Tesla has abandoned the designation “Autopilot” for its semi-autonomous driving system after the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) threatened to revoke its licenses.
Although it has been referred to as “Autopilot” by Teslait is important to emphasize that the Full Self-Driving (FSD) system is not fully autonomous and requires constant driver supervision.
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Despite previous statements suggesting that the vehicle could operate in a fully autonomous manner with FSD, even Tesla’s most advanced system is classified as Level 2 autonomy. To be considered capable of driving without human supervision, the company would need to demonstrate Level 3 autonomy capability.
Aware of this, the California DMV ruled last December that calling Tesla’s semi-autonomous driving system “Autopilot” was misleading. The DMV then threatened to suspend the company’s dealership license in the state if the term was not removed from communications and promotional campaigns.
In a statement issued Tuesday (17), the California DMV said that “Tesla has successfully taken the necessary action to stop using the term ‘Autopilot’ in the marketing of its vehicles in California, as required by the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) last December.”
Tesla will now refer to its systems under new names, even outside California. Full Self-Driving will be called “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” and Autopilot will be renamed “Traffic Aware Cruise Control.” The changes appear to have already been made on Tesla’s website.
Photo: Tesla. This content was created with the assistance of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
