The California Department of Motor Vehicles will not suspend Tesla’s sales and manufacturing licenses for 30 days because the electric car maker stopped using the term “Autopilot” when marketing its vehicles in the state.
The ruling, issued late Tuesday, means Tesla can continue to sell its EVs in California without interruption and officially settles a case that has dragged on for nearly three years. California is Tesla’s largest US market.
In November 2023, the DMV filed charges that Tesla violated state law by using deceptive marketing of Autopilot, its basic advanced driver assistance system, as well as its more capable Full Self-Driving assistance software. The state regulator argued that the terms mislead customers and misrepresent the capabilities of advanced driver assistance systems.
Tesla stopped using the term “Full Self-Driving Capability” and instead used Full Self-Driving (Supervised) to more accurately describe the system and clarify that drivers are still required to monitor it. However, Tesla stuck to the Autopilot deadline, prompting the DMV to refer the case to an administrative law judge at the California Office of Administrative Hearings.
In December, an administrative judge agreed to DMV’s request to suspend Tesla’s sales and manufacturing licenses in the state for 30 days as punishment for its actions. The DMV agreed with the decision but did not intervene; instead, the state regulator gave Tesla 60 days to comply.
“Tesla has since taken corrective action and stopped using the misleading term ‘Autopilot’ in the marketing of its electric vehicles in California,” the DMV said in a statement posted on its website. “Tesla has previously modified its use of the term ‘Full Autonomous Driving’ to clarify that driver supervision is required. By taking this prescribed action, Tesla will avoid the DMV suspending the licenses of its dealers and manufacturers for 30 days.”
However, Tesla has not stopped using the term autopilot. In January, the company completely shut down Autopilot in the US and Canada. The move not only helped DMV compliance, but was also seen as a way to encourage adoption of FSD, which unlike Autopilot requires the owner to pay for an updated system.
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FSD Supervised, which until February 14 required a one-time fee of $8,000, is now only available through a monthly subscription of $99. That subscription fee is expected to increase as the system becomes more capable, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said.