Later last year, Tesla received a cease-and-desist letter from The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for not complying with the agency’s guidelines in its Model 3 safety assertions and subpoenaed the carmaker for information on several crashes.
Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that the auto safety agency’s letter said that Tesla’s blog from October last year about Model 3 having the lowest probability of injury of any vehicle ever tested by NHTSA was inconsistent with the agency’s usage guidelines, citing documents released by legal transparency group PlainSite.
The agency also asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate if the statements constituted unfair or deceptive practices.
“This is not the first time that Tesla has disregarded the guidelines in a manner that may lead to consumer confusion and give Tesla an unfair market advantage,” NHTSA Chief Counsel Jonathan Morrison was quoted as saying in an Oct. 17 letter addressed to Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk.
NHTSA said last year that Tesla’s claims of Model 3 electric car having the lowest risk of occupant injury of any vehicle in U.S. government tests goes beyond the scope of its analysis and noted the need to create safety ratings for areas of vehicle performance not currently rated by it.
Tesla has not yet responded to multiple requests for comment by phone and email by major news outlets.
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