Tesla just made a strong case for why it should be allowed to keep Autopilot name in Germany
Tesla wrote in a blog post that it issued a third-party survey to Tesla owners in Germany about their understanding of Autopilot in response to criticism from Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt, Germany's federal transport agency. The survey asked 675 Tesla owners about their use of Autopilot and whether they were aware they had to keep their hands on the wheel while it is in use.
As highlighted in the survey and the blog post, 98% of survey respondents said they are aware they have to maintain control of the Tesla when Autopilot is activated.
The survey was issued in response to an internal report by the German transport agency that called Tesla's Autopilot a "considerable traffic hazard" in early October.
The agency carried out a series of tests on Tesla cars and criticized it for not alerting drivers when they entered a situation Autopilot couldn't handle. It also alleged that Tesla's emergency braking system did not perform adequately.
The German agency wrote a letter to Tesla asking it to stop using the term Autopilot, calling it misleading, Reuters reported.
Tesla's recent survey isn't the first time the automaker has defended its use of Autopilot.
Tesla wrote in a statement to Reuters that "we have always been clear with our customers that Autopilot is a drivers assistance system that requires the driver to pay attention at all times."
Tesla CEO Elon Musk also questioned the criticism on Twitter:
Tesla has been criticized for its use of Autopilot, with many alleging the name misleads buyers into assuming the car is self-driving and has more autonomous capabilities than it can currently handle.
A Tesla driver got into an accident while Autopilot was activated in China this August. Tesla removed the Chinese term for self-driving from its Chinese website following that accident, Reuters reported. There were no injuries from the accident.
Tesla is still under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for a fatal accident that occurred while Autopilot was activated in May. A DVD player was found in the car, which means the driver may not have had proper control of the Tesla while it was in Autopilot at the time of the accident.
Tesla issued an over-the-air update for Autopilot that Musk said could have prevented the fatal accident in September.
Musk announced in October that Tesla cars currently in production - which includes the Model S, Model X, and future Model 3 - are being built with new hardware that improves Autopilot and will enable them to be fully driverless, pending further software validation and regulatory approval.