What We’re Reading

• Judge says evidence shows Tesla and Elon Musk knew about flawed autopilot system (NPR, November 23, 2023)

  Last week, Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Reid Scott granted Plaintiff’s hotly contested motion to amend the complaint to add a claim for punitive damages in the Banner case, which we have been following closely. In subsequent orders issued this week, Judge Scott also denied Tesla’s motion for summary judgment and numerous motions Tesla had filed seeking to limit or bar testimony of Plaintiff’s expert witnesses at trial.   

  Judge Reid’s opinion cited evidence that Tesla “engaged in a marketing strategy that painted the products as autonomous” and that Musk’s public statements about the technology “had a significant effect on the belief about the capabilities of the products.” “It would be reasonable to conclude that the Defendant Tesla through its CEO and engineers was acutely aware of the problem with the 'Autopilot' failing to detect cross traffic,” Judge Scott added.

  After recently prevailing on two similar product liability trial in California, this ruling is the first major setback for Tesla in its battle to push liability to consumers for failing to properly monitor or use Tesla’s Level 2 systems.  During a recent hearing, however, Tesla advised that it will attempt to immediately appeal the above rulings, which, if allowed, will substantially delay the already repeatedly rescheduled trial date.

• GM’s Cruise To Relaunch Driverless Robotaxi Service On A Smaller Scale (InsideEVs, November 24, 2023)

  In the wake of significant fallout from a widely publicized accident last month, which led to regulators banning its vehicles from California roadways and an internal decision to pause all operations nationwide amidst a top executive shakeup, Cruise announced this week that it plans to relaunch its robotaxi operations on a much smaller scale in a yet to be announced location.

  “Once we have taken steps to improve our safety culture and rebuild trust, our strategy is to re-launch in one city and prove our performance there, before expanding,” the company said in a statement.

• More headaches for Tesla in Sweden as a supplier for Model Y joins strike (Electrek, November 27, 2023)

  Tesla mechanics in Sweden are on strike against the anti-union automaker over the lack of a collective bargaining agreement covering their working conditions. Workers are refusing to do any work with Tesla in any way until Tesla signs the collective bargaining agreement with Swedish union IF Metall. Tesla has refused to sign the agreement because “it doesn’t have a manufacturing plant in Sweden.”

  Now, workers from Swedish supplier Hydro Extrusions, responsible for aluminum profiles for the Model Y, have joined the strike against Tesla, and are prepared to “ramp things up” until Tesla signs the collective bargaining agreement. Hydro Extrusions, a subsidiary of aluminum and energy company Hydro, sends aluminum profiles to factories in Berlin, which produces a majority of Model Ys that Tesla sells in Europe.

  “This fight is very, very important. It’s so important that we cannot let it go. It’s important for us but also for the whole Swedish labor market,” says Veli-Pekka Saikkala, IF Metall negotiation secretary. “[I]f this causes disruption to [Tesla] we hope to force them back to the negotiation table.”