Tesla facing multiple lawsuits for alleged behaviour

The US maker is in a spot of bother overseas as it faces a string of lawsuits for several issues that could have a flow on affect globally.

Tesla is facing allegations of poor build quality in Germany.

German publication Bild has reported that a Tesla Model 3 owner has taken the US maker to court in Munich for allegedly painting over cracks in the car’s underbody.

The owner had discovered the cracks in the underbody when he was changing a tyre and he claims the service centre painted over the cracks to hide them instead of repairing them.

The court has yet to pass judgment on the case.

Want a streaming service dedicated to news? Flash lets you stream 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends 31 October, 2022 >

A Tesla Model 3 owner in Germany claims the company painted over structural cracks.

This isn’t the only Tesla incident that has been brought before the court in Germany recently.

According to the Business Insider a Munich court has ordered the American electric car maker to reimburse an owner €99,419 ($146,149) due to problems with the car’s Autopilot features.

The Autopilot function in a Tesla uses an multitude of cameras to enable the car to steer, accelerate and brake automatically within its lane.

The owner claimed the 2017 Tesla Model X was unreliable in detecting objects and would brake suddenly for no reason. The court ruled the braking was a danger in traffic.

The bad news doesn’t stop there for Tesla.

The company is also in court due to claims its advertising is misleading.

According to Reuters the company is also being sued in a Berlin court by a German consumer protection group VZBV.

In this case Tesla is accused of misleading advertising and data protection violations.

The group claims Tesla made misleading statements on how much CO2 buyers would save by purchasing a Tesla.

VZBV says the company’s claim it helps cut emissions doesn’t take into account the fact it sells emission credits to other makers, allowing them to emit more CO2.

It also claims Tesla’s Sentry Mode breaks data protection laws.

Tesla’s have a Sentry Mode that helps record anyone that might damage your car when parked.

Tesla’s sentry mode activates when it is parked and sensors someone near the vehicle. It then uses its wide array of cameras to record the vehicle surroundings in case there is any damage caused to the vehicle or if there is an attempted break in.

This isn’t the first time Tesla has fallen foul of the courts in Germany.

In 2020 a German court ruled the use of the word Autopilot to describe one of its features exaggerated its capabilities. This ruling could lead to Tesla being forced to change the name of its semi-autonomous driving feature.

Tesla Autopilot was literally named after the term used in aviation. Also, what about Autobahn!?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 14, 2020

At the time Tesla boss Elon Musk shot back on Twitter claiming the feature was named after the Aviation term along with a Wikipedia entry that states Autopilot does not replace human operators.