Tesla is being forced to change the name of its so-called “Full Self-Driving” driver assistance feature in China.
As spotted by Electrek, the Elon Musk-led company is now going by the name “Intelligent Assisted Driving” in Chinese on its website.
The news comes days after the carmaker abruptly suspended a free trial of its infamous software in China.
“All parties are actively advancing the relevant process and we will push it to you as soon as it is ready,” Tesla’s customer support account wrote on Chinese social media platform Weibo, as translated by Reuters. “We are also looking forward to it, please wait patiently.”
Tesla has run into major headwinds while trying to roll out the software in China, where regulators can have a heavier hand than in the United States. Last month, insider sources told the Financial Times that Chinese regulators had informed them that the timeline for FSD approval was “indefinite,” despite previously indicating that it would be approved by this spring.
The software itself appears to be suffering from some potentially dangerous flaws. Drivers had been testing the software — before it was paused — on public streets in China, racking up a huge number of fines. Chinese Tesla owners have found that the system is misinterpreting bike lanes as right turn lanes, running red lights, and hogging bus lanes illegally, as Electrek reported last month.
The carmaker has already run afoul of regulators for its misleading naming convention — after all, as Tesla admits on its website, the “Full Self-Driving” feature doesn’t make good on its promise of fully autonomous driving and requires drivers to be ready to take over at all times.
In 2022, the California DMV alleged that Tesla put out “untrue or misleading” advertisements on its website in relation to its Full Self-Driving and Autopilot tech. In 2023, former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg also called out the company, saying that the name of the system lacks “common sense.”
However, Tesla still uses both monikers in its marketing materials in the US and many other parts of the world.
Besides changing the FSD feature’s name to better reflect reality, Tesla also removed the word “Autopilot” from the Chinese name, according to Electrek. The entry-level software, which is included in the base price of the vehicle, is now called “Basic Assisted Driving.”
In short, it’s a change that Tesla should’ve made worldwide years ago. For almost a decade, Tesla has been marketing its driver assistance software using misleading language.
That’s likely already had severe consequences. US regulators have linked the carmaker’s software to hundreds of collisions and dozens of deaths, warning that Tesla’s marketing is lulling its customers into a false sense of security.
Where that leaves Tesla’s attempts to bring its driver assistance features to the Chinese market remains to be seen. There’s a good chance the latest name change signifies Tesla falling in line with the demands of Chinese regulators.
The company is still committed to rolling out the software in the country, pending regulatory approval — but that’s turning out to be a lot easier said than done.
More on FSD: Tesla Suddenly Suspends Full Self-Driving Trial in China
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