The day before Elon’s big party, too
Two US senators have called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Tesla over concerns the automaker is misleading people by exaggerating or misrepresenting the abilities of its vehicles’ Autopilot and Full-Self Driving (FSD) features. Sens. Edward Markey (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) put out a public letter [ PDF] addressed to FTC boss Lina Khan on Wednesday. In it, the lawmakers claimed “Tesla’s marketing has repeatedly overstated the capabilities of its vehicles, and these statements increasingly pose a threat to motorists and other users of the road.” The problem, it seems, is that Autopilot is an enhanced cruise-control, and FSD just simply isn’t FSD, though people may be getting the wrong impression from Telsa’s promotions. “We fear that Tesla’s Autopilot and FSD features are not as mature and reliable as the company pitches to the public,” the senators continued. “On April 22, 2019, Tesla posted a video on its YouTube channel titled ‘ Full Self-Driving ‘ showing a Tesla driving entirely on its own. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has also repeatedly boasted about Tesla’s systems.
