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California passes law banning Tesla from calling software FSD

Credit: Drive in EV/Twitter

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California passed a new law banning Tesla from calling its software Full Self-Driving (FSD). Although Tesla has never claimed that FSD was fully autonomous, the electric–maker is developing the technology for fully autonomous vehicles.  Until its vehicles are fully autonomous, drivers must be alert and ready to take over at all times when engaging FSD or Autopilot.

California lawmakers, however, disagree with the labels of FSD. Senate Bill 1398 was one of the hundreds that Governor Newsom signed into law. The new law takes effect in 2023 and specifically targets Tesla’s name for its software. The bill was sponsored by Senate Transportation Committee Chair Lena Gonzalez, who claimed that Tesla falsely advertised its tech and that doing so was a safety issue.

The bill was sponsored after the California Department of Motor Vehicles claimed that Tesla’s FSD was “false advertising.”

An excerpt from the new law reads as follows:

“A dealer or manufacturer shall not sell any new passenger vehicle that is equipped with any partial driving automation feature or provide any software update or other vehicle upgrade that adds any partial driving automation feature, without, at the time of delivering or upgrading the vehicle, providing the buyer or owner with a distinct notice that provides the name of the feature and clearly describes the functions and limitations of the feature.”

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“A manufacturer or dealer shall not name any partial driving automation feature, or describe any partial driving automation feature in marketing materials, using language that implies or would otherwise lead a reasonable person to believe, that the feature allows the vehicle to function as an autonomous vehicle, as defined in Section 38750, or otherwise has functionality not actually included in the feature. A violation of this subdivision shall be considered a misleading advertisement for the purposes of Section 11713.”

On its website on Full Self-Driving Capability, Tesla says that all new vehicles have the hardware needed in the future for FSD.

“The system is designed to be able to conduct short and long-distance trips with no action required by the person in the driver’s seat.”

“The future use of these features without supervision is dependent on achieving reliability far in excess of human drivers, as demonstrated by billions of miles of experience, as well as regulatory approval, which may take longer in some jurisdictions.”

“As these self-driving capabilities are introduced, your car will be continuously upgraded through over-the-air software updates.”

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In November, a Tesla owner involved in an accident on Thanksgiving Day claimed that FSD malfunctioned, however, police are still investigating the driver’s claims. In August,  Tesla’s Autopilot Software Director, Ashok Elluswamy, shared data showing how Tesla’s Autopilot software prevents around 40 crashes daily that would have been caused by sudden unintended acceleration. Several owner accounts are crediting Autopilot and FSD for saving their lives.

Disclosure: Johnna is a $TSLA shareholder and believes in Tesla’s mission.  

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Your feedback is welcome. If you have any comments or concerns or see a typo, you can email me at johnna@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter at @JohnnaCrider1.

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Tesla says it has launched ride-hailing Robotaxi teaser to employees only

Tesla is using Full Self-Driving (Supervised) to court employees around in two areas.

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tesla robotaxi app on phone
Credit: Tesla

Tesla announced earlier today that it has already launched an abbreviated version of what will eventually be launched as its Robotaxi fleet in both Austin and the San Francisco Bay Area. It is available to employees, Tesla said.

The automaker did not specify exactly how long it has been operating the fleet, which uses the company’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) suite, but it did indicate that it has completed over 1,500 trips, totaling 15,000 miles of driving.

As seen in the video shared by the company, there is a human driver still responsible for keeping tabs on the car and its movements. It is not the version that Tesla plans to eventually roll out in June, which would be completely unsupervised.

Tesla said that using this service has helped develop and validate Full Self-Driving networks. It will also be used to create a mobile app that will facilitate ride requests, vehicle allocation, mission control, and remote assistance operations.

The app appears to be somewhat similar to the images Tesla shared of a mock-up version of the platform last year.

Right around this time in 2024, Tesla shared images of what would be the ride-hailing app for the company, enabling passengers to request a ride from a driverless robotaxi:

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Tesla gives first look at Robotaxi-powered ride-hailing service app

We also know, according to Tesla App Updates on X, that Tesla will simply integrate this ride-hailing portion of the platform directly into the app the company already operates. There will be no dedicated app for requesting a ride:

The company said in 2024 when teasing the app:

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“We have been investing in the hardware and software ecosystems necessary to achieve vehicle autonomy and a ride-hailing service. We believe a scalable and profitable autonomy business can be realized through a vision-only architecture with end-to-end neural networks, trained on billions of miles of real-world data.”

Tesla said it still remains on track to launch a pilot version of the Robotaxi program in Austin in June, something the company has reiterated several times since the start of the new year.

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Tesla analyst sees brighter future after Elon Musk reduces DOGE work

Wedbush hikes TSLA’s price target after Musk says he’s cutting back on DOGE. Analyst Dan Ives calls it a “turning point” for Tesla’s story.

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(Credit: Tesla)

Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives sees a brighter future for the automaker now that Elon Musk plans to reduce his time with the DOGE team. After the company’s latest earnings call, the long-time TSLA bull raised Tesla’s price target from $315 to $350 with a BUY rating.

“Last night was a pivotal conference call for Musk to turn the corner from this dark chapter as 1Q numbers [ending] a disaster quarter in which deliveries were very soft and Tesla missed the Street on basically every metric.

“More important than numbers, this was the time [Elon] Musk could pivot, speak to shareholders/employees, and take a turn away from the DOGE/Trump White House and recommit as CEO of Tesla…and he did it loudly and clearly in a conference call that we view as a turning point in the Tesla story,” Ives said after Tesla’s earnings call.

Before Tesla’s Q1 2025 earnings call, the Wedbush analyst said the company was at a crossroads. He listed six factors that might be affecting Tesla, which he believed the company should address. Number one on Ives’ list was Tesla’s ascension to a global political symbol associated with the Trump Administration and DOGE.

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It must be noted that these are Ives’ opinions and do not apply to the entire public. Some groups separate Elon Musk and Tesla from President Trump and his administration.

During the recent TSLA earnings call, Elon Musk made the separation more apparent partly by announcing that he would significantly reduce his time with DOGE.

“And I think starting probably next month, May, my time allocation to Doge will drop significantly…But starting next month, I’ll be allocating far more of my time to Tesla and now that the major work of establishing the Department of Government Efficiency is done,” Musk said.

Musk also shared his stance on Trump’s auto tariffs, differentiating himself further from the U.S. President and the current administration.

“And I undoubtedly, I’m gonna get a lot of questions about tariffs. And I just wanna emphasize that the tariff decision is entirely up to the President of the United States. I will weigh in with my advice with the President, which he will listen to my advice. But then it’s up to him, of course, to make his decision.

“I’ve been on the record many times saying that I believe lower tariffs are generally a good idea for prosperity, but this decision is fundamentally up to the elected representative of the people being the President of the United States. So, you know, I’ll continue to advocate for lower tariffs rather than higher tariffs, but that’s all I can do,” Musk said.

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Tesla units delivered in America have 100% ‘MADE IN THE USA’ battery packs

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Credit: Tesla

In its Q1 2025 Update letter, Tesla shared that all Model Y and Model 3 units delivered in America use 100% U.S.-built battery packs. The announcement reveals Tesla’s forward-thinking strategies and showcases how prepared it is to take on President Trump’s auto tariffs.

“Gigafactory Nevada achieved record battery pack production. Model 3 and Model Y deliveries in the U.S. are now made with 100% U.S.-built battery packs,” noted Tesla in its recent update letter.

During the TSLA Q1 2025 earnings call, Tesla’s Supply Chain Executive, Karn Budhiraj, noted that the company is regionalizing its batteries to mitigate supply chain risks.

“Building on our efforts to reduce supply risk, we have developed our 4680 supply to ensure each component is sourced from at least two countries of origin.” added Tesla in its letter.

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Karn clarified that Tesla adopted its regionalization strategy before the pandemic and accelerated efforts after the pandemic. Tesla’s strategy to mitigate supply chain risks includes supply diversification, dual sourcing, vertical integration, advanced analytics, and local partnerships.

Elon Musk commented that Tesla might be the most vertically integrated car company since Henry Ford’s time. He pointed out that Tesla already has a lithium refinery in South Texas and a cathode refinery in Austin. He added that Tesla could have an anode refinery or figure out how to eliminate that part of the cell.

“That’s the dream, [for] lithium batteries to not have an anode. But either way, we better have the anode, the cathode, the lithium, and the electrolytes, and the separator to make a cell. But, there’s no other car company that is building lithium refineries and cathode refineries. Were ridiculously vertically integrated. And that’s our best position to protect against supply chain disruptions,” Musk said.

In its update letter, Tesla noted that its lithium refining and cathode production plants are on track to start production this year. The two Tesla refineries will on-shore production of critical battery materials in the United States, an essential task considering Trump’s auto tariffs.

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