Tesla Defends Safety Claims
Tesla Inc. insists its Model 3 electric car is the safest vehicle ever tested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a statement challenged by the agency itself.
#regulations #hybrid
Tesla Inc. insists its Model 3 electric car is the safest vehicle ever tested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a statement challenged by the agency itself.
Bloomberg News reported yesterday that NHTSA had sent Tesla a cease-and-desist letter in October for making “misleading” statements about the agency’s five-star safety ratings.

The letter says Tesla ignores differences in vehicle weights that make comparisons impossible. The letter rejects as “inaccurate” the company’s claims that the Model 3 (pictured) has the “lowest probability of injury of all cars,” that Model 3 occupants are “less likely to get seriously hurt” or that they “have the best chance of avoiding a serious injury.”
The letter also notes that NHTSA had admonished Tesla for making similar misleading claims about its Model S sedan six years ago. Such claims give the carmaker an unfair market advantage, according to the agency, which last year referred the issue to the Federal Trade Commission.
RELATED CONTENT
-
On Ford Maverick, Toyota Tundra Hybrid, and GM's Factory Footprint
GM is transforming its approach to the auto market—and its factories. Ford builds a small truck for the urban market. Toyota builds a full-size pickup and uses a hybrid instead of a diesel. And Faurecia thinks that hydrogen is where the industry is going.
-
On Electric Pickups, Flying Taxis, and Auto Industry Transformation
Ford goes for vertical integration, DENSO and Honeywell take to the skies, how suppliers feel about their customers, how vehicle customers feel about shopping, and insights from a software exec
-
Study: How States Should Update Traffic Laws for Autonomous Cars
U.S. states should require that all automated cars have a licensed driver on board, suggests a study by the Governors Highway Safety Assn.