German Consumers' Federation Sues Tesla Over Greenwashing, Data Privacy

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The federation of German consumers said on Tuesday that it was suing US car giant Tesla over its misleading emissions claims and the vehicles’ potential for violating EU data privacy rules.

"The federation of German consumer organizations (vzbv) has filed a lawsuit with the regional court in Berlin," the organization said in a statement.

It argued that Elon Musk’s company falsely claimed in an advertisement of its newest Model 3 electric vehicle that the car helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero.

"The reality is different: whatever CO2 Tesla cars help reduce is emitted by other producers. And Tesla profits from it. According to the concern’s own figures, it earned $1.6 billion in 2020 alone by selling emission credits," vzbv said.

On Model 3’s sentry mode feature that records surroundings while the car is idle, the consumer group said that car owners risked fines for breaking the EU general data protection law for filming passers-by.