A new law in California is going to force Tesla to change the way that it advertises its Full Self-Driving feature. Beginning in 2023, the bill prohibits manufacturers from “deceptively naming or marketing” such features. That means that Tesla might have to rename the feature in California too.
Tesla has garnered the wrong kind of attention surrounding its semi-autonomous Full Self-Driving technology for quite some time. Before that, regulators and critics took issue with the brand’s Autopilot feature. This new law is the first time that we’ve seen a government tamp down on the automaker’s feature nomenclature though.
The bill, SB No. 1398, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom specifically does two main things regarding autonomous driving technology and the automakers that offer it. Firstly, it requires any such automaker to provide the buyer or owner with a consumer notice that describes the functions and limitations of those features.
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That’s in line with multiple studies that find consumers are regularly uncertain of the autonomous driving features in their own vehicles. The second part of the bill specifically prohibits “a manufacturer or dealer from deceptively naming or marketing these features, as specified.”
“(This bill) increases consumer safety by requiring dealers and manufacturers that sell new passenger vehicles equipped with a semiautonomous driving assistance feature… to give a clear description of the functions and limitations of those features,” said Senator Lena Gonzalez in a statement according to the San Fransisco Chronicle.
To be clear, this doesn’t actually force Tesla to do anything regarding the programming or implementation of Autopilot or Full Self-Driving. Instead, what it does is require them to tell users what the features are and aren’t capable of, something that Tesla and Elon Musk argue that it already does, and makes it so that it can’t advertise the feature as “Full Self-Driving”.
There’s no word on whether or not Tesla will change the name of the feature or try to find another workaround. There’s also no way of telling if the Californian bill takes issue with the name Autopilot though it seems unlikely. We’ve reached out to Tesla for comment on these questions and will update this post with more info when we have it.