Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP is class counsel in a lawsuit against Tesla for allegedly misleading the public for years about its Full Self-Driving Capability software (“FSD”). The lawsuit is currently pending in the Northern District of California. Since 2016, Tesla misleadingly and deceptively advertised that all of its model year 2016 and newer vehicles had all of the hardware needed for FSD. At the same time, it marketed FSD as a technology that was either already fully functional or just around the corner. As Tesla states in a video first published on its website in October 2016 that purports to show a Tesla car driving itself, “The person in the driver’s seat is only there for legal reasons. He is not driving anything. The car is driving itself.” The New York Times would later report that the video was doctored to exclude, among other things, the Tesla crashing into a fence.
Ten years later in 2026, Tesla now admits that its version 3 or earlier hardware must be retrofitted for full self-driving. Tesla owners with these earlier hardware packages cannot take full advantage of the latest “updates” in Tesla’s FSD software. Even with the newer hardware, Tesla owners still have reported a myriad of problems, such as cars having difficulty making right turns, running red lights, and steering into oncoming traffic. There have also been numerous collisions involving Tesla’s purportedly cutting-edge software. Dozens of people have suffered fatal and other serious injuries as a result, triggering investigations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”), the National Transportation Safety Board (“NTSB”), and other federal and state regulators.
The ongoing class action is limited to California purchasers or subscribers to Tesla’s FSD software package who are not subject to Tesla’s arbitration program, either because they opted out of arbitration or purchased the FSD package prior to May 2017, when Tesla initiated its arbitration program. If you are not subject to Tesla’s arbitration program, purchased or subscribed to Tesla’s FSD package between October 2016 through August 2024, and would like more information about our investigation, please contact Julie Fieber or Thomas Loeser, or call our main line at (650) 697-6000.
