By Byron Kaye
SYDNEY, Sept 1 (Reuters) – An Australian judge said he may order Tesla to give an independent expert access to its internal engineering platforms as part of a class action against the Elon Musk-led carmaker, a move designed to bypass a drawn-out discovery process that has dogged the case.
The lawsuit, filed in February 2025, alleges Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y vehicles suffer from “phantom braking” and that the advertised self-driving capability and battery range were overstated.
Federal Court judge Tom Thawley suggested appointing an independent expert after lawyers for the applicants, representing some 10,000 Tesla owners, complained the documents Tesla had turned over failed to capture crucial technical information they needed to run the case.
Bringing in an independent expert who was endorsed by both sides “would eliminate the discovery issue because they would have, if they needed access to something, the power to get access”, Thawley told the court on Tuesday.
He added that he would not necessarily keep the court-appointed expert away from certain material “just because one of the parties doesn’t like that idea”.
The matter is yet to go to trial as the parties clash over the discovery process.
Tesla says it has handed over thousands of documents in good faith but that its engineers use live, continuously edited software platforms that do not keep point-in-time records or simulate paper documents.
Thawley said a single court-appointed expert in each relevant field with access to the systems themselves would be cheaper and faster than fighting over documents, and told the parties he would consider ordering it over their objections.
Lawyers for both sides said they would seek instructions on the suggestion of an independent expert, but Fiona Roughley, representing the applicants, said the idea made sense.
Imtiaz Ahmed, who represents Tesla, said his side would think about the suggestion, noting its systems were highly confidential.
The matter returns to court on November 12.
(Reporting by Byron Kaye; Editing by Jamie Freed)
