Tesla could be in big trouble in its most important market if a lawsuit brought by the state of California doesn’t go its way. The Austin, Texas-based automaker could lose its ability to sell cars in California following a weeklong court hearing that ended on July 25. The California Department of Motor Vehicles sued Tesla back in 2022, and it’s seeking to suspend its ability to sell cars in the Sunshine State for at least 30 days and award consumers monetary damages.
The company’s terminology for its driver assistance technology — like Autopilot and Full Self-Driving — is under heavy scrutiny by the CA DMV, according to Business Insider. The department alleges that Tesla falsely advertised the systems in order to make consumers believe their cars were far more autonomous than they actually are (because they aren’t fully autonomous at all, no matter what the fanboys say online).
An attorney for Tesla contested that the company never actually tried to hide the fact that its cars couldn’t fully drive themselves, and it has always informed buyers that they “cannot fully rely” on either FSD or Autopilot. Of course, this isn’t really the case as CEO Elon Musk has long exaggerated the capabilities of its Level II driver assist systems. Hell, even its website alluded to the idea that the cars could drive themselves back in 2021 and 2022. The DMV’s complaint said the website advertised that the systems were “designed to be able to conduct short and long-distance trips with no action required by the person in the driver’s seat. “From Home – All you will need to do is get in and tell your car where to go,” according to BI.
An official at the DMV wrote in the complaint that “vehicles equipped with those ADAS features could not, at the time of those advertisements, and cannot now, operate as autonomous vehicles.” She’s 100% right, too.
What’s next for Tesla
A law professor at Santa Clara University who studies advertising law told Business Insider that the DMV’s lawsuit is “very high stakes” for Tesla, and even if it defeats the suit, it’s still not legally in the clear. He said the company will have to answer in court for its claims elsewhere.
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Tesla lawsuits. Right now, the company is facing a wrongful death complaint in Florida in regards to a 22-year-old woman who was killed after she briefly looked away while autopilot was engaged and T-boned an SUV. Another lawsuit alleges the company’s odometers are overestimating mileage by as much as 117%. It’s being sued around the globe for a phantom braking issue. Tesla is also being sued in France for on similar deceptive marketing practices charges. Of course, there are dozens of other lawsuits happening right now where Tesla is both the plaintiff and the defendant. It might not have a PR team or a quality assurance team to speak of, but its legal department is clearly working overtime right now.
