Tesla Under Review by California’s DMV for Claims About FSD by Gustavo Henrique Ruffo, Inside EVs
First, a Munich court ruled July 14, 2020, that Tesla was misleading customers by saying its cars had “full potential for autonomous driving.” Then, also in July 2020, the Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport started an investigation into Autopilot’s “suspect defects.” The latest strike came from California’s DMV, which is investigating Tesla’s claims about driving assistant software. The Associated Press has confirmed this news, stating: “The [California DMV] confirmed the review May 17 in an email to The Associated Press. State regulation prohibits advertising vehicles for sale or lease as autonomous if they can’t comply with the regulatory definition, it said.” According to the Associated Press, the DMV is reviewing what the company says about Autopilot and FSD. If it concludes Tesla is misleading customers about
the true capability of these driving aids, it could suspend or revoke “autonomous vehicle deployment permits and manufacture and dealer licenses.”
The issue is Tesla does not have these permits as far as we know. The company’s strategy is to offer beta versions of what it intends to become its full self-driving software for regular customers to test it, and provide Tesla with data about its performance, with a legal disclaimer that clients may only use it at their own risk and only under proper supervising. Those drivers are also the ones at stake with another sanction the DMV can establish. According to a DMV spokesperson, vehicles operating on public roads using autonomous technology without
14 JULY 2021 AUTOBODY NEWS / autobodynews.com
first obtaining a permit “can be removed from the streets by the police.” In other words, people who paid for FSD may have their cars impounded. However, it will heavily depend on law interpretation. Tesla classifies both Autopilot and FSD as Level 2 driving aids. In theory, they are like GM’s Super Cruise or Ford’s Active Drive Assist. In practice, people believe they are autonomous driving systems that will swerve obstacles, make turns left or right and reach destinations on their own—which is precisely what autonomous systems are expected to do. The more recent crash involving Autopilot happened in Lake Stevens, WA. Luckily, no one was hurt. DMV’s review comes after two fatal crashes that could involve Autopilot: one in The Woodlands, TX, which killed William Varner and Everett Talbot, and one in Fontana, CA, which killed Steven Michael Hendrickson. NHTSA is investigating both of them.
Axalta Names Scanlan Head of HR Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. on May 26 announced the appointment of Jacqueline Scanlan as senior vice president and chief human resources officer, effective June 14. Scanlan joins Axalta from Haemonetics, a publicly traded global medical technology company, where she served as senior vice president, global human resources, leading the company’s integrated HR strategy worldwide, including culture and employee engagement, talent management, compensation and benefits, HR operations and communications. Previously, she served in roles of increasing responsibility at Novo Nordisk, Campbell Soup Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Accenture. Scanlan earned her B.A. in political science from St. Joseph’s University and her M.A. in organizational dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania. Source: Axalta
