Tesla Relents, Reportedly Stops Using the Term ‘Autopilot’ in California

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Tesla has stopped using “Autopilot” in California as a marketing term for its driver assistance feature, rather than face the penalty of not being able to do business in the state. If Tesla had continued to use this term it would have been subject to a 30-day suspension by the California DMV.

Tesla stopped shipping Autopilot as standard equipment just last month, pushing customers toward a more advanced, subscription-based version of the system.

As the Chronicle notes, this legal battle began in 2023, with the DMV taking issue with not only “Autopilot” but also “Full Self-Driving,” which Tesla later apparently changed to “Full Self-Driving (Supervised).” The examples for “full self-driving” and “FSD” on the Tesla website now have “(supervised)” in parentheses.

California DMV Director Steve Gordon said Tesla has now “taken the necessary actions to remain in compliance with the State of California’s consumer protection laws.”

In Consumer Reports’ rankings last year, Tesla’s driver assistance was ranked eighth, below similar systems from Ford, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen. Kelly Funkhouser of Consumer Reports called it “not as good as you might think,” according to CNBC.

Recent NHTSA filings provided by Tesla regarding the performance of its small number of robotaxis revealed that Tesla apparently struggled throughout December and January. It reported five accidents in that time, which is four times the number of accidents the average human driver has during similar driving.