Tesla Slammed Over 'Deceptive' Autopilot Name in Letter to U.S. Regulators

"Auto" as for automobile plus "Pilot" as for something that "pilots" the car.

Meh, the same thing happened when cruse control came out and they set it and then ran off the road because they expected it act as an autopilot.

Some people are just don't bother to ask questions and don't read the manual and assume things. You cannot make things idiot proof, if anything Tesla is trying to by removing the primary element that causes the most vehicle accidents-the driver. Good for them.

"if anything Tesla is trying to by removing the primary element that causes the most vehicle accidents-the driver. Good for them."

LOL.

In every single one of the incidents where people have died in autonomous vehicle incidents the drivers were not paying attention, they had their hands off the wheel, and the AUTOPILOT was in control.

The problem I see is that the "driver" is still responsible and supposedly in charge, but his job now is to watch the car "autopilot" and make sure it doesn't get into trouble. I would suspect that staying alert while not doing anything would be more difficult than just driving the car yourself.

JMHO, if I am responsible, I also want to be in control.

"The problem I see is that the "driver" is still responsible and supposedly in charge, but his job now is to watch the car "autopilot" and make sure it doesn't get into trouble."

Then that totally negates the concept of it being an Autopilot - it's not an Autopilot if you have to constantly watch it.

My single, sole and only point is that the very name Autopilot has given the owners a false sense of security, which after who knows how long of watching the thing, they got bored or sleepy and decided to check their phone or whatever, and BAM!

Why didn't the Autopilot see that concrete abutment or that pedestrian or that broadsided tractor trailer?

Because it's not an Autopilot.

The ambition is there, I can see that, but the ability is still a long way from meeting the ambition, and until then the name Autopilot is showing itself to be a misnomer that is lulling people into a false sense of security.

Yup, agreed. We all know how marketing works, but in this case, there is a danger in giving the driver a false sense of confidence, IMHO.

Given the time frames involved between an autopilot malfunction and development of an unfortunate outcome - usually in the low number of seconds, I don't think it's reasonable to assume that a "driver" will identify or respond to a pilot malfunction in a helpful manner.

I'm afraid that the autopilot is going to be an all or nothing system.

Good and IMHO it is about time. I like the technology but calling this augmented cruise control "Autopilot" implies self driving capability. Tesla uses the name, "Autopilot", when they advertise their prototype self driving, too.

Actually, the autopilot name is pretty accurate. I fly airplanes and have driven a Model S with autopilot.

They have very similar limitations. In fact (aircraft) autopilots are dumber.

They will happily fly you into a mountain, if you set a course across them, while Tesla's autopilot will see and avoid most obstacles.

I'm stunned at how Tesla is getting away with this settlement.

From the cited Reuters article:

Class members, who paid an extra $5,000 to get the Autopilot upgrade between 2016 and 2017, will receive between $20 and $280 in compensation.

That's $5,000 just to upgrade this misnamed software package. That's a nice profit margin.

What??

This is some special kind of stupid.

They pay $5000 for faulty software to patch some faulty software, neither of which does its job, and then they settle for a $20 to $280 refund?

Musk and his lawyers must be dancing like gipsies at seeing how gullible Tesla customers marks really are.