Introduction
For years, Tesla has stood as a symbol of innovation in the electric vehicle (EV) industry. With sleek designs, cutting-edge software, and bold promises about the future of autonomous driving, the company has captivated both investors and the public. But beneath the surface of its clean energy image lies a disturbing pattern ofmisleading claims, legal challenges, safety concerns, and deadly consequences

From exaggerated marketing of its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (FSD) systems to opaque safety data and dubious workplace practices, Tesla’s public narrative increasingly appears to be built on strategic misrepresentation — or, as critics would argue, outright lies.

Misleading Claims About Autonomy

Autopilot and FSD: Branding vs. Reality

Since 2016, Tesla has aggressively marketed its cars as being capable of “full self-driving.” Elon Musk has claimed that a Tesla vehicle would be able to drive across the country with zero human input — a feat that still hasn’t happened, nearly a decade later.

Despite these assertions, Tesla’s driver-assistance software remains classified as Level 2 autonomy — meaning human supervision is required at all times. The term “Full Self-Driving” is, by many expert accounts, inherently deceptive.

A 2023 shareholder lawsuit accused Tesla of knowingly exaggerating the capabilities of FSD, calling it a “dangerous beta program” masquerading as consumer-ready technology. Court documents revealed that internal emails and testing logs contradicted public statements from Musk, suggesting that Tesla executives knew FSD was unsafe in real-world scenarios.

Fatal Crashes and the Human Cost
The Key Largo Crash (Florida, 2019)
In July 2025, Tesla returned to the courtroom for yet another Autopilot-related death — this time involving a fatal 2019 crash in Key Largo, Florida. The case centers on Naibel Benavides Leon, who died when her Tesla Model S, allegedly on Autopilot, ran a red light and plowed into a parked car.

Lawyers representing the family allege that Tesla recklessly advertised Autopilot as a self-driving system, lulling drivers into a false sense of security. The judge allowed punitive damages to move forward, citing evidence that Tesla may have “intentionally misled the public” regarding Autopilot’s capabilities.

A Pattern of Tragedy
This is not an isolated incident. Tesla’s Autopilot has been linked to dozens of fatal crashes, many of which involved cars slamming into emergency vehicles, running red lights, or failing to navigate curves.

One high-profile case involved Apple engineer Walter Huang, who died in 2018 after his Tesla, on Autopilot, veered into a highway divider. Tesla blamed driver inattention — but later court filings revealed the car had repeatedly failed at the same location, and Huang had filed prior complaints about Autopilot’s behavior.

In another case, Tesla quietly settled with the family of a driver killed in a 2021 FSD crash — avoiding public scrutiny.

Falsified or Omitted Safety Data

Tesla regularly publishes safety reports claiming that vehicles using Autopilot are significantly safer than those driven manually. However, experts have found that Tesla’s data is selectively presented — lacking key context like road conditions, driver demographics, and miles driven on highways vs. city streets.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that Tesla omitted certain crash data and sometimes failed to report Autopilot incidents at all.

In 2024, a paper from MIT’s AgeLab and Stanford revealed that Tesla’s reported Autopilot crash rates were misleading, and in some cases, statistically manipulated. The authors concluded that Tesla had likely “inflated Autopilot safety claims through inconsistent and unverifiable methods.”

Legal Pressure and Government Investigations

DOJ and SEC Probes

Tesla is currently under multiple federal investigations. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is exploring whether Tesla committed wire fraud and securities fraud by promoting Full Self-Driving technology it knew was not ready.

Meanwhile, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is probing whether Tesla misled investors about the timeline and functionality of autonomous systems — a charge that could carry civil and criminal penalties.

Lawsuits From Investors and States

In 2023, Tesla shareholders filed a class-action lawsuit accusing the company of inflating its stock price through deceptive FSD marketing. Plaintiffs claim that Tesla’s stock surged based on expectations of a self-driving future that never arrived — costing investors billions when reality caught up.

Separately, California’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) filed an administrative lawsuit in 2024, claiming that Tesla’s use of terms like “Autopilot” and “FSD” violated state truth-in-advertising laws. Tesla could face revocation of its sales license in the state if found guilty.

Culture of Secrecy and Spin

Tesla’s deceptive practices aren’t limited to technology. The company has also been accused of concealing workplace injuries and retaliating against whistleblowers.

A 2022 report by Reveal and Business Insider uncovered that Tesla’s Fremont factory underreported injury data to OSHA by reclassifying injuries as “personal time off” or “non-work-related.” One former safety manager testified that executives pressured staff to minimize incident reporting to protect Tesla’s brand.

Whistleblowers from inside Tesla have also accused the company of silencing internal criticism about Autopilot, punishing engineers who raised safety concerns, and ignoring beta testers who reported major flaws.

Manipulated Crash Footage and Misinformation

In 2016, Tesla released a promotional video claiming that a car was “driving itself” with no human input. What the video didn’t reveal was that the route had been pre-mapped, and multiple failed attempts occurred before capturing the perfect take. A 2023 New York Times exposé included internal Tesla emails discussing how to “script” the video while hiding editing cues.

In 2022, whistleblower data leaks showed Tesla had thousands of crash reports and customer complaints regarding phantom braking, erratic acceleration, and unresponsive steering while using Autopilot or FSD Beta. The company failed to notify regulators of most of these incidents.

Consequences and Outlook

So far, Tesla has largely escaped the worst legal consequences. In some lawsuits, the company has argued that its misleading statements were “aspirational” or “corporate puffery” — protected under

California’s administrative court could suspend Tesla’s ability to sell vehicles in the state — the company’s largest market — if it rules against them in the ongoing advertising case.

Federal prosecutors have hinted that they are building a wire fraud case, which, if successful, could result in criminal charges against Tesla executives or Musk himself.