California considers a ban on Tesla

Starting this week, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is holding a hearing that may end up with Tesla Inc. being prohibited from selling its electric vehicles statewide for at least a month.

According to Electrek, the regulatory body is suing the carmaker over alleged misleading claims regarding the capabilities of its EVs. In particular, the company claims that the cars are capable of fully autonomous driving without human intervention, which they are not.

The lawsuit also holds that “Autopilot” and “Full Self Driving”, the two trademarks used by Tesla to describe its semi-autonomous technologies, are both false statements and shall be deregistered.

Tesla used to claim that its vehicles displayed “enough warnings” for the drivers to realize that the technology wasn’t there for full autonomy yet. However, according to Electrek, DMV is still aiming for a complete sales ban on Tesla EVs in California until all misleading advertising is removed. This actually sounds reasonable if you consider that some buyers may be tempted by a purchase before realizing that their car is nowhere near the originally promised level of autonomy.

With the EV subsidy cancellation looming on the horizon, you’d expect Tesla sales to surge as customers are trying to get their electric rides before the inevitable price hike. However, even though California is in the lead by the number of EVs sold nationwide, Tesla sales have been steadily falling there recently. A statewide ban would deal another severe blow to Elon Musk’s struggling business.