The California Department of Motor Vehicles will not suspend Tesla’s sales and manufacturing licenses for 30 days because the EV maker stopped using the term “Autopilot” in marketing its vehicles in the state.
The decision, which was issued late on Tuesdaymeans Tesla can continue to sell its electric vehicles in California without interruption and has officially settled 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 misleadingly marketing Autopilot, its basic advanced driver assistance system, as well as its more capable Full Self-Driving driver assistance software. The state regulator argued that the terms mislead customers and distort 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 were still required to monitor it. But Tesla retained Autopilot’s tenure, prompting the DMV to refer the case to an administrative law judge at the California Office of Administrative Hearings.
In December, an administrative law judge agreed to the 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 rush. Instead, the state regulator gave Tesla 60 days to comply.
“Since then, Tesla has 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 previously amended its use of the term ‘Full Self-Driving’ to clarify that driver supervision is required. By taking this intended action, Tesla will avoid a 30-day suspension of its dealer and manufacturer licenses in the state by the DMV.”
However, Tesla didn’t just stop using the term Autopilot. In January, the company completely discontinued Autopilot in the US and Canada. The move not only helped it become DMV compliant, but was also seen as a way to boost adoption of FSD, which unlike Autopilot, requires the owner to pay for the upgraded system.
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FSD Supervised, which until February 14 required a one-time fee of $8,000, is now available only through a monthly subscription of $99. That subscription is expected to increase as the system becomes more capable, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said has said.
