Tesla Must Reimburse Model X Owner Who Had Autopilot Safety Issues

The owner was using Autopilot on city streets, which it's not intended or designed for, but the court ruled against Tesla.

tesla autopilot curved exit ramp

Steven Loveday

By: Steven Loveday

Jul 18, 2022 at 9:05am ET

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A Tesla Model X owner in Germany claimed that the Autopilot technology on her new EV wasn't functioning properly. Now, a court has ruled that Tesla has to pay her back nearly $113,000.

The court in Munich put the Tesla Model X through a technical analysis to determine if there were any obvious issues. More specifically, the car was tested on German roads to see how Autopilot handled situations that the owner had concerns over.

The testing revealed that the Model X was unable to properly navigate various obstacles, narrowing roads, and construction zones. It also had issues with phantom braking. According to the court's ruling, as reported by Der Speigel, the problems with the technology could cause a "massive hazard" in heavily populated areas.

That said, the current iteration of Tesla's Autopilot technology isn't designed or intended to be used in heavily populated areas. Instead, it's for highway driving. However, the court noted that a driver shouldn't be responsible for remembering to turn the features on and off on various roads. It said the action of activating and deactivating Autopilot could distract the driver.

Tesla is working on technology that's usable on city streets. In fact, that's the main focus of its Full Self-Driving technology. Currently, Autopilot comes standard in all Tesla's vehicles, and it's essentially a suite of advanced driver-assist systems, much like the bundles found standard on an increasing number of cars. Basic Autopilot pairs adaptive cruise control with a lane-keeping system.

Check Out These Related Tesla Stories:

Tesla Owner Suggests Enhanced Autopilot Return To US, Musk Agrees

Court Makes Tesla Buy Back Model 3: Owner Unhappy With Autopilot

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In order for Tesla owners to get more advanced Autopilot features, they have to pay to upgrade to Enhanced Autopilot or Tesla's Full Self-Driving Capability, the latter of which is still in beta form and currently unavailable in Europe. Tesla claims it plans to launch its FSD Beta program in Europe eventually, though CEO Elon Musk has made it clear that it's going to be a challenge.

It's important to note that earlier this year a court ruled that Tesla must buy back an owner's Model 3 after concerns that the car's "self-driving" features didn't work as advertised.

Source: Der Spiegel via Teslarati

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