Tesla Quietly Removes Autopilot Feature in the US After Being Threatened with Sanctions

JAKARTA - Tesla is rumored to have stopped selling the Autopilot feature in the United States. Based on Tesla's official configurator in the US, consumers can no longer add Autopilot when ordering a new vehicle.

Instead, the electric car manufacturer only provides Traffic Aware Cruise Control as part of the standard package. This move is suspected to be related to pressure from California authorities.

Launching Arena EV, Monday, January 26, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (California DMV) previously threatened to impose sanctions in the form of a 30-day suspension of Tesla's manufacturing and dealer licenses. This followed alleged misleading advertising practices.

The California DMV assessed that naming "Autopilot" does not reflect the actual ability. According to the regulator, the feature actually only combines Traffic Aware Cruise Control and Autosteer.

Traffic Aware Cruise Control works to maintain speed and safe distance with the vehicle in front, while Autosteer helps the car stay in the middle of the lane and follow the curve. However, both technologies are considered not yet worthy of being called a real autopilot system.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles said Tesla should not be allowed to sell the Autopilot feature by that name because it has nothing to do with the actual autopilot. The pressure on Tesla did not only come from the United States.

Elon Musk's company is also facing legal problems in China regarding the Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature. Local authorities assess that FSD claims have the potential to mislead consumers, because the system is not yet capable of providing a fully autonomous driving experience.

Where, many users buy Tesla cars with the expectation of getting full self-driving capabilities. In fact, the technology still requires active supervision from the driver.

With the loss of Autopilot from Tesla's configurator in the US, it is likely that the manufacturer is trying to comply with California regulations. On the other hand, this move is also considered as a way for Tesla to encourage customers to switch to the Full Self-Driving package, which is now offered with a subscription fee of 99 US dollars or Rp1.6 million per month.