The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is urging Tesla to change its social media and other communication to more accurately describe Full Self-Driving (FSD).

The NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has been investigating a number of incidents in Teslas were involved in accidents when FSD was active, including at least one crash in which a pedestrian was fatally struck. In a letter to the company, the NHTSA acknowledged that Tesla provided the required information in response the ODI’s investigation, including documentation regarding FSD’s operation.

On April 15, 2024 Tesla obliged and briefed ODI, emphasizing its owner’s manual, User Interface, and YouTube (212.5k views) messaging to drivers that the vehicle is not autonomous, that they must remain vigilant, and that they, the driver remain in full control. We note that the driver in Tesla’s YouTube video has their hands very closely positioned on the steering wheel while driving in a manner that indicates a readiness to intervene.

Despite Tesla’s cooperation, the letter goes on to point out that the company’s own promotional posts on social media directly contradict its documentation and official stance regarding FSD.

In the meantime, Tesla’s X (Twitter) account has re-posted or endorsed postings that exhibit disengaged driver behavior. Similar to our remarks in the April 15, 2024 meeting about the April 10, 2024 “Heart Attack” post from @MAXPAULFRANKLIN, we believe that Tesla’s postings conflict with its stated messaging that the driver is to maintain continued control over the dynamic driving task. We similarly observe that these postings may encourage viewers to see FSD-Supervised as a Chauffer or “Robotaxi” rather than a partial automation / driver assist system that requires persistent attention and intermittent intervention by the driver. Example postings are listed below for your information.

On April 11, 2024, Tesla reposted an April 10, 2024 story detailing an individual (@MAXPAULFRANKLIN) who opted to use the “Full Self-Driving capability” to drive him 13 miles from his home to the emergency room during a heart attack shortly after the April 1 free trial became available. Tesla’s posting (1.6M views) stated: “FSD V12 helped owner get to the hospital when he needed immediate medical attention.”

On May 6, 2024, Tesla reposted a May 5, 2024 video depicting a 50 minute drive in FSD from a parking garage after a sporting event. Third party comments on the initial post stated that they “can foresee more drinkers getting home safely” (44k views) and that “FSD will save lives & enable people” (39.9k views) suggest advantages to using FSD while inebriated. Tesla’s posting (4.8M views) stated “$99 / month.”

In addition to the above examples, the letter goes on to list five other posts in which Tesla seemed to endorse the idea that FSD doesn’t require human interaction.

The letter goes on to point out what Tesla’s marketing is similarly conflicted in its description of FSD.

In addition to the aforementioned social media posts, the official Tesla website provides conflicting messaging on the capabilities of FSD-Supervised. On the Tesla store page, the option “Full SelfDriving Capability” is available with feature descriptions including “Automatic Lane Change”, “Automatic Driving”, and the ability for the vehicle to “drive itself almost anywhere”. Tesla does provide a disclaimer on this page that the “features require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous.”.

Elsewhere on the official Tesla website however, additional claims are made with no such clarifying statement. If used to gather information on “FSD”, the chat feature ‘Tesla Assist’ will provide a statement that Full Self-Driving “is designed to be able to conduct short and long distance trips with no action required by the person in the driver’s seat”.

There is similar language on Tesla’s dedicated page for the Autopilot suite of features under the section titled “Full Self-Driving Capability”. An additional statement is made that “use of these features without supervision is dependent on achieving reliability” and “regulatory approval, which may take longer in some jurisdictions”.

This statement is accompanied by a video embedded on the same webpage, first showing a statement that “The person in the driver’s seat is only there for legal reasons. He is not doing anything. The car is driving itself.”. Followed by footage of the vehicle operating on local roads with the driver’s hands resting on their knees.

The NHTSA’s letter asks that Tesla revisit its advertising in an effort to be more consistent and accurately reflect FSD’s true driving capabilities.

We request that Tesla revisit its communications to assure that its messaging is consistent with the statements made in its user instructions and appropriate to the level of capability deployed to the public roads.

Tesla and CEO Elon Musk’s claims regarding FSD have caused the company trouble on multiple occasions, with California ruling the company cannot use the term because it misleads customers regarding FSD’s capabilities.

While FSD is certainly an impressive step toward autonomous vehicles, it is just that—a step. At this point in time, FSD does not constitute true autonomous driving tech, and Tesla should be more consistent and open in its messaging about it.