British Tesla Owner Wins $10K Settlement From EV Giant Over Undelivered Full Self-Driving Features

A UK-based Tesla owner has secured a $10,000 settlement from Tesla Inc. TSLA following the company’s inability to deliver its full self-driving (FSD) features as promised. The report was first published by Electrek.

What Happened: Edward Butler, a Model 3 owner, took Tesla to court after the company did not fulfill its promises concerning its Full Self-Driving option. He filed a small claims court claim, citing a violation of the Consumer Rights Act of 2015.

Butler bought the FSD option in 2019 for his Model 3 at a cost of £5,800 (approximately $7,100). He argued that Tesla did not meet certain promises linked to the FSD option, including traffic light recognition and automatic driving on city streets.

While the traffic light recognition feature was delivered by Tesla in the UK in 2020, it missed its own deadline. The automatic driving feature has not yet been implemented in the UK, nearly four years later.

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Initially, Tesla rejected Butler’s claim. However, following several exchanges, and Butler’s refusal to accept any settlements with disclosure restrictions or instructions on how others could make similar claims, Tesla agreed to a settlement.

The settlement totaled £8,015.22 (about $9,860), including interest and court fees. Although this settlement does not establish a legal precedent, it suggests a strong case against Tesla for breaching UK advertising laws.

Why It Matters: Tesla’s self-driving software most recently came under scrutiny following an incident where a Tesla vehicle, operating in Autopilot mode, failed to avoid an oncoming vehicle.

This is not the first time Tesla has faced legal action over its FSD claims. Last year, the company was mandated to upgrade a driver's self-driving computer free of charge after stating it would charge owners $1,500 for hardware they had already purchased.

Interestingly, Tesla CEO Elon Musk just last month boasted about FSD’s ability to navigate autonomously without human intervention. Musk stated that his car drove him around Austin all day without requiring his intervention, despite the large crowds attending the Austin City Limits Music Festival.

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