The controversial automaker, Tesla, is finding itself a part of another controversy in California. The company that has come under fire many times before due to its controversial CEO, Elon Musk, finds itself facing its biggest consequence yet. Tesla is being sued by the state of California and at risk of being forced to suspend their sales in the state. Tesla will be sued by the state after a number of complaints have been filed by California consumers. The complaints claim the company falsely advertises its features, particularly the one known as the “fully self-driving feature.” The lawsuit specifically is being filed by the California Department of Motor Vehicles.
The electric vehicle maker is under major fire with this lawsuit.
The Golden State’s DMV is seeking to suspend Tesla from selling their vehicles in the state for at least 30 days. This could cause massive damage to the company if the request is granted. On average, California buyers make up 30% of Tesla’s domestic sales. The U.S accounts for about half of the worldwide sales. This means that California does play a significant role in the business’ sales.
Tesla has already suffered loss due to a decline in California sales over the course of the year. Many across the country, and largely in California, have been boycotting Tesla due to his political involvement with the Trump Administration. Reports show that sales have fallen around 18% for Tesla in California. If the 30 day sale suspension goes through, Tesla could be seriously in trouble.
The “fully self-driving” feature has cause people to believe their Tesla can operate fully autonomously.
Activists have been testifying that Tesla has been lying for quite some time. One activist, Shua Sanchez, spoke out saying that the false advertising has led to the death of 58 people. Sanchez explained that many incidents have occurred in which drivers let their Tesla “drive” itself in the “fully self-driving” function. Drivers do so believing their vehicle is able to handle that. These drivers often crashed due to the fact that the feature does not allow for fully autonomous driving. In accidents of this nature, there have been 58 deaths. Many others have been injured.
This is actually not a new controversy for Tesla.
The federal government began investigating the “fully self-driving” feature back in 2018. In 2018, a leading engineer for Apple, Walter Huang, was killed after leaving his vehicle to drive itself using the autopilot feature. During the investigation into Huang’s death, officials found evidence that he had filed a complaint about the reliability, or rather lack thereof, in the “fully self-driving” function. Another major incident occurred in 2022, when one driver’s use of the autopilot function led to an eight car pileup on the Bay Bridge.
The title of the feature continues to mislead and leads to dangerous situations. The California DMV is unhappy with the amount of accidents and deaths that have occurred due to the use of this feature.
A hearing is underway regarding this lawsuit.
