Tesla Tumbles After Recalling Over 50,000 Vehicles; Faces “Demonstrably Dangerous” Autopilot Lawsuit

Tesla just issued a voluntary recall for approximately 53,000 examples of the Model S hatchback and the Model crossover vehicles, sending the stock back down to $300…

As CNET reports, the problem lies with the electric parking brakes that help secure the vehicles when placed in Park. The parking brakes contain a small gear that might fracture, which would prevent the parking brake from releasing. Thus, a car that enters Park may not be able to move again. This has no bearing on the vehicles’ regular brakes, and Tesla has received no reports of the parking brake system failing to hold a car in place.

Tesla estimates that about 2 percent of the vehicles recalled contain the improperly manufactured gear. It should be noted that the parking brake assembly is from a third-party supplier, as well.

The reaction has pushed Tesla back toward $300…

As a reminder, we have noted the so-called ‘stealth’ recall of various Teslas in the past.

And additionally, as Fortune reports, Tesla owners filed a class-action lawsuit against the automaker for allegedly mischaracterizing the capabilities of its Autopilot 2 feature to consumers.

The lawsuit, filed by law firm Hagens Berman on Wednesday in California’s Northern district court, said Tesla’s partial autopilot technology was advertised as safe and “stress-free,” but instead “is essentially unusable and demonstrably dangerous.”

 

“Unwittingly, buyers of the affected vehicles have become beta testers of half-baked software that renders Tesla vehicles dangerous if engaged,” the lawsuit says.

Tesla cars with the Autopilot 2 features were first sold in October 2016. The first generation of the system was first unveiled in 2014. The Autopilot 2, or Enhanced Autopilot, feature costs consumers $5,000.

“What consumers received were cars without standard safety enhancements featured by cars costing less than half the price of a new Tesla, and a purported ‘Enhanced Autopilot’ that operates in an erratic and dangerous manner,” Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman, said in a statement.