DMV seeks to suspend Tesla’s sales and manufacturing operations in California for 30 days: Autopilot on trial
Tesla sales could well be given the red light in the United States.
Even though he’s been dumped and his ex has moved on (in this case, to trying to stop people talking about his love letters to an old friend), Elon Musk is still making headlines for the wrong reasons: California’s Department of Motor Vehicles is pushing to suspend Tesla’s vehicle sales and manufacturing licenses in the state for at least 30 days.
The move comes amid accusations that Tesla has misled customers by marketing its driver-assistance tools, namely its Autopilot and Full Self‑Driving (FSD) systems, as if they offered hands-free, autonomous driving — when they do not.
Attorney General Rob Bonta wrote on July 17 that “These labels and descriptions represent specifically that respondent [Tesla]’s vehicles will operate as autonomous vehicles, which they could not and cannot do.”
Statements from the DMV show just why the Telsa advertising was brought to attention: “The system is designed to be able to conduct short and long-distance trips with no action required by the person in the driver’s seat,” it said. This is not true.
“From Home,” it continued, “All you will need to do is get in and tell your car where to go. If you don’t say anything, your car will look at your calendar and take you there as the assumed destination. Your Tesla will figure out the optimal route, navigating urban streets, complex intersections and freeways. When you arrive at your destination, simply step out at the entrance and your car will enter park seek mode, automatically search for a spot and park itself. A tap on your phone summons it back to you.”
Local media in Los Angeles reported the words of Shua Sanchez, an activist, who said that “These lies have killed 58 people. They’re going to kill a lot more. Those cars are crashing. People are getting hurt and are dying.”
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UC Berkeley Professor Scott Moura, an expert in batteries, EVs, and automated vehicles, told ABC7 that “Tesla has a technology product that they have branded itself as FSD, which is ‘fully self-driving.’ There are levels of automated driving. One-two-three-four-five. But their FSD tech corresponds to Level Two, not Level Five. Thus, one can argue that it is misleading... “It does not drive itself completely in all situations and the driver cannot go ‘brain off’ and not pay attention.”
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