California bans Tesla from advertising its autonomous vehicles
This page is translated from the original post "La Californie interdit à Tesla de faire de la publicité pour sa voiture autonome" in French.
- 30/12/2022 17:15
Starting January 2023, Tesla will be required to provide a “clear description” of autonomous driving features and their limitations to lawmakers.
A new California law will come into effect in 2023. It effectively prohibits automakers from advertising their vehicles as “fully autopiloted.” Tesla is one of the manufacturers most affected by this new law.
Tesla as the main concerned party
The US Senate bill No. 1398 states that automakers and dealerships must provide consumers with a “clear description” of the function and limitations of semi-autonomous driving assist features. Bill SB 1398 prohibits manufacturers from giving misleading names to these features. It also bans referencing or marketing them. Signed by the California governor in September, the law is set to take effect on January 1, 2023.
Tesla has claimed that its cars are equipped with a “full self-driving” (FSD) feature; however, the company must still demonstrate that its vehicles can engage in fully autonomous driving safely without driver assistance.
The manufacturer has also been involved in several legal cases concerning its advanced driver assistance system. Tesla is also under ongoing investigation by the US Department of Justice regarding its advertising for Autopilot. Tesla sells its autonomous vehicle feature as an optional upgrade for $15,000 (€14,000). On its website, it is stated that these functions “do not make the vehicle autonomous.”
Enhancing consumer safety
It adds that “full autonomy will depend on achieving significantly greater reliability than that of human drivers and regulatory approval.” The new law urges manufacturers to ensure that consumers understand the autonomous driving features they are purchasing. They must also be aware of the capabilities and limitations of these technologies.
“A manufacturer or dealer must not name a partially automated driving function in a way that could lead a person to believe that the function enables the vehicle to operate as a fully autonomous vehicle,” states the new law. To avoid “driver confusion, the legislation also applies to all updates and upgrades of vehicle features.”
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