The California Department of Motor Vehicles decided not to suspend Tesla’s sales and manufacturing license for 30 days after the company stopped using the term “autopilot” in the marketing of its vehicles in the state.
This decision, issued on Tuesday, means the EV maker can continue to sell its vehicles in California, which also happens to be its biggest market.
The DMV had filed accusations against Tesla in November 2023, saying the company violated state law by using deceptive marketing, with “Autopilot”, its basic advanced driver assistance system, as well as its more capable Full Self-Driving driver assistance software.
The state regulator said these terms mislead customers and do not accurately describe the systems’ capabilities.
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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, it continued to use the term “Autopilot”, which prompted the DMV to refer the case to an administrative law judge at the California Office of Administrative Hearings.
In December, the administrative law judge agreed with the DMV’s request to suspend Tesla’s sales and manufacturing licenses in the state for 30 days as a penalty for its actions. The DMV agreed with the ruling, and gave Tesla 60 days to comply.
“Since then, Tesla took corrective action and has stopped using the misleading term ‘Autopilot’ in the marketing of its electric vehicles in California,” the DMV stated in a release posted on its website. “Tesla had previously modified its use of the term ‘Full Self-Driving’ to clarify that driver supervision is required. By taking this prescribed action, Tesla will avoid having its dealer and manufacturer licenses suspended in the state for 30 days by the DMV.”
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Tesla didn’t just stop using the term “Autopilot”, rather it discontinued Autopilot altogether in January. This move helped with the DMV, and was also seen as a way to boost the adoption of FSD. Unlike Autopilot, FSD requires the owner to pay for the upgraded system.
FSD Supervised, which until February 14 required an $8,000 one-time fee, is now only available through a monthly subscription of $99. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said the subscription fee is expected to increase as the system becomes more capable.
Tesla came under scrutiny in December, after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened a defect investigation into Tesla Model 3 compact sedans over concerns that emergency door release controls may not be easily accessible or clearly identifiable in an emergency.
The investigation was opened on Dec. 23 after the agency received a defect petition alleging that the vehicles’ mechanical door release is hidden, unlabeled and not intuitive to locate during emergencies.