Attorney General of California is looking into Tesla over Autopilot safety and marketing
According to CNBC, the California attorney general’s office is looking into Tesla and is requesting details concerning safety concerns with Autopilot and charges of misleading advertising from current and former customers.
In August 2022, Greg Wester, the owner of a 2018 Tesla Model 3, complained to the Federal Trade Commission about “phantom braking” — sudden, automatically stopping by a car for no apparent cause — that he would encounter when using the company’s driver assistance systems, or Autopilot, on highways.
After spending thousands of dollars on Tesla’s premium driver assistance feature, known as Full Self Driving capability (FSD) in the U.S., Wester also complained to the FTC that he thought the business had misled him.
A voicemail from an analyst working for California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office asking to speak with Wester about the problems mentioned in the complaint was left for him in the second quarter of this year. In addition to providing a copy of the FTC’s automatic response verifying receipt of his complaint, Wester shared the voicemail with CNBC.
The caller from the California AG’s office is an analyst there, according to CNBC. In the message, the government worker did not request confidentiality.
Phantom braking is a well-known problem that Tesla consumers have long reported to regulatory agencies, and it can put vehicles in danger of being rear-ended among other things.
For years, Musk has assured investors and consumers that over-the-air software updates will gradually add features and capabilities to Tesla cars that would transform them into self-driving or autonomous cars. On Tesla’s earnings call for the second quarter, Musk referred to himself as “the boy who cried FSD.”
Tesla has yet to provide a self-driving vehicle; instead, it sells “level 2” systems, which call for a vigilant driver to remain in the driver’s seat at all times and be prepared to steer or brake at any moment.
If a consumer is dissatisfied with the product, Tesla should allow them to return all Autopilot features for a complete refund, according to Wester. He claimed that when he purchased FSD, “we bought an entirely autonomy product while we received a driver monitor product with partial autonomy.”
Analysts from the attorney general’s office have gotten in touch with more than one Tesla customer after they voiced safety and associated concerns. Wester is one of them.
A senior legal analyst in the consumer protection office of the California AG emailed a former Tesla employee in July 2023 on behalf of a family that owns a 2021 Model 3 with the FSD option. The analyst requested information from the person for an unnamed but ongoing probe of Tesla in the email, which CNBC has examined.
The former Tesla employee asked to remain anonymous in order to preserve his privacy; CNBC is aware of his identity. The individual had previously expressed worries in public and within Tesla regarding the safety of FSD and Autopilot.
Requests for response from Tesla & the California attorney general’s office went unanswered. The FTC chose not to respond.
It’s common for law enforcement agencies in the US to receive consumer complaints submitted to the FTC via the Consumer Sentinel Network, an online database. The network “gives law enforcement personnel access to reports submitted straight to the Federal Trade Commission by consumers,” according to the website of the federal agency, as well as to other information shared by “data contributors.”
Tesla stated in its financial report for the second quarter that it gets “requests for information coming from regulators and government bodies, such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the SEC, the National Transportation Safety Board, the Department of Justice (‘DOJ’), and various state, federal, and international agencies.”
Tesla has previously acknowledged “requests from the DOJ seeking documents related to Tesla’s Autopilot and FSD features,” but it has not acknowledged that the California justice department was looking into the business.
“Should the government decides to pursue a legal proceeding, there exists an opportunity of a material adverse impact on our business, prospects, results of operation, cash flows, and financial position,” Tesla stated in the statement.
Tesla’s first vehicle assembly plant, in Fremont, California, is where the business has its largest U.S. market for its electric cars. In 2021, the business moved its corporate headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Austin, Texas.
Years into its investigation into Tesla’s driving assistance systems, the California Department of Motor Vehicles has officially charged the automaker with using misleading marketing tactics to promote its Autopilot and FSD technologies.