Hyperdrive
Tesla Scrutinized by U.S. Agency Over Model 3 Safety Claims
- NHTSA referred October statements to FTC for investigation
- Agency subpoenaed Tesla for information on several crashes
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The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sent Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk a cease-and-desist letter last year regarding Model 3 safety claims and has subpoenaed the carmaker for information on several crashes, according to documents posted by a nonprofit advocacy group.
NHTSA lawyers took issue with an Oct. 7 Tesla blog post that said the Model 3 had achieved the lowest probability of injury of any vehicle the agency ever tested, the documents released Tuesday by the legal transparency group Plainsite show. The regulator said the claims were inconsistent with its advertising guidelines regarding crash ratings and that it would ask the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether the statements were unfair or deceptive acts.