A Munich court has ordered Tesla Inc to reimburse a customer most of the 112,000 euros ($112,884.80) she paid for a Model X SUV because of problems with the Autopilot function, Der Spiegel reported.
A technical report showed the vehicle did not reliably recognise obstacles like the narrowing of a construction site and would at times activate the brakes unnecessarily.
The court ruled that this could cause a “massive hazard” in city centres and lead to collisions.
Tesla lawyers argued Autopilot was not designed for city traffic, according to Der Spiegel, and the court said it was not feasible for drivers to switch the feature on and off manually in different settings as it would distract from driving.
Der Spiegel asked Tesla for comment but the company was not immediately available for comment. The court was not immediately available for comment.
US safety regulators are investigating Tesla’s Autopilot function after reports of 16 crashes, including seven injury incidents and one death, involving Tesla vehicles on Autopilot that struck stationary first-responder and road maintenance vehicles.
Tesla says Autopilot allows vehicles to brake and steer automatically within their lanes but does not make them capable of driving themselves.
Musk said in March that Tesla is likely to launch a test version of its new “Full Self-Driving” software in Europe later this year, depending on regulatory approval.
“It’s quite difficult to do full self-driving in Europe,” he told workers at the Berlin factory at the time, saying much work needed to be done to handle tricky driving situations in Europe, where roads vary a lot by country.
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A Munich court has ordered Tesla Inc to reimburse a customer most of the 112,000 euros ($112,884.80) she paid for a Model X SUV because of problems with the Autopilot function, Der Spiegel reported.
A technical report showed the vehicle did not reliably recognise obstacles like the narrowing of a construction site and would at times activate the brakes unnecessarily.
The court ruled that this could cause a “massive hazard” in city centres and lead to collisions.
Tesla lawyers argued Autopilot was not designed for city traffic, according to Der Spiegel, and the court said it was not feasible for drivers to switch the feature on and off manually in different settings as it would distract from driving.
Der Spiegel asked Tesla for comment but the company was not immediately available for comment. The court was not immediately available for comment.
US safety regulators are investigating Tesla’s Autopilot function after reports of 16 crashes, including seven injury incidents and one death, involving Tesla vehicles on Autopilot that struck stationary first-responder and road maintenance vehicles.
Tesla says Autopilot allows vehicles to brake and steer automatically within their lanes but does not make them capable of driving themselves.
Musk said in March that Tesla is likely to launch a test version of its new “Full Self-Driving” software in Europe later this year, depending on regulatory approval.
“It’s quite difficult to do full self-driving in Europe,” he told workers at the Berlin factory at the time, saying much work needed to be done to handle tricky driving situations in Europe, where roads vary a lot by country.
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