United States: complaint against Tesla, accused of lying about its autonomous driving functions

The California Agency for Motor Vehicles (DMV) accuses Tesla of lying to consumers about its self-driving technologies and has filed a lawsuit in state administrative court, according to news reports published on Friday. . Tesla “has made or disseminated statements that are false or misleading, and not based on fact,” the DMV said in those complaints filed on July 28, the DMV understands. Los Angeles Times.

Tesla cars never could, “and today cannot, operate as autonomous vehicles,” according to the document cited by the Californian newspaper. The DMV criticizes Tesla for advertising language that gives these systems more extensive performance than they actually have. Contacted by AFP, the DMV did not immediately respond.

A victory by the Californian authority against the manufacturer of electric vehicles could have serious consequences, even reaching the revocation of the licenses that authorize Tesla to manufacture or sell its cars in California, the LA Times also indicates, specifying that the planned measures rather they refer to the accuracy of the information that the manufacturer must provide to its customers. In June, Tesla boss Elon Musk emphasized the importance of fully autonomous driving to the company, adding that without it his company’s value would be “close to zero.”

273 accidents across the Atlantic

Tesla vehicles equipped with self-driving software have been involved in 273 accidents in the United States, according to a June report from the United States Highway Traffic Safety Agency (NHTSA), which investigates the driver assistance system. from the American manufacturer. They are rapport on the vehicles equipped with a software dit of level 2, this is what peut faire speed up or slow down the voice and turn the wheel if necessary, but you need an attentive driver, ready to reprimand him to control any moment.

In total, Tesla models were the subject of nearly 70% of the reports of the 392 accidents listed in this category, nearly all of them between July 2021 and mid-May 2022, according to the NHTSA.