I think Tesla would have far less trouble if they called it something like "Driver Assistance" rather than Autopilot.
Germany bans Tesla from claiming its Autopilot software is potentially autonomous
A judge in Munich has ruled in favor of banning Tesla Germany from repeating misleading descriptions of its Autopilot software in adverts. Phrases like “full potential for autonomous driving” and "Autopilot inclusive" should be no longer allowed, Wettbewerbszentrale, an independent German regulatory institution, argued. It …
COMMENTS
-
-
Monday 20th July 2020 20:50 GMT Flip
What's In A Name?
I've always thought that Tesla chose "Autopilot" in order to prevent other manufacturers from using it to describe their own "assisted driving" technologies. One day it may be an actual functioning "hands-off" type of thing, and then the name "Autopilot" will actually be closer to the truth.
-
-
Monday 20th July 2020 18:02 GMT Anonymous Coward
But...
The Fanboi's are gnashing their teeth and ranting at this. How dare some ignorant judge in the home of BMW rule against the lord Elon and his disciples?
Doesn't he know that everyone in BMWland will soon be driving a german build Tesla supercar that is at least 5 years ahead of everyone else?
And Tesla will finally do a coast to coast (USA) trip on their full level 5 autopilot(promised in 2017). FSD will drive all other car makes off the road within a year and to hell with local laws.
If you believe any of the above then you might like to seek professional help pronto.
-
-
Tuesday 21st July 2020 11:14 GMT fuzzie
Re: But...
My take is that the successful Musk ventures are the ones where he's not very hands-on, e.g. SpaceX, StarLink, Boring Company, Hyperloop. All those, especially the first ones, are highly specialised technical, some very niche, endeavours where BS just doesn't fly. None of those are directly consumer-facing either. Tesla is very much his life-dream project, hence he's very very involved.
-
Tuesday 21st July 2020 12:41 GMT LucreLout
Re: But...
The Fanboi's are gnashing their teeth and ranting at this. How dare some ignorant judge in the home of BMW rule against the lord Elon and his disciples?
ROFL.
I'm a petrolhead, always have been, and I'm a massive "lord Elon fanboi", so I'm not sure how you think I'm supposed to feel about this. I'd quite like a Tesla model 3, or better yet the roadster, however I'm equally happy to tool about in a V6/8 bimmer.
The ruling itself seems perfectly sensible to me - Europe is not America, and has a very different style of road network with very different hazards (many many European cyclists for example). Self driving cars, as in there's no steering wheel because we don't need one, may only come about on sealed roads containing only FSD vehicles. Or Musk and others may crack the problem. Whichever. The thing is, they haven't yet, which is why this ruling makes perfect sense to me.
Let me explain the Musk fanboy thing for a moment, though the chance of anyone reading to the end before the red arrows fly is virtually nil. I don't believe in man made global warming, in my view it is a political outlook and not a scientific one. Now, I know many of you will disagree with that, but just hang fire a second... Lets assume I'm wrong. Very wrong.
All transport needs to decarbonise, which means it'll have to go electric and that electric will have to be some shade of renewable energy (I'm not getting into the nukes are good/bad argument here). Musk has done more than all of the climate committees, all of the pressure groups, and all of the Greta's to make that a reality. Why? How? Well, if he can make an electric car that appeals, and they do, to a petrolhead, then he can make one that appeals to the average Joe too. And he has. He's made the end of the ICE age possible.
Putting aside the stoner culture, the ego cult, and the "Ironman is based on me" stuff, he's moved the world view of what is possible with an electric vehicle and made them not just acceptable, but desireable. Now, how long have Ford, or VAG had to achieve that in, and how much progress had they made? Nobody really wants a Nissan Leaf, right?
If I'm right about MMGW, we get some cool cars out of it. If the environmentalists are right, we get some cool cars that can be carbon neutral. Its a win-win in as much as anything ever is.
-
-
-
-
-
Tuesday 21st July 2020 07:14 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: "prepared to take over at any momen"
Yep. The only way you'd get even close to being ready woild be if you knew everything that was going on relating to the driving itself (speed, road conditions, whether there's a car in your blind-spot etc.)
The only way to achieve that is basically by driving. So, you have an "autonomous" system that doesn't allow you to relax from driving, but can make your responses to emergencies much slower. A lose-lose.
Fine for playing with on a test track, but no way in hell should they be on our roads.
-
Tuesday 21st July 2020 12:59 GMT LucreLout
Re: "prepared to take over at any momen"
a "driver" using Tesla "autopilot" is never going to be prepared to take over - they're always going to be unprepared.
They're far more likely to be drunk, asleep, on the phone, fiddling with the radio / passenger. Self driving only works if its FSD. Anything less is a dangerous distraction.
-
-
Monday 20th July 2020 18:34 GMT Pascal Monett
About effing time
"A judge in Munich has ruled in favor of banning Tesla Germany from repeating misleading descriptions of its Autopilot software in adverts "
This misleading kind of declaration has already repeatedly killed people. Why has Musk not already reigned this in (okay, I know : money) ?
There is no such thing as an autonomous vehicle, and implying in any way that you are selling a car that is autonomous should land you in jail for manslaughter.