Tesla Renames European System Tesla Assisted Driving

Tesla has renamed its driver-assistance system Tesla Assisted Driving on its European websites, replacing the Full Self-Driving branding as the company pursues broader regulatory approval. The US website continues to call the product Full Self-Driving (Supervised), and the available reporting indicates that the European change is to the name, not the underlying software. Germany’s Federal Ministry of Transport said on October 6 that Tesla had offered the new name during talks in September. The ministry considers Full Self-Driving misleading because drivers must supervise the system at all times and remain responsible for the vehicle. Tesla’s German webpage now uses the new branding, and pages in several other European markets have also changed. The German ministry has said the system should not exceed the posted speed limit by more than 10. The Dutch-approved version has been reported to permit speeds up to 50 above the detected limit. Those figures refer to different regulatory settings: the available information does not establish that Tesla has changed its software to meet Germany’s position. The company has not said whether it plans such a change.