Tesla has been convicted at least 18 times in criminal courts across England and Wales and ordered to pay more than £20,000 after repeatedly failing to co-operate with UK police investigations into road traffic offences. Court records show that the British arm of Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company has faced a series of prosecutions over the past two years, largely linked to its failure to identify drivers accused of speeding while using Tesla vehicles leased through its finance arm.
Tesla offers many of its vehicles on long-term lease arrangements, under which Tesla Financial Services is typically listed as the registered keeper of the car. Under UK law, when a vehicle is caught speeding or involved in a traffic offence, the registered keeper is required to provide police with details of the person driving at the time. If the keeper fails to do so, the company itself can be prosecuted for failing to identify the driver, even if the original offence was committed by an individual.
In recent weeks alone, nearly 4,000 defendants have been convicted in courts in England and Wales for failing to identify drivers under investigation, with fines ranging from as little as £1 to as much as £1,000. Tesla Financial Services has featured repeatedly in such cases, with prosecutions brought by several police forces, including the Metropolitan Police, Hampshire Constabulary, Thames Valley Police and South Wales Police.
One case heard at Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates’ Court stemmed from an incident in July 2025, when a Tesla vehicle was recorded travelling at 80mph on the M4 near Llantrisant in Rhondda Cynon Taf. South Wales Police contacted Tesla Financial Services in an attempt to identify the driver. Court papers show that a Tesla company director, Becky Hodgson, later pleaded guilty on behalf of the firm via email, citing a technical issue with the online plea system. While admitting the offence, she stated that the company believed it had complied with police requests and that the required nomination had been sent by post after internal procedures were followed. Despite this, the court convicted the company on January 6, imposing a £1,000 fine, £120 in costs and a £400 victim surcharge.
Press Association analysis has identified at least 18 convictions against Tesla Financial Services since the start of 2024. Seventeen of those cases have already been sentenced, while one additional guilty plea entered last week is due to be sentenced at Bath Magistrates’ Court at a later date.
Some of the cases involved serious alleged speeding offences that were never pursued against individual drivers because police correspondence went unanswered. In one instance, a Tesla vehicle was caught travelling at almost 100mph on the A3 in Petersfield, Hampshire. In another, a driver was detected speeding on three separate occasions, potentially placing them close to disqualification had they been identified. Instead, the cases resulted in convictions against Tesla Financial Services itself.
Police letters in these cases were sent to Tesla offices and service centres in London, as well as an office in Manchester. Magistrates dealing with the matters under the single justice procedure, which handles minor offences, imposed combined fines, costs and court fees totalling £20,686.
Tesla has been approached for comment on the repeated convictions and fines.
