Tesla and its Autopilot feature are one of the more divisive application of autonomous driving technology in electric vehicles. While regulators continue to investigate the technology to determine whether it is safe for the general public, now Tesla faces a lawsuit over some the claims around.
First reported by Automotive News earlier in the week, the proposed class action lawsuit was filed in San Francisco and alleges that Tesla has been knowingly misleading or deceptive regarding the functionality and capabilities of its self-driving offering.
Briggs Matsko, the named plaintiff in the lawsuit, notes that Tesla has been advertising the technology as being “just around the corner” or on the way, all while being fully aware that it was far from ready to hit the market.
The filing says Tesla and CEO Elon Musk, “deceived and misled consumers regarding the current abilities of its ADAS (Advanced Driver-Assistance System) technology and by representing that it was perpetually on the cusp of perfecting that technology and finally fulfilling its promise of producing a fully self-driving car.”
“Contrary to Tesla’s repeated promises that it would have a fully self-driving car within months or a year, Tesla has never been remotely close to achieving that goal,” it adds.
Matsko also notes that he has spent $5 000 on the add-on package in 2018, which is yet to ship under its new guise of Full Self-Driving. The latter is also being sold for a far more expensive $15 000 software add-on.
“Tesla has yet to produce anything even remotely approaching a fully self-driving car,” he emphasised.
At the time of writing, Tesla is yet to comment on the matter, but that may have to do with the fact that the company disbanded its media relations department in 2020.
Whether more Tesla EV owners who have paid for the yet-to-be released add-ons will join Matsko, remains to be seen, but for now, it looks like the Autopilot technology from the company will come under even more scrutiny.
Given that many of Tesla’s future plans hinge on the technology, such as its fleet of self-driving trucks, this is one case it will need to win.
