UNITED STATES: Elon Musk’s electric car business, Tesla, was accused of deceiving the public by falsely advertising its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving technologies in a proposed class action lawsuit filed on Wednesday.
False advertisement by Tesla
Despite knowing that the technology did not operate or was nonexistent and rendered vehicles unsafe, the complaint charged Tesla and Musk with falsely advertising the technology as fully operational or “just around the corner” since 2016.
The named plaintiff, Briggs Matsko, claimed that the company did this to “generate excitement” about its automobiles, draw investors, increase sales, prevent bankruptcy, raise its stock price, and establish itself as a “dominant player” in the electric vehicle market.
According to Matsko, the automotive company hasn’t yet created anything that is even somewhat comparable to a fully autonomous vehicle.
The case was filed in federal court in San Francisco and asked for unspecified damages on behalf of anybody who purchased or leased a Tesla vehicle with Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot, or Full Self-Driving technologies since 2016.
Requests for comment from the company did not immediately receive a response. In 2020, it shut down its media relations division.
The lawsuit was brought about in response to accusations the California Department of Motor Vehicles made against the company on July 28 for allegedly exaggerating the effectiveness of its advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).
A suspension of Tesla’s California license and demand for driver compensation are two possible remedies.
According to the company, Full Self-Driving allows cars to heed traffic signs and change lanes, whereas autopilot only enables them to steer, accelerate, and brake inside their own lane.
To have enhanced autopilot in his 2018 Tesla Model X, Matsko, of Rancho Murieta, California, claimed to have paid a $5,000 premium.
Since 2016, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched 38 special investigations into Tesla crashes that it believes may have been caused by ADAS. There were 19 fatalities reported in those collisions.
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