Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ Becomes ‘Assisted Driving’ in Europe

Tesla has rebranded its controversial Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature as "Assisted Driving" for European markets, according to a German Transport Ministry statement. The ministry's statement cited Transport Minister Steffen Bilger's concern that "FSD" was "somewhat misleading." After talks with Tesla last month, Bilger said he would push for European regulators to greenlight the technology "as quickly as possible." The European Union is expected to vote on its approval by year-end.

As of Friday, Tesla started using the new moniker "Tesla Assisted Driving" on its European sales website. The company has not yet commented on the development.

Tesla has been reluctant to alter the name of the feature for years, even defending it in court. In 2022, California's Department of Motor Vehicles declared that Tesla's use of "Full Self-Driving" and "Autopilot" (an older, less sophisticated driver-assistance feature) was misleading and breached state law. Following the warning of potential license suspension, Tesla abandoned "Autopilot" and started adding "(Supervised)" to the official name of its Full Self-Driving technology.

While Tesla drivers claim FSD has significantly improved since its debut in 2020, and online enthusiasts assert they can complete entire journeys without assisting the vehicle, the feature has been under intense scrutiny. In March, the US federal government launched an investigation into the system after nine incidents where FSD allegedly failed to warn drivers about reduced visibility and did not prompt them to take control.

In 2023, Tesla recalled an older iteration of the software after the US government found it did not comply with certain traffic laws.

Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, have been striving for years to gain approval for its driver assistance technology in other global markets, which would likely generate a substantial software-based revenue stream for the world's most valuable automaker. Currently, Tesla charges $99 per month for a Full Self-Driving (Supervised) subscription in the US.

Australia and New Zealand approved it last year, while the Netherlands became the first European government to provisionally allow Tesla to launch FSD this spring. A version of the feature went live for Chinese customers in May.

However, Reuters recently reported that Tesla provided misleading safety data to European regulators while lobbying for FSD approval. Safety experts have accused the automaker of employing deceptive statistics to promote its technology in the US as well.