The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has Tesla’s advertising claims in its sights: The California Transportation Authority accuses Elon Musk’s e-mobile group of misleading customers in its promises of driver assistance systems.
Two written complaints have been filed with the state’s Office of Administrative Hearings, an agency that can initiate hearings on specific cases. In it, the DMV complained that some advertising statements on the Tesla website were misleading, reported the LA Times. In addition to the names of the driver assistance systems such as “Autopilot” and “Full Self Driving”, the authority sees them Advertisements from the Tesla website critical:
“From home – all you have to do is get in and tell your car where to go. […] Your Tesla finds the optimal route, navigating urban streets, complex intersections and freeways.”
Promises that don’t live up to reality
The names and such advertising statements promise customers a degree of autonomous driving that Teslas are not capable of. One of the two complaints states vehicles with the capabilities of a Tesla “Could not be operated as autonomous vehicles at the time of this advertisement and cannot now.” (PDF).
Although the manufacturer explains in a statement below that the functions require active monitoring by the driver and are therefore not autonomous driving, this contradicts significantly the previously made advertising statements. Tesla is said to have not yet commented on this.
Driver assistance systems are a popular feature on Tesla vehicles. However, just a few days ago there was another fatal accident in connection with an activated autopilot. Accidents, some of them serious, called the traffic authorities into action, and they are now examining the accidents with the appropriate driver assistance systems.
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