A class action has been lodged in the Federal Court of Australia against the US car maker, alleging issues with ‘Autopilot’ and ‘Tesla Vision’ systems in Australia’s best-selling electric cars.
A class action against Tesla Australia and parent company Tesla US has been lodged in the Federal Court of Australia by law firm JGA Saddler, accusing the car maker of multiple defects across its electric vehicles.
It alleges the Tesla Model 3 sedan and Tesla Model Y SUV – together, Australia’s best-selling electric cars for the past three years – purchased in Australia between May 2021 and February 2025 may be impacted.
The allegations include ‘phantom braking’ where, according to JGA Sadler, “Tesla vehicles have the propensity to autonomously engage Automatic Emergency Braking [Autonomous Emergency Braking, or AEB] abruptly in inappropriate circumstances, leading to a risk of collisions”.
According to Tesla, the car maker moved to ‘Tesla Vision’ in 2021 where it replaced radars from the Model 3 and Model Y – which has also been recently facelifted – with camera-based systems.
MORE: Tesla sued customers and the media for defamation in China, and won – report
Both cars currently on sale in Australia – made in Tesla’s Shanghai, China factory – use eight cameras for features including AEB, Forward Collision Warning, Blind Spot Collision Warning and Lane Departure Avoidance.
The class action also accuses Tesla of misleading customers, saying “despite statements or representations to the contrary, the hardware on Tesla vehicles is incapable off supporting fully autonomous or close to autonomous driving”.
The Australian Tesla public website says both Model 3 and Model Y include the hardware to enable ‘Autopilot’ functionality, enabling a vehicle to “steer, accelerate and brake automatically within its lane”.
A third accusation surrounds customer complaints of an unachievable driving range being displayed by the vehicle’s instruments when its battery charge is above 50 per cent.
MORE: Tesla locks in Australian site for new battery refurbishment facility
The class action is being funded by litigation firm Woodsford – described as a ‘collective redress business’ – which has taken on large organisations including an ongoing case against tech giant Google.
Conversely, Tesla has successfully sued owners of its vehicles in China who have criticised the vehicles on social media with similar complaints.
Facing legal action, the car maker sued at least six customers for defamation after some complained of “sudden vehicle malfunctions, quality complaints or accidents they claimed were caused by mechanical failures”.
The post Tesla class action in Australia alleges misleading ‘autonomous driving’ claims and ‘phantom braking’ appeared first on Drive.