Sue Tesla, The California vehicle authority DMV accuses the electric car manufacturer Tesla of misleading consumers about the autopilot system in its vehicles.
As first reported by the “Los Angeles Times”, the authority has therefore filed a lawsuit against the company of tech billionaire Elon Musk.
According to the report, Tesla made statements in its advertising that were “false or misleading and not based on fact,” according to the lawsuit filed at the end of July. There are two submissions from the California Vehicle Authority, they can be found here and here
The authority accuses Tesla of presenting its driver assistance systems better than they actually are. To date, Tesla cars have not functioned “as autonomous vehicles,” according to the agency.
Successful lawsuit could have serious consequences for the company, according to the report – up to and including revoking the licenses Tesla has to manufacture and sell its cars in California authorize.
According to the report, the authority only wants to use the lawsuit to ensure that the car manufacturer has to provide its customers with more detailed information. As the news site CNBC writes , the company now has 15 days to make a statement before the Administrative Court.
Tesla boss Musk said in June how important self-driving cars are for his company. Without autopilot, the value of Tesla tends to be near zero.
In the past, accidents involving Teslas with autopilot had repeatedly made headlines. According to a report published in June, of the US Transportation Administration NHTSA, Teslas controlled by autopilot were involved in 273 accidents in the within a year USA involved.