Tesla Autopilot is one the company's biggest technical achievements. But then, the company has also been called out for missing its promised timelines for fully autonomous capabilities in its electric cars. A German court has now made the complaints official, asking the US EV maker to stop advertising about the upcoming self-driving technology in its cars for now.
The case was presented at the Munich court by Germany¡¯s Wettbewerbszentrale, an industry sponsored watchdog for anti-competitive practices. In the Tuesday ruling, the court deemed the advertisements around Tesla¡¯s Autopilot driver assistance systems and autonomous driving ¡°misleading.¡±
Tesla can still appeal the ruling though, mentions a Reuters report.
Tesla has advertised its electric cars as being equipped with autonomous technology and capable of driving themselves completely without any human input. That, as can be judged, is not true, at least to date.
As the company has progressed on its autonomous technology, it has, no doubt, become a pinnacle for firms working on self-driving cars. That does not, however, mean that Tesla cars have achieved full autonomy, as advertised. In fact, these cars have been involved in accidents on multiple occasions and the blame game has then been a bad to and fro between the company and the drivers claiming the cars to be on Autopilot.
Due to such visible shortcomings, autonomous cars are not even allowed on roads in many regions across the world. Even where they are allowed to operate, the presence of a human driver is mandatory. Tesla cars are then, not as autonomous as they claim them to be.
Citing these reasons, the Munich court agreed with the industry body¡¯s assessment. The court banned Tesla Germany from including ¡°full potential for autonomous driving¡± and ¡°Autopilot inclusive¡± in its advertising materials in the country.
As per the court, such claims lead to ¡°misleading business practices¡± as mentioned in the report. With switch advertisements, an average buyer might form the impression that Tesla cars could drive without human intervention. While this is not true in itself, the advertisements might also hint that such a system is legal in the country, an even bigger misconception than the previous one.?
So till the time Tesla does not bring a fully autonomous driving system in its cars, this may be a set mandate for the company in Germany.?