Seven years after Tesla launched the automated driving feature it calls Full Self-Driving, the California Department of Motor Vehicles is bringing false advertising charges, with serious implications for the electric car maker.
Tesla defends itself by saying, in effect, that the DMV let the company pass for so many years that the case no longer has legal basis. Additionally, the company, led by CEO Elon Musk, says the DMV is violating its free speech rights under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The DMV “has been aware that Tesla has been using the Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Capability brands since Tesla began using those names in 2014 and 2016 respectively,” the company said in a response filed in state administrative court on Friday. .
The company “trusted [the DMV’s] implied approval of these marks” and “the DMV decided not to take any action against Tesla or communicate to Tesla that its advertising or use of these marks was or could be problematic,” the response notice states.
Regarding free speech, Tesla claims that the state's rules on false advertising about autonomous vehicles “impermissibly restrict constitutionally protected speech that is truthful and not misleading.”
The DMV began its investigation in May 2021. It filed its administrative complaint in July 2022 and spent the following year investigating the case before requesting a hearing for the trial date.
In a motion filed on Nov. 20, the DMV accused Tesla of misleading car customers with claims about Autopilot and full self-driving with numerous false statements. An example: “The system is designed to be able to make short and long distance trips without requiring any action on the part of the person in the driver's seat.” Whatever the design intent, neither Autopilot nor full self-driving can yet complete a complete trip without driver interaction.
Musk has made wilder claims over the years, but he's usually covered them with words like “expect” and “hope.”
Several customers have sued Tesla after spending between $8,000 and $15,000 on a feature called full self-driving that, most Independent experts on driverless vehicles agree that they cannot drive themselves.
If the DMV wins its case, its legal motion says, Tesla's California manufacturer's license could be revoked and the company could be forced to pay restitution to “individuals or institutions that have suffered financial loss or harm.”
Meanwhile, multiyear investigations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration into the safety issues of Autopilot and full self-driving continue to drag on, including investigations into vehicle fatalities and crashes into police cars and ambulances. So far, NHTSA Acting Administrator Ann Carlson and her boss, Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, have declined to talk about the investigations and how long they are taking to complete.
