In the US, Tesla is increasingly criticized for its autopilot. A system that has already claimed some lives.
The assistance system of the US electric car pioneer Tesla reaches level 2 and must therefore be constantly monitored by humans. away level 3 you can take your hands off the steering wheel and temporarily devote yourself to other things. But Tesla is not there yet.
In addition, there is a presumably deliberately confusing name for the system. At first it was said autopilot, which has been heavily criticized. Tesla lost in Germany in court against the central competition office because of the term autopilot.
Then the autopilot was divided into two, with one system of autopilot as FSD was called, which is the abbreviation for Full Selfdriving. This designation is also exaggerated, since Level 2 is not exceeded here either. As a protest against this, even the lobby group of the autonomous vehicle industry has distanced itself from the term Self driving distant.
However, the system was often not constantly monitored, presumably also because of the terminology. Some people slept even in the car and there have been a number of fatal accidents. The US agency NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) is now investigating some accidents. Specifically, 39 of the 48 of the Special Crash Investigations are related to Tesla. 19 people died.
Meanwhile, the Californian DMV, the regulatory agency that also collects and publishes the test reports related to autonomous driving, is also active against Tesla. The DMV accuses Tesla of making false claims about the assistance system. It’s about false advertising statements, which is reflected in the terminology. According to the DMV, this would sound as if the car could do the driving tasks without the human being. In addition, the company would have used deceptive language to exaggerate the system’s capabilities.
According to the DMV, unfounded promises were also made on the company’s website. However, it is also said there that active monitoring of the system is necessary. But that would not cancel the misleading promises.
The DMV is therefore demanding that Tesla’s sales license be revoked. In this way, Tesla customers can request a refund. However, it is speculated that it will result in better sales advice. The limits of the system would have to be better presented.
The US politician Ralph Nader is meanwhile calling for the ban on the FSD system at Tesla in view of the many deaths. NHTSA would have to recall the vehicles.