8:39 am, January 29, 2026
Tesla has racked up more than £20,000 in fines, costs and court fees after being convicted of failing to co-operate with UK police forces on at least 18 occasions.
It has been revealed that Elon Musk’s electric car giant has faced multiple criminal court proceedings over the past two years, after ignoring police requests for help in solving road traffic offences.
The cases relate to allegations of speeding Tesla drivers, with the authorities contacting the carmaker’s UK division to try and get the details of who could have been behind the wheel.
In each case, police’s letters went unanswered, leading multiple forces to end up prosecuting Tesla for failing to engage.
The latest conviction, which ended in a £1,000 fine plus an order for £120 costs and a £400 victim surcharge, was handed out at Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates Court on January 6.
South Wales Police wrote to Tesla Financial Services at its offices in Manchester, in a bid to identify the driver of a Tesla which had been speeding at 80mph on the M4 near to the village of Groes-faen in Wales on July 4 last year.
The company is listed as the registered keeper of the vehicle, and police said there had been no response to a written notice of intended prosecution.
A charge of failing to identify the driver of the vehicle when required was then brought by the police force.
Court papers show a Tesla company director, Becky Hodgson, pleaded guilty on the firm’s behalf via email in late November, saying it had tried to enter the plea online but ‘encountered a technical issue on the Online Plea Service portal’.
Although the company was admitting the criminal charge, Hodgson went on to suggest in her email that it had actually complied with the police request.
‘We can confirm that a nomination would have been sent to you via post,’ she wrote. ‘Our internal process was followed, and the nomination was sent via 2nd class post as per our records’.
Court records show that similar prosecutions against Tesla have also been bought by forces including Metropolitan Police, Hampshire Constabulary, and Thames Valley Police.
In one case, a driver was clocked at almost 100mph on the A3 near Petersfield, while another driver was caught speeding on three separate occasions.
Seventeen cases have already been sentenced, while Tesla Financial Services pleaded guilty to an 18th offence of failing to identify a driver last week. That case is set to be sentenced at a later date at Bath Magistrates Court.
Overall, Tesla has ordered to cough up a combined total of £20,686 in fines, costs and court fees.
