The Tesla Robotaxi has been in some hot water lately, but shareholders are holding Tesla accountable for the vehicle's potential dangers. On Aug. 5, shareholders sued Tesla and Elon Musk regarding the safety risks of the Robotaxi, as reported by Reuters.
What's happening?
Robotaxi tests went public in Austin, Texas, in June. Since then, there have been several positive and negative experiences with the Robotaxi documented, though the negative are more relevant to this suit, such as one of the vehicles backing up traffic and another incident causing the Robotaxi to stop in the middle of a busy intersection.
The August lawsuit follows the public testing rollout of the Robotaxi, with shareholders claiming Elon Musk and his company covered up the real dangers of these vehicles. They also allege that Musk and Tesla hyped up the Robotaxi's capabilities to boost Tesla stock, according to Reuters.
Why is this lawsuit important?
Tesla has been in the news a lot lately, and much of its press has been negative over the past year. Tesla has been battling declining sales, the Cybertruck has been dropped from some insurance policies, and data has shown safety declines for Tesla's driver-assist system.
Many consumers already have a negative opinion of Tesla. In fact, CNBC reported that almost half of Americans fall into that category, as Musk may have lowered his interested customer base by aligning himself in a prominent way with one of the two major parties in America. That often came with provocative statements and gestures, such as wielding a chainsaw on stage to celebrate cutting social programs — something Musk later said he came to regret doing.
Add to that the increasing safety incidents during Robotaxi tests, and public trust keeps slipping. Now, apparently, some shareholders seem to be losing hope in the company. Tesla's stock is down by about 12.5% within 2025, though it's still up by over 50% over the last year to date.
One side effect is that consumers sometimes lump Tesla's shortcomings in with their general idea of all electric vehicles. This could make drivers less likely to switch to an EV, despite these vehicles' benefits for the environment, like reduced pollution and better air quality.
What's being done to address Tesla's safety concerns?
By shareholders holding Tesla accountable for its Robotaxi's alleged dangers, they're taking a strong step toward encouraging the company to develop better safety standards to ensure this technology is road-ready. This pressure may even translate to clearer safety reporting and more independent audits across the vehicle industry.
Tesla also releases quarterly reports detailing its vehicle safety and crash data, with data available publicly online.
But if you're not confident in what Tesla brings to the EV table, remember that there are plenty of other EVs available on the market — and they generally either don't have or don't require the use of the self-driving technology that's causing concerns.
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