Tesla discontinues the Autopilot feature on its US vehicles

According to Tesla's configurator in the US, the company is discontinuing the Autopilot feature. You can no longer add it to your Tesla, and instead, you can only add Traffic Aware Cruise Control on top of the Standard package.

This decision likely comes after California threatened Tesla that it would impose a 30-day suspension of its manufacturing and dealer licenses over misleading advertising. The California DMV argues that the "Autopilot" name is misleading, as the feature is just a combination of Traffic Aware Cruise Control and Autosteer. The first feature maintains constant speed and distance from cars ahead, while the latter keeps the vehicle centered in the lane and can steer into curves.

Well, the California DMV says Tesla shouldn't be allowed to sell the Autopilot feature under that name since it has nothing to do with an actual autopilot.

Speaking of, Tesla is also facing a legal battle in China regarding its other self-driving feature, the Full Self-Driving functionality. The argument there is similar, as Chinese authorities believe users bought Tesla vehicles for the Full Self-Driving feature, which isn't a full self-driving functionality either. At least not yet.

In any case, it appears that Tesla complied with California and is axing the feature altogether. It's probably also a convenient way to boost its FSD subscription in the country, which now costs $99.

Via