California is threatening to ban sales of Tesla cars in the state for 30 days after a regulator said the term Autopilot for its driver assist feature constitutes false advertising.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles could have halted Tesla sales in the state immediately, under terms of a previous administrative law judges findings. However, it said Tuesday it was pausing that action for 90 days in order to continue negotiations with the electric vehicle maker.
It said in a statement that Tesla cars do not live up to the promise suggested by the term Autopilot because they are not capable of operating as truly autonomous vehicles.
The DMV first brought action against Tesla in 2023 on the use of the term Autopilot and the two parties have been unable to reach an agreement. Now, if Tesla wants to avoid the halt of sales, it will likely need a court to block the DMVs action.
Tesla can take simple steps to pause this decision and permanently resolve this issue, California DMV Director Steve Gordon said in a statement.
Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk have frequently made ambitious claims about the capability of its cars, and those claims have helped to drive its sales and the value of its stock. But the automaker has also issued a caution that drivers of its cars must stay alert and ready to take control of the vehicle in case of problems, even when using its driver assistance features.
Tesla on Tuesday criticized the action by the DMV, writing in a post on X : This was a consumer protection order about the use of the term Autopilot in a case where not one single customer came forward to say theres a problem. Sales in California will continue uninterrupted.
As the DMVs case against it advanced, Tesla changed the formal name of its more extensive Full Self-Driving features that are available for purchase at additional cost on Tesla cars. It now calls the $8,000 feature Full Self-Driving (Supervised) though Musk and the cars fans often simply refer to it as FSD.
The Autopilot mode provides driver assistance features found on many modern cars, such as automatic braking, reducing speed when a slower moving vehicle is in front of the car, and blind spot alerts. FSD, even the supervised version, is supposed to be able to essentially drive the car, even if the driver is supposed to be on alert and ready to take over.
Californias DMV is not the one questioning the safety of Teslas self-driving futures. Federal safety regulators have announced numerous investigations into accidents caused by drivers using the features. In August, a Florida jury found Tesla liable in the 2019 fatal crash of an Autopilot-equipped Model S, and ordered it to pay $329 million to the family of a deceased woman and an injured survivor. Tesla is appealing that verdict.
California is a key market for Tesla sales, and home to one of its two US factories. The DMVs action could have been worse, as it postponed the 30 day halt in sales from taking immediate effect and permanently dropped a recommendation by an administrative law judge hearing the states complaint that could have stopped Tesla from temporarily manufacturing vehicles in the state.
Shares of Tesla ( TSLA ) closed at a record high Tuesday ahead of the regulators decision, up 3% on the day and 21% for the year. Its shares were little changed in premarket trading Wednesday.
加利福尼亚州威胁将对特斯拉汽车实施为期30天的销售禁令，此前监管机构称其驾驶辅助功能使用“Autopilot（自动驾驶）”一词构成虚假宣传。
根据此前行政法法官的裁决条款，加州机动车辆管理局本可立即叫停特斯拉在该州的销售。但该机构周二表示，将暂停这一行动90天，以便继续与这家电动汽车制造商进行谈判。
该公司在声明中表示，特斯拉汽车未能达到“自动驾驶”一词所暗示的承诺，因为它们无法作为真正的自动驾驶车辆运行。
美国加州机动车辆管理局（DMV）于2023年首次就特斯拉使用“Autopilot（自动驾驶）”一词提起诉讼，但双方始终未能达成协议。目前，若特斯拉希望避免停售，很可能需要法院介入以阻止DMV的这项行动。
加州机动车辆管理局局长史蒂夫·戈登（Steve Gordon）在一份声明中表示：“特斯拉只需采取简单措施即可暂缓这一决定，并永久解决该问题。”
特斯拉及其首席执行官埃隆·马斯克（Elon Musk）经常对其汽车的性能做出雄心勃勃的宣称，这些宣称助推了其销量和股价。但该汽车制造商也发出警告，提醒驾驶员即使在使用其驾驶辅助功能时，也必须保持警觉，随时准备在出现问题时接管车辆控制权。
特斯拉公司周二对加州车管局（DMV）的行动提出批评，并在X平台上发文称："这是一项关于使用‘自动驾驶’（Autopilot）术语的‘消费者保护’令，但在此案中没有任何一位消费者站出来表示存在问题。特斯拉在加州的销售将不受影响，持续进行。"
随着美国车管局（DMV）对其诉讼案的推进，特斯拉已将其付费选装的更高级别自动驾驶功能正式名称从“全自动驾驶”（Full Self-Driving）更改为“全自动驾驶（监督版）”（Full Self-Driving (Supervised)）。这套售价8000美元的系统虽被马斯克和特斯拉车迷简称为“FSD”，但官方现强调其需在人工监督下使用。
“Autopilot”（自动驾驶）模式提供许多现代汽车常见的驾驶辅助功能，例如自动刹车、前方出现慢速行驶车辆时自动减速以及盲点监测警示。而FSD（全自动驾驶）功能，即便是受监督版本，理论上也应具备基本驾驶能力，尽管驾驶员仍需保持警觉并随时准备接管车辆。
质疑特斯拉自动驾驶技术安全性的并非加州车管局。联邦安全监管机构已宣布对多起由驾驶员使用该功能引发的事故展开调查。今年8月，佛罗里达州陪审团裁定特斯拉对2019年一起涉及配备自动驾驶功能的Model S致命车祸负有责任，判决其向一名遇难女性家属及一名受伤幸存者支付3.29亿美元赔偿金。特斯拉目前正对此判决提出上诉。
加利福尼亚州是特斯拉的重要销售市场，也是其在美国的两家工厂之一所在地。美国机动车管理局（DMV）此次行动本可能更为严厉——其不仅推迟了30天销售禁令的立即生效，还永久撤销了行政法法官在审理该州投诉时提出的一项建议。该建议若实施，本可能迫使特斯拉暂停在加州的车辆生产。
特斯拉（TSLA）股价周二在监管机构公布决议前收于历史高位，当日上涨3%，年内累计涨幅达21%。周三盘前交易中，其股价几无变动。
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