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Tesla, Inc. (formerly Tesla Motors) is a company founded by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning in 2003. In 2008, it was funded and taken over by Elon Musk, when both original founders left their positions.[1][2]
| Basic information | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2003 |
| Legal Structure | Public |
| Industry | Automotive |
| Also known as | |
| Official website | https://tesla.com/ |
Controversies
After the company was bought by Elon Musk it has been involved in a number of controversies such as requiring subscriptions or requiring a Tesla technician to fix 2012's Model S,[3] With cases such as the continued denial of adding Apple Carplay or Android Auto to their vehicles, putting an expiry date on their cars, and making a $100,000 utility vehicle whose warranty is void by a car wash.
This is a list of all consumer protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the Tesla category.
Tesla employees have allegedly viewed and shared embarrassing, disturbing, and potentially explicit recordings of Tesla through internal messaging systems; Tesla claims that all recordings are anonymous regardless of anonymity, it raises some privacy concerns, such as the fact that employees can even access those recordings in the first place, there don't seem to be effective measures in place to prevent those videos from being shared and they use these recordings to train their artificial intelligence which posses other privacy concerns.
Artificially disabling functionality
Tesla was among the early automakers to implement feature gating through software updates. For example, the company introduced an "acceleration boost" for certain vehicles that increased acceleration performance once the software feature was purchased, despite the necessary hardware already being present in the car.[4][5]
Tesla initially promoted the inclusion of radar hardware in its Model 3 vehicles, highlighting its role in enhancing driver assistance features. In subsequent production runs, however, the company discontinued radar hardware in new Model 3 units, while continuing to include it in higher-end models such as the Model S (and later the Model X). Later, Tesla issued an over-the-air (OTA) software update that disabled the radar hardware in existing Model 3 vehicles equipped with it.[6][7][8] As a result, these vehicles saw changes such as a reduced range of following distance options in Traffic-Aware Cruise Control (TACC), from 1-7 to 2-7. Reports also indicated degraded performance in driver assistance systems, including instances of unexpected braking behavior.[9]
Tesla has also phased out other commonly expected vehicle features, such as ultrasonic parking sensors, reportedly as a cost-saving measure.[10] These changes are often implemented without formal announcements. Additionally, Tesla has removed dedicated rain sensors from some vehicles, with similar impacts on feature performance.[11]
Wrongful legal threats
Tesla once sent a legal threat to a Swedish car repair company called "Grufman Bil AB" to take down a YouTube video that they had posted that showed them smashing a car component that was supposed to hold up a wheel with a big hammer, showing how that component was made of metal that was a lot weaker than one could reasonably expect. Grufman Bil decided to quickly take down that video and when someone asked them why, Grufman Bil said "because it's not worth getting sued over," which indicates that Tesla was possibly threatening to sue people who show important car defects.
Resale restrictions
Tesla has recently started prohibiting the resale of its vehicles within one year of purchase, imposing fines of up to $50,000 on owners who violate the policy.[12] This is done without regard for situations that may necessitate a resale, and appears to align with practices adopted by other companies.[13]
Full Self-Driving switching to subscription only
Full Article: Tesla Switches Full Self-Driving to Subscription Only
On 13 January, 2026, Elon Musk announced that Tesla will stop selling their "Full Self-Driving" (or "FSD") feature as a one-time purchase for $8,000 USD, instead offering only a subscription option for $99 USD per month. This policy is set to take effect on 14 February, 2026.[14][15]
See Also
References
- ↑ Schreiber, Barbara A.; Gregersen, Erik; Ashburn, Doug (21 Mar 2025). "Tesla, Inc". Britannica. Retrieved 22 Mar 2025.
- ↑ Qai group (29 Sep 2022). "Tesla: A History Of Innovation (and Headaches)". Forbes. Retrieved 22 Mar 2025.
- ↑ "2012 Tesla Model s problems". SlotCar Today. Retrieved 22 Mar 2025.
- ↑ Agatie, Cristian (20 Nov 2024). "Refreshed Tesla Model 3 Gets Acceleration Boost in Certain Markets, US Still Waiting". autoevolution. Retrieved 22 Mar 2025.
- ↑ Ali, Iqtidar (22 November 2024). "Tesla starts offering Acceleration Boost for the Model 3 Highland Long Range variant". Tesla Oracle. Retrieved 22 Mar 2025.
- ↑ "Tesla's Relationship With Radar". Edge AI and Vision Alliance. 31 Jan 2024. Retrieved 22 Mar 2025.
- ↑ Klender, Joey (10 Jun 2023). "Tesla owners claim their radar was disabled during service visits". Teslarati. Retrieved 22 Mar 2025.
- ↑ Dnistran, Iulian (22 Mar 2023). "Elon Musk Overruled Tesla Engineers Who Said Removing Radar Would Be Problematic: Report". InsideEVs. Retrieved 22 Mar 2025.
- ↑ rwiegand (22 Jul 2024). "Unfortunate new panic braking behavior from TACC". Retrieved 22 Mar 2025 – via Tesla Motors Club.
- ↑ "Tesla Vision Update: Replacing Ultrasonic Sensors with Tesla Vision". Tesla. Retrieved 22 Mar 2025.
- ↑ Johnson, Jeremy (8 Dec 2023). "Are Softening Tesla Model Y Sales In Europe Really Due to $119 Worth of Sensors Removal?". Torque News. Retrieved 22 Mar 2025.
- ↑ Hood, Bryan (4 June 2024). "A Man Says Tesla Won't Let Him Sell His Cybertruck—Even Though It's Too Big for His Parking Spot". Robb Report. Retrieved 22 Mar 2025.
- ↑ Foote, Brett (7 Jan 2022). "2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Will Come With One Year No-Sale Provision". Ford Authority. Retrieved 22 Mar 2025.
- ↑ "Full Self-Driving (Supervised) Subscriptions". Tesla Support. Retrieved 22 Jan 2026.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Musk, Elon (13 Jan 2026). "Tesla will stop selling FSD after Feb 14". X. Retrieved 22 Jan 2026.
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