Court Ruling Against Tesla Threatens to Put the Brakes on California Sales

California’s Department of Motor Vehicles could temporarily halt sales of Tesla vehicles in the state. This possibility arises after a judge ruled against the company for making misleading claims about its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features.

Based on the decision, the DMV is giving Tesla 60 days to take action on how it describes its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features to consumers. 

“If Tesla fails to address the issue, after 60 days it will be subject to the 30-day suspension of its dealer license,” the DMV said in a news release.

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That suspension would prevent Tesla from selling vehicles in the state for those 30 days. The DMV filed its action to suspend Tesla in the state in July, but it was the result of several years of complaints from the department about Tesla’s advertising practices. 

Tesla has since added “(Supervised)” to its Full Self-Driving description and homepage.  

The DMV blocked a judge’s recommendation that Tesla also face a suspension of its manufacturing license in the state and issued a permanent stay for that penalty.

A representative for Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  

Tesla’s descriptions of its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving have been controversial and are also the subject of a class-action lawsuit. At issue is whether Tesla’s marketing of the features implies that they require no driver supervision or action. Some lawsuits have said that this type of marketing has led to accidents involving drivers who placed too much trust in Tesla’s technology. 

Meanwhile, Tesla has been working to expand the self-driving feature to other countries where it sells vehicles.