Tesla sues California DMV to reverse false advertising ruling on FSD

Tesla’s It is suing the California Department of Motor Vehicles to reverse a ruling that found the automaker violated the law by falsely advertising its cars’ autonomous driving capabilities.

The lawsuit comes two months after the state’s Office of Administrative Hearings found Tesla engaged in false advertising and the DMV said it could temporarily suspend the company’s licenses to manufacture or sell cars in the state.

The DMV instead asked Tesla to clean up its marketing language. until February 17The agency said Tesla did so appropriately and there would be no need for a license suspension.

However, Tesla, which has invested most of its future in robotaxi, wants the DMV to go even further. Inside their complaintThe automaker’s attorneys filed a Feb. 13 lawsuit claiming the agency “incorrectly and baselessly” labeled Tesla a “false advertiser” for its previous use of the terms “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving.”

Tesla now uses the brand name “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” to describe its partially automated driver assistance system and sells it on a subscription-only basis. In the past, Tesla has packaged partially self-driving features in the Autopilot standard, Enhanced Autopilot, and Full Self-Driving tiers, offering some customers “beta” or early access to new features that haven’t yet been fully debugged. He sold the systems for a single upfront fee.

The DMV had no immediate comment. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has long promised investors and customers that the company’s cars would be upgraded over time via over-the-air software updates, turning them into robotaxi-ready vehicles. This has not yet happened, although the company’s systems have become more complex.

After electric vehicle sales plummeted last year, Tesla’s future success depends largely on its ability to offer self-driving systems that enable its cars to be driven safely without a human at the steering wheel, ready to steer or brake at any time.

Tesla is currently testing a handful of automated vehicles in its Robotaxi pilot in Austin, Texas. Last week, The company announced that it has started production in Texas of its new two-seat Cybercab, which has no steering wheel or pedals.

For years, Tesla has presented its systems as safe to use without a careful driver. For example, Musk appeared in 2018 CBS’s “60 Minutes” Driving in the Model 3 with autopilot engaged and reporter Lesley Stahl in the passenger seat. Musk kept his hands off the steering wheel and told Stahl he was “not doing anything” as the car drove itself.

However, Tesla’s user manuals state that drivers should not use FSD (Supervised) features without paying attention to the road.

In filings with California’s OAH, attorneys for the state’s DMV wrote that Tesla’s “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving” marketing falsely suggests the cars can operate autonomously.

Tesla’s lawyers argued that the DMV has never proven that consumers in the state are confused about whether their cars are safe to drive without a human behind the wheel.

When Tesla used these brand names, the company’s lawyers argued: “It was impossible to purchase a Tesla equipped with Autopilot or Full Self-Driving Capability, or to use any of their related features, without seeing clear and repeated statements that it did not make the vehicle autonomous.”

In a separate class-action lawsuit pending in California courts, customers who purchased FSD, who expected their cars to be upgraded to robotaxi-ready vehicles over time, are asking for their money back.

Tesla was also held partially responsible for a fatal crash involving Autopilot. During the trial, the owner of the Tesla said that he dropped his phone while driving and tried to pick it up, but he thought that if there was an obstacle on the road, the car’s Advanced Autopilot system would brake. The case resulted in a $243 million verdict against Tesla, to be paid to the family of the deceased and the injured party who survived the crash.

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