Welles/Shutterstock.com, Hadrian/Shutterstock.com