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Germany’s transportation ministry successfully put enough pressure on Tesla to have its deceptive “Full Self Driving” hands-free driving system renamed to just “Assisted Driving.”
Per CNBC, the German regulators called the original branding “somewhat misleading,” adding that “It is not a system that takes over the entire driving task. Rather, it is a driver assistance system that can support certain driving tasks such as accelerating, braking, and steering. The driver must remain attentive at all times.”
As Futurism highlighted, this is basically an admission on Tesla’s part that it’s misled customers for as long as it’s offered the service. This isn’t news to anyone who’s followed the FSD saga for years, but U.S. officials haven’t forced the American automaker to change its branding, despite many active lawsuits alleging FSD often violates traffic laws and has led to several fatal incidents. It’s currently sold Stateside under the “Full Self Driving (Supervised)” name.
In a statement to CNBC, Missy Cummings, an engineering professor at George Mason University, said the renaming convention is not enough and that it “ignores both past and ongoing NHTSA investigations.” This comes as Elon Musk and Tesla are running smear campaigns on European social media, claiming E.U. regulators, especially in the Netherlands, are delaying approval of its systems.
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As deputy editor, Jerry draws on a decade of industry experience and a lifelong passion for motorsports to guide The Drive’s short- and long-term coverage.
