Tesla is Getting Sued For Its Incompetent Autopilot System Again

Deceptive Marketing

According to the latest "Tesla is getting sued" story, we're looking at an Autopilot-related case. A class action lawsuit has been filed over Tesla's fully autonomous driving claims that it's been pushing all these years.

The suit claims that Tesla promised that its Tesla Hardware 1, 2, 2.5, and 3 configurations are capable of fully autonomous driving, including "coast-to-coast" trips. However, the reality is that the vehicles with the hardware versions listed are incapable of safe and reliable autonomy without human intervention, which has been the case "time and time again," the lawsuit reads.

It seems like users were cheated out of buying a Tesla early on, when self-driving technology was still in its infancy. You could say that the brand was a little too eager to sell its cars, claiming too much and delivering too little. People paid a high price to get into a Tesla, with some unlucky individuals paying a much higher price when the system failed to keep them safe.

Tesla

Class Action

ClassAction.org reported on this story, stating that Tesla's Autopilot and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are not as advanced in practice as the brand says. The models included in the suit are vehicles with Tesla Hardware 1, 2, 2.5, and 3 configurations. Back then, Tesla claimed that full autonomous driving could be achieved with the hardware that it installed into its cars, through ads and marketing campaigns since 2016. Elon Musk himself said that all Teslas are equipped with the hardware needed for fully self-driving (FSD) capability.

In the real world, the lawsuit contends that Tesla's claims are false. According to the SAE, a U.S.-based standards development organization, Tesla's system can achieve level 2, but the brand claims it can achieve level 4 to level 5 autonomy. The fifth and final level is the highest, meaning no human intervention is needed for a car to drive itself.

Tesla's Autopilot hasn't advanced beyond level 2, according to the class action. In a nutshell, drivers still have to monitor the system and the car in order to keep the vehicle operating normally. That means steering, accelerating, and braking are still continually required from the driver.

Tesla

Timeline

In 2020, the case notes that Musk claimed fully self-driving vehicles would be ready that year and that fully self-driving Tesla Robotaxis would be a staple on the road. Musk claimed the year after, 2021, that a software update was needed to enable the self-driving features in Teslas.

Fast forward to January 2023: Tesla launched Hardware 4 and then went back on what Musk had said in 2021. For Hardware 1, 2, 2.5, and 3, full self-driving capabilities were still unavailable, and no software updates were issued. Tesla stated that the older systems were "incapable" of achieving full autonomy, contradicting what the brand had promised for its vehicles at the time.

Tesla "admitted the truth" on April 22, 2026, confirming that all Teslas with Hardware 3 and earlier cannot fully self-drive. The suit claims that people paid a premium to get in on Tesla's autonomous driving features, but it's not just financial costs that drive this lawsuit; there are also human costs. Accidents linked to the Tesla Autopilot have resulted in fatalities and injuries after the system failed to detect objects and vehicles on the road.

Getting Involved

If you've purchased or leased a Tesla vehicle with Hardware 1, 2, 2.5, or 3 from Tesla Inc., paid a separate amount, either through purchase or subscription, for the full Autopilot package between May 19, 2017 to the present, and did so in the United States (except California), plus are a resident of the U.S., this class action will apply if you've also opted out of Tesla's arbitration agreement.

It's also noteworthy that the full self-driving package Tesla sells as an add-on can cost up to $15,000 more per purchase. With that amount of money, it's reasonable for a customer to expect a flawless system, but apparently, this class action suit says otherwise. Plus, the human cost of implementing this system before it was ready may make Elon Musk eat his words.