US electric car specialist Tesla has admitted failing to meet claims it previously made about its autonomous driving technology, according to documents filed in a class action lawsuit.
US electric car specialist Tesla has defended itself against claims of fraud by explaining its autonomous-driving technology has simply failed to meet self-imposed goals – rather than mislead consumers.
According to website Electrek, a class action lawsuit in the US alleges Tesla “[misled] the public regarding its Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot, and Full Self-Driving Capability (‘FSD’) technology,” following allegations the carmaker did not deliver on a number of claims made to its American customers.
Electrek has now reportedly obtained a motion to dismiss the case submitted by Tesla, which reads: “Mere failure to realise a long-term, aspirational goal is not fraud.”
It was alleged Tesla’s semi-autonomous driving technology has not fulfilled claims made by the company – both in terms of the expected timeline as well as the included features – after some customers paid as much as $US15,000 ($AU22,300) to add so-called Full Self Driving to their vehicles.
Lawyers representing a group of Tesla owners will have to prove the car company intentionally misled them when it made the claims, rather than simply falling short of its “aspiration goals”, as argued by the defence.
“To the contrary, allegations in the Complaint demonstrate that Tesla has been constantly improving its [autonomous] technology by releasing software updates, with a goal of achieving more and better autonomy capabilities in the future,” Tesla’s lawyers argue.
They also claim the company and its CEO Elon Musk made several warnings about the difficulties in bringing the features to market – both in terms of regulatory hurdles, as well as technical challenges.
“In addition, from early on, Tesla made clear that ‘there will still be a significant time gap, varying widely by jurisdiction, before true self-driving is approved by regulators’,” the motion to dismiss reads.
In April 2019, Mr Musk claimed Tesla cars would have software that would not require the driver’s attention by the end of that year, with driverless ‘robo taxis’ ready by 2020.
According to an October 2022 report, the US Department of Justice is also facing a criminal investigation over its autonomous driving claims.
