Tesla halted the use of the term ‘Autopilot’ in the marketing of its electric vehicles in California, avoiding a 30-day suspension of sales in the state, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) announced on Tuesday.
The change follows last December’s accusation from the Department that Tesla‘s “misleading” usage of the “terms ‘Autopilot’ and ‘Full Self-Driving’ [FSD] in the marketing of its electric vehicles” violated state law.
The US giant had already updated the second nomenclature to ‘Full Self-Driving (Supervised)’ on its website, to clarify that driver supervision is required.
The California DMV stated that Tesla “took corrective action” regarding ‘Autopilot’, avoiding “having its dealer and manufacturer licenses suspended in the state for 30 days by the DMV.”
The Department’s Director Steve Gordon praised the company’s compliance with its previous requirement:
“The department is pleased that Tesla took the required action to remain in compliance with the State of California’s consumer protections,” the executive stated.
“The DMV is committed to safety throughout all California’s roadways and communities,” he added.
In China, a similar situation occurred, with the terms ‘autonomous driving’ or ‘full self-driving’ being banned last year due to new requirements issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
This prohibition affected not only Tesla but also several other automakers.
Background
Back in October 2015, Tesla‘s ‘Autopilot’ was launched across 60,000 vehicles, while the FSD Beta Program debuted in October 2020.
According to the California DMV, the company’s ADAS features were primarily described in May 2021 in written marketing materials with the terms ‘Autopilot’ and ‘Full Self-Driving Capability’ and the phrase “The system is designed to be able to conduct short and long-distance trips with no action required by the person in the driver’s seat.”
However, since it stated that the company’s EVs could not “operate as autonomous vehicles,” the organization filed accusations against Tesla in November 2023.
As a result, the Elon Musk-led company substituted the “Full Self-Driving Capability” nomenclature for “Full Self-Driving (Supervised).”
Following a hearing held at the California Office of Administrative Hearings last July, the administrative law judge (ALJ) issued a proposed decision in November, which was adopted by the DMV the month after.
The Department ruled that “Tesla‘s use of the term ‘Autopilot’ to describe its vehicles’ Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) features is misleading and violates state law”.
While ALJ’s proposed decision ordered suspensions of the carmaker’s manufacturing license and its dealer license for 30 days, DMV opted to “[impose] a permanent stay of the suspension of Tesla‘s manufacturer’s license” and provide the company “60 days to act regarding its use of the term ‘Autopilot’.”
“California has zero tolerance for misleading advertising that puts safety at risk. When companies make false claims about vehicle capabilities, they endanger lives, and the state will hold them accountable,” the organization highlighted.
At the time, Goldman Sachs analyst Mark Delaney wrote in a new research note — obtained by PriceTarget — that it “would not expect a disruption to Tesla’s business in California.”
Last month, the company discontinued Autopilot in the US and Canada altogether, a move perceived as a way to “[help] it comply with the DMV,” and also “to boost adoption of FSD,” which started being offered only on a subscription basis, effective on Saturday (February 14).
Musk wrote on X in January that “the $99/month for supervised FSD will rise as FSD’s capabilities improve.”
Earlier this month, Tesla promoted the former software lead for its FSD program, Phil Duan, to Director of Autopilot Engineering.
FSD Probe
After the FSD 14.1.2 software was launched last October, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation regarding the ‘Mad Max’ mode, which was recorded going above speed limits and breaking traffic laws.
On October 24, the regulator opened a preliminary evaluation and sent Tesla a comprehensive information request last month, seeking data on consumer complaints, field reports, crashes, lawsuits, and internal assessments related to alleged violations with FSD.
However, on January 12, the company requested the NHTSA for more time to manually review thousands of its records.
At the end of that week, the Administration granted the automaker an extension on the deadline for key responses to the FSD investigation until February 23.
