Germany’s federal motor transport authority, KBA, found abnormalities while investigating Tesla’s autopilot function. According to WirtschaftsWoche, while some of the problems found during the investigation, which has been running since the start of the year 2022, have been remedied, some outstanding ones where further remedial measures are still being tested and secured.
Recently, Elon Musk-run Tesla was also hit by a class-action lawsuit in the US over a phantom braking problem. The lawsuit allegedly turned the safety feature into a frightening and dangerous nightmare.
The lawsuit accused the electric car-maker of hiding the safety risks associated with the company’s Autopilot driver assist system, thus breaching its warranties, unfairly profiting from Autopilot, and violating California’s unfair competition law.
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Phantom braking is when a self-driving system or an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) applies the brakes for no good reason. The system can falsely detect an object on the road or anticipate a collision that will not happen and apply the brake in order to avoid it.
The lawsuit comes as Tesla already faces a federal investigation from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) over its phantom braking problem, which first surfaced last fall. The US transport agency investigated over 400,000 Tesla EVs for problems with their automated emergency braking systems.
The US government has received over 750 complaints of unexpected braking from Tesla owners. According to the lawsuit, many Tesla owners have reported significant, unexpected slow-downs and stops due to the false engagement of their Class Vehicle’s braking systems, even though no objects were nearby.
