Nov 22 (Reuters) - Elon Musk's electric vehicle maker

Tesla failed to persuade a U.S. judge to throw out a consumer

lawsuit accusing it of failing to warn buyers about an alleged

defect that can cause the cars to brake automatically when there

is no actual collision risk.

In a ruling on Friday, U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis

in Chicago trimmed the case but said the proposed class action

could move ahead on a claim that Tesla concealed the "phantom

braking" safety defect from would-be purchasers.

Alexakis dismissed other parts of the lawsuit, including

claims that drivers overpaid for car insurance premiums sold

through the Tesla's insurance arm because of the company's

allegedly flawed collision monitoring.

Tesla had asked the judge to dismiss the entire lawsuit.

Tesla and attorneys representing two residents of Illinois

and Ohio who filed the lawsuit did not immediately respond to

requests for comment on Friday.

The consumers' 2023 complaint said Tesla's "forward

collision monitoring system" often falsely alerts to a crash

ahead, even when there is no risk of a collision.

The consumers alleged they are paying higher premiums based

on data from their cars showing false collision warnings. The

plaintiffs contend Tesla knew about the alleged defect as early

as 2015 and did not warn customers.

Tesla denied that it had knowledge of the alleged braking

defect before one of the plaintiffs purchased his vehicle in

early 2021.

The company argued that the plaintiffs had not pointed to

any specific communications with buyers that concealed

information about the defect.

Alexakis said the lawsuit "successfully connects the dots"

between Tesla's alleged omission of safety information on its

website and buyers' reliance on the website to make purchase

decisions.

The judge said the plaintiffs could file an amended

complaint seeking to revive their insurance premium claims.

The case is Joshua Santiago et al v. Tesla, U.S. District

Court, Northern District of Illinois, No. 1:23-cv-02891.

For plaintiffs: Eugene Turin and Andrew Heldut of McGuire

Law

For defendant: Livia Kiser and Susan Clare of King &

Spalding

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