Tesla May Face Court-Ordered Engineering-System Access in Australian Phantom-Braking Case
An Australian federal judge is considering whether an outside technical specialist should be allowed into Tesla's internal engineering platforms in a class action over alleged phantom braking and advertised driving…
- 2026
- 2025
What Happened
Federal Court judge Tom Thawley said he may order an independent expert to access Tesla's internal engineering platforms in a class action brought by roughly 10,000 owners. Lawyers for the applicants say the documents already produced do not contain the technical material needed for the case.
The case began in February 2025 with claims that Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles can experience phantom braking and that the company overstated their self-driving capability and battery range. The judge said an expert with access to the live systems could resolve the discovery dispute more efficiently than continued document fights.
Tesla says it has cooperated by producing a large document set, while arguing that its engineers work on software platforms that change continuously and do not preserve a fixed historical record in paper-like form.
Both sides will seek further instructions on the proposal, and the judge said he would consider ordering access despite objections. The case has not gone to trial and is due back in court on November 12.
Why this matters
The proposed expert access would put Tesla's continuously edited software systems directly into an Australian court's discovery process, although the case has not reached trial.
Terms in This Story
- EV
- Electric vehicle, a vehicle powered fully or partly by electricity.
- ADAS
- Advanced driver assistance systems, features that help the driver with safety or convenience tasks.
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