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Tesla "Autopilot/Full Self-Driving" California Name Ban Begins January 2023

There is a long discussion about how Tesla named its two advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Autopilot suggests the car drives itself. Full Self-Driving leaves no margin for any other interpretation. Jennifer Homendy once called that “misleading and irresponsible.” California seems to agree with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) chair: a new law establishes that these names constitute “misleading advertisement.”
California bans deceptive naming in ADAS, which will force Tesla to change Autopilot and Full Self-Driving names 21 photos
Photo: Tesla
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Everything started with Senate Bill 1398, sponsored by Democratic State senator Lena Gonzalez on February 18. After following the regular process to be signed into law, Governor Gavin Newsom finally did so on September 13. Still, very few people realized what a time bomb that was for Tesla until the San Francisco Chronicle brought that up.

The bill changed California’s Vehicle Code, adding section 24011.5 to it. In subdivision (a), it establishes that dealers and manufacturers must supply “the buyer or owner with a distinct notice that provides the name of the feature and clearly describes the functions and limitations of the feature.” The real problem for Tesla begins at subdivision (b), which you can read below:

“(b) A manufacturer or dealer shall not name any partial driving automation feature, or describe any partial driving automation feature in marketing materials, using language that implies or would otherwise lead a reasonable person to believe, that the feature allows the vehicle to function as an autonomous vehicle, as defined in Section 38750, or otherwise has functionality not actually included in the feature. A violation of this subdivision shall be considered a misleading advertisement for the purposes of Section 11713.”

As far as we know, Tesla has not tried to dispute this law in court in any way. That means that it will have to name Autopilot and Full Self-Driving in other ways in California starting on January 1, 2023. Division 16.6 establishes what an autonomous vehicle is, and Section 38750 defines that they are those starting with Level 3 and ending with Level 5 as the SAE International’s “Taxonomy and Definitions for Terms Related to Driving Automation Systems for On-Road Motor Vehicles, standard J3016 (APR2021).”

More importantly, this section of California’s Vehicle Code determines that autonomous vehicles may only be operated on public roads “by a driver who possesses the proper class of license for the type of vehicle.” This person must also be “employees, contractors, or other persons designated by the manufacturer of the autonomous technology.” Tests can only start after the application for them is approved by the government. Finally, the company has to have an insurance policy of $5 million per vehicle tested.

Tesla states that Navigate on Autopilot and FSD are Level 2 ADAS, which allows the EV maker to deploy them on regular vehicles. However, both are still in the beta development stage, meaning everyone using them is actually testing the software for Tesla. Although the company tells authorities they are Level 2 systems, it released videos in the past stating that the car was driving itself. Elon Musk also said the same in interviews about the ADAS.

The new law gives Tesla only two options: either it admits Navigate on Autopilot and Full Self-Driving are intended to be Level 4 autonomous driving systems, or it changes their names to sell them in California, by far its largest market. It will be educational to follow the EV maker’s next steps.
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About the author: Gustavo Henrique Ruffo
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Motoring writer since 1998, Gustavo wants to write relevant stories about cars and their shift to a sustainable future.
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