Tesla Hit With Class Action Lawsuit

Another legal battle looms for the electric automaker.

Tesla, like many automakers, has been the target of numerous lawsuits lately, including a class action suit. Filed on October 5 in the Eastern District of New York, this legal action has to do with what the initial filing calls “deceptive and misleading” marketing messaging about Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot, and Full Self-Driving Capability.

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This is hardly the first time someone has accused the American car company of portraying the wrong image about the capabilities of these autonomous drive systems. After all, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been looking into this very thing. However, a class action suit opens a whole new set of risks for Tesla.

To be fair, automakers are the subjects of class action lawsuits fairly often these days. One might attribute that to any number of factors, including the potential for big payouts. However, many in the media in their crusade to damage the reputation not only of Tesla but also of Elon Musk will neglect to mention this fact.

This isn’t to say there’s no merit to this class action suit – we’re not going to way into that since it’s now a matter for the court. However, this case could have a big impact on how not only Tesla but other automakers market their autonomous drive systems.

In an extreme scenario, it’s possible this could cool the heels of automakers which have been charging headlong toward fully autonomous drive systems with almost reckless abandon. After the Biden Administration lifted restrictions on self-driving cars, the industry has responded in kind.

One big question which has loomed for years is what are the legal liabilities for automakers which provide different levels of autonomous vehicle technologies to the public? This case probably won’t entirely settle such questions, but it could set a legal precedent which will influence how automakers proceed in the future. In other words, this case is definitely one to watch, especially if it goes to jury trial as the plaintiffs’ counsel has requested.

Images via Tesla