Tesla Threatened With 30-Day Car Sales Ban For Misleading Use Of ‘Autopilot’ Branding

Tesla could face a 30-day sales suspension in California due to its advertising of the “Autopilot” feature.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles has warned Tesla that it must revise its advertising for the Autopilot feature or face a 30-day sales ban.

On Dec. 16, California regulators warned Tesla of a potential 30-day suspension of its state sales over marketing of its self-driving features, NBC Bay Area reports. A judge found that Elon Musk’s electric car company has been misleading consumers, as terms like “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving Capability” suggest the vehicles are fully autonomous, which they are not.

“Tesla can take simple steps to pause this decision and permanently resolve this issue — steps autonomous vehicle companies and other automakers have been able to achieve,” said Steve Gordon, the director of the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

Following the warning, Tesla has 90 days to revise its marketing to clearly communicate the limits of its self-driving technology or risk suspension of its California sales license. The notice comes after years of criticism and a court ruling last month finding that Tesla’s promotion of its “Autopilot” feature violates state law.

Since California regulators filed their 2023 action, the Austin-based company has already added language clarifying that its Full Self-Driving package still requires human supervision while in use. But regulators say the company’s advertising of the feature can still confuse consumers.

“100 percent of the time you, as the driver, must be in the driver’s seat and you have to be paying attention and be able to take over at any moment,” said Scott Moura. “It’s literally just a tap when you put in your destination in these vehicles. They might not really understand what it does.”

Tesla has since responded to the ruling on Musk’s X platform, dismissing it as regulatory overreach.

“This was a ‘consumer protection’ order about the use of the term ‘Autopilot’ in a case where not one single customer came forward to say there’s a problem. Sales in California will continue uninterrupted,” the company said.

The warning adds to the mounds of lawsuits Tesla has faced over its alleged misleading representations about its self-driving technology. While the company has settled or won several cases, a Miami jury earlier this year found Tesla partly liable for a deadly crash in Florida that occurred while Autopilot was active, ordering the automaker to pay over $240 million in damages.