Tesla accused of misleading customers over Autopilot

American electric car manufacturer faces legal action from the state of California over allegedly false claims surrounding its technology.

Tesla will face legal action in California to address claims it allegedly misled customers over the capability of its “autopilot” and “full self driving” assistance features.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles filed complaints with California’s Office of Administrative Hearings, accusing Tesla of producing “statements that are untrue or misleading, and not based on facts”.

‘Autopilot’ features have helped Tesla sell thousands of cars. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

The DMV’s complaint against Tesla claims that “‘Autopilot’ and ‘Full Self-Driving Capability’ labels and descriptions represent that vehicles equipped with the ADAS features will operate as an autonomous vehicle, but vehicles equipped with those ADAS features could not at the time of those advertisements, and cannot now, operate as autonomous vehicles,” according to the Wall Street Journal.

Reuters reports that outcomes from the case “could include suspending Tesla’s license to sell vehicles in California”, and cash settlements for customers.

Tesla recalled 50,000 cars in America in February to rectify software that programmed cars to roll through stop signs.

Tesla’s Model 3 is Australia’s most popular electric car.

Lena Gonzalez, a state senator who chairs California’s transportation committee, told the LA Times Tesla’s language surrounding driver assistance features was “extremely concerning”.

“It is extremely important that the technology’s limitations are presented in the most intelligible way to best protect public safety on our roads across California,” she said.

The case comes as America’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration examines the role played by Tesla’s “autopilot” and “full self driving” features in 16 crashes.

Tesla’s Autopilot can change lanes without the driver steering.

A report published by NHTSA in June found that “on average in these crashes, Autopilot aborted vehicle control less than one second prior to the first impact”, and that “Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) intervened in approximately half of the collisions”.

US magazine Motor Trend said “Tesla seems to be blaming drivers”, and that “Tesla has repeatedly marketed Autopilot in such a way that suggests its capabilities are greater than they are, often by not correcting popular thinking that the system truly is like a self-driving, well, autopilot feature”.

Originally published as Tesla accused of misleading customers over Autopilot