Tesla cars sit parked in a lot at the Tesla factory in Fremont, California.<\/p>\n
Getty Images<\/p>\n
Tesla will be temporarily unable to sell new electric vehicles in California for a month unless the carmaker led by billionaire Elon Musk<\/a> changes what the state and a judge determined are deceptive marketing practices for its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features.<\/p>\n Administrative Judge Juliet Cox ruled that the Austin-based company has for years misled buyers with regard to the level of automation Tesla\u2019s currently have, leading them to think its vehicles are more capable of driving themselves than they really are, the Department of Motor Vehicles said in a statement. She recommended a 30-day sales and production suspension in California, Tesla\u2019s biggest U.S. market, as punishment. The DMV isn\u2019t immediately imposing the sales ban and instead said it\u2019s given Tesla 60 days to modify marketing language for Autopilot and FSD. The agency said it doesn\u2019t intend to suspend production at Tesla\u2019s Fremont, California plant. <\/p>\n \u201cThe DMV\u2019s decision today confirms that the department will hold every vehicle manufacturer to the highest safety standards to keep California\u2019s drivers, passengers and pedestrians protected,\u201d DMV Director Steve Gordon said in an emailed statement. \u201cTesla can take simple steps to pause this decision and permanently resolve this issue \u2014 steps autonomous vehicle companies and other automakers have been able to achieve in California’s nation-leading and supportive innovation marketplace.\u201d<\/p>\n Tesla didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment. <\/p>\n For the latest in cleantech and sustainability news, sign up here<\/a> for our Current Climate newsletter.<\/p>\n The first of its kind in the U.S. move comes months after hearings in Sacramento in which technical experts on autonomous vehicles detailed how the Tesla features require nearly constant monitoring by drivers and don\u2019t have the capabilities of robotaxis, such as those operated by Waymo. Musk, the world\u2019s wealthiest person, has said it\u2019s a priority for Tesla to lead in autonomous driving, though it\u2019s taking a relatively low-cost approach to do so, especially with regard to sensors. Tesla uses a camera-only system, avoiding more sophisticated laser lidar and radar units that help autonomous vehicles see in all lighting conditions and in 3D. Federal safety investigators recently expanded an ongoing probe of Tesla\u2019s FSD software<\/a>.<\/p>\n Losing 30 days of sales in California could potentially cut Tesla\u2019s revenue by tens of millions of dollars in 2026, and would come at a time when its EV sales volume is already declining. It also comes as the company aims to create a robotaxi service to rival Waymo\u2019s. It\u2019s been giving rides to paying customers in Austin with a 29-vehicle fleet, though those rides have a human safety driver in the front. The company has begun testing fully autonomous versions of the robotaxi in Austin, though with no paying customers for now. <\/p>\n Investor excitement over Tesla\u2019s self-driving technology helped pump up the stock this week, with the shares closing at an all-time high of $489.88 on Dec. 16. <\/p>\n More From ForbesForbesTesla\u2019s Full-Self Driving Software Is A Mess. Should It Be Legal?By Alan Ohnsman<\/a>ForbesElon Musk\u2019s Self-Driving Tesla Lies Are Finally Catching Up To HimBy Alan Ohnsman<\/a>ForbesElon Musk Can\u2019t Legally Sell The Tesla Cybercab As PromisedBy Alan Ohnsman<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tesla cars sit parked in a lot at the Tesla factory in Fremont, California. Getty Images Tesla will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":97746,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1091,7,9,8,1059,1611,53448,22082,36141,1090],"class_list":["post-97745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-autopilot","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-dmv","tag-elon-musk","tag-fsd","tag-robotaxi","tag-self-driving","tag-tesla"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}