Tesla Renames Full Self-Driving to Tesla Assisted Driving in Europe

Tesla has renamed its Full Self-Driving feature to Tesla Assisted Driving in Europe as the company seeks regulatory approval for public roads. The driver-assistance system handles accelerating, braking, steering, and parking, but requires drivers to stay alert and intervene at all times.

German Transport Ministry Seeks Faster European Approval

German Transport Minister Steffen Bilger found the previous name somewhat misleading during discussions with Tesla last month. According to a statement by the German Transport Ministry, Tesla offered to change the name during those talks. Bilger now plans to advocate for European regulators to approve the feature as quickly as possible. The European Union will likely vote on whether to approve the system by the end of the year.

Tesla updated its European sales website on Friday to use the Tesla Assisted Driving language. The automaker did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the rebranding. The company has pushed for global markets to approve its driver assistance technology for years to create a lucrative software-based funding stream. In the United States, Tesla currently charges $99 per month for a Full Self-Driving (Supervised) subscription.

California Regulators Challenge Misleading Tesla Terminology

Tesla has defended the Full Self-Driving name in court for years, but regulatory pressure has mounted in multiple regions. Last year, the California Department of Motor Vehicles concluded that Tesla’s use of Full Self-Driving and Autopilot terms was misleading and violated state law. The agency threatened to suspend Tesla’s manufacturing and dealer licenses in the state, prompting the automaker to stop using the term Autopilot while keeping the supervised suffix on its advanced tech.

Other international regulators have moved ahead with approvals. Australia and New Zealand approved the technology last year. The Netherlands became the first European government to grant provisional permission for the launch this past spring, and a version of the feature became available to Chinese customers in May.

US Government Probes System Safety Failures

While fans online report taking entire trips without intervening, the software faces significant scrutiny. The US federal government opened a probe into the system in March after nine incidents where the feature allegedly failed to respond due to reduced visibility and did not warn drivers to take over. Tesla also recalled an older version of the software in 2023 after the US government found it did not follow certain traffic laws.

Reuters reported this week that Tesla presented misleading safety data to European regulators while lobbying for approval. Safety researchers have also accused the automaker of using misleading statistics to promote the technology in the United States.