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Tesla Autopilot, Full Self-Driving ‘marketing’ under fire from familiar U.S. senator

Credit: Tesla

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United States Senator Ed Markey is back to casting stones in the direction of Tesla’s Autopilot, calling for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate “potentially deceptive marketing.”

Markey, a notable critic of Tesla’s Autopilot systems, has had a history of being skeptical and calling for investigations of the company’s semi-autonomous systems on several occasions in the past. Now, Markey, along with Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, penned a letter to Lina Khan, the head of the FTC, stating they are concerned about Tesla’s “advertising” of Autopilot.

“Tesla and Mr. Musk’s repeated overstatements of their vehicle’s capabilities—despite clear and frequent warnings—demonstrate a deeply concerning disregard for the safety of those on the road and require real accountability,” the Senators wrote, according to the Wall Street Journal“Their claims put Tesla drivers—and all of the traveling public—at risk of serious injury or death.”

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Interestingly, Tesla’s statistics have shown Autopilot as an extremely safe alternative compared to human-controlled vehicles. Its most recent safety report had Autopilot-operating vehicles involved in accidents significantly less frequently than the national average.

The request from the Senators comes just days after the NHTSA launched an internal probe into around 765,000 Tesla vehicles built between 2014 and 2021. The root cause of the investigation concerns 11 incidents of Tesla vehicles crashing into emergency vehicles.

Tesla’s Autopilot probe worries Morgan Stanley with ‘reputational risks’

Tesla maintains that its Autopilot functionality is not a replacement for human driving altogether. The company states that drivers are required to remain attentive when operating with Autopilot and that they are required to remain alert to the vehicle’s operation and its surroundings.

On its website, under the FAQ section, a question, “Do I still need to pay attention while using Autopilot,” is listed. The company’s response is:

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“Yes. Autopilot is a hands-on driver assistance system that is intended to be used only with a fully attentive driver. It does not turn a Tesla into a self-driving car nor does it make a car autonomous.”

Interestingly, several of the accidents under question were caused by the driver’s negligence operating the vehicle, including two cases where the driver was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. Another one of the cases involves a driver with a suspended license.

The Senators also included the notorious “Full Self-Driving” video that Tesla released in 2019, which shows a driver operating their vehicle without making any interventions. The video has over 18 million views on YouTube but does not reflect the vehicle’s current capabilities and is only a demonstration of what is to come from Tesla when it reaches Level 5 autonomy.

“As Tesla makes widely available its FSD and Autopilot technology and doubles down on its inflated promises, we are alarmed by the prospect of more drivers relying more frequently on systems that do not nearly deliver the expected level of safety,” the Senators wrote in their memo.

Don’t hesitate to contact us with tips! Email us at tips@teslarati.com, or you can email me directly at joey@teslarati.com.

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Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Tesla doubles down on Robotaxi launch date, putting a big bet on its timeline

Tesla continues to double down on its June goal to launch the Robotaxi ride-hailing platform.

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla has doubled down on its potential launch date for the Robotaxi ride-hailing platform, which will utilize the Cybercab and other vehicles in its lineup to offer driverless rides in Austin, Texas.

Tesla said earlier this year that it was in talks with the City of Austin to launch its first Robotaxi rides, and it planned to launch the platform in June.

This has been a widely discussed timeline in the community, with some confident in the company’s ability to offer it based on the progress of the Full Self-Driving suite.

However, others are skeptical of it based on Tesla’s history of meeting timelines, especially regarding its rollout of FSD.

Nevertheless, Tesla was asked when it would be able to offer Robotaxi rides and where, and it clearly is not backing down from that June date:

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It is getting to a point where Tesla is showing incredible confidence regarding the rollout of the Robotaxi in June. We have not seen this kind of reiteration regarding the rollout of something regarding autonomy from Tesla at any point in the past.

CEO Elon Musk has even been increasingly confident that Tesla will meet its target. Earlier this week, he said the vehicles will be able to roll off production lines and drive themselves straight to a customer’s house:

Elon Musk continues to push optimistic goal for Tesla Full Self-Driving

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There could be some discussion of an acceptable grace period, as the timeline for the Robotaxi rollout could still be considered a success, even if it were a month or two late. However, if it were pushed back further into 2025 or even 2026, skepticism regarding these timelines would continue to persist.

As of right now, it seems Tesla is extremely confident it will meet its goal.

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Tesla Semi fleet from Frito-Lay gets more charging at Bakersfield factory

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Tesla Semis showcased at Frito-Lay plant in Modesto, CA
Frito-Lay transformed its Modesto, Calif., site by replacing diesel fleet assets with ZE and NZE alternatives and installing fueling and charging infrastructure for the new fleet as well as on-site renewable energy generation and storage.

Among the several companies that have had the opportunity to add Tesla Semi all-electric Class 8 trucks to their fleets earlier than others, the most notable is arguably Frito-Lay, which has utilized the vehicle for a couple of years now.

However, as their fleet is making more local runs and there are undoubtedly plans to expand to more Semi units, the company has recognized it needs additional Megachargers to give juice to their trucks.

As a result, Frit-Lay decided to build more chargers at their Bakersfield, California facility, according to new permits filed by Tesla:

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There are already chargers at the company’s Modesto, California, factory, but Bakersfield is roughly three hours south of Modesto.

Interestingly, Tesla is calling the chargers “Semi Chargers” in the filing, potentially hinting that it is no longer referring to them as “Megachargers,” as they have been in the past. This is a relatively minor detail, but it is worth taking note of.

In 2022, Frito-Lay began installing these chargers in preparation for the Semi to become one of the company’s main logistics tools for deliveries in California and surrounding states.

Frito-Lay is not the only company that has chosen to utilize the Tesla Semi for these early “pilot” runs. PepsiCo has also been a company that has used the Semi very publicly over the past two years.

Additionally, the Tesla Semi participated in the Run on Less EV trucking study back in late 2023, where it managed to complete a 1,000-mile run in a single day:

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Tesla Semi logs 1,000-mile day in Run on Less EV trucking study

Tesla is planning to ramp production of the Semi late this year. On the Q4 2024 Earnings Call, VP of Vehicle Engineering Lars Moravy said the company would be focusing on the first builds of the Semi’s high-volume design late this year before ramping production in the early portion of 2026:

“We just closed out the Semi factory roof and walls last week in Reno, a schedule which is great with the weather. In Reno, you never know what’s going to happen. But we’re prepping for mechanical installation of all the equipment in the coming months. The first builds of the high-volume Semi design will come late this year in 2025 and begin ramping early in 2026.”

Tesla will build these units at a new Semi production facility located in Reno near its Gigafactory. The company is getting closer to finishing construction, as a drone video from this morning showed the facility is coming along at a good pace:

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Tesla Cybercab no longer using chase vehicles in Giga Texas

Elon Musk expects Tesla to produce about 2 million Cybercab units per year.

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Credit: Joe Tegtmeyer/X

The Tesla Cybercab is the company’s first vehicle that is designed solely for autonomous driving. And while the spacious two-seater is expected to start volume production in 2026, the vehicle’s development seems to be moving at a steady pace.

This was hinted at in recent images taken by a longtime Tesla watcher at the Giga Texas complex.

Tesla Cybercab Production

The Cybercab will likely be Tesla’s highest volume vehicle, with CEO Elon Musk stating during the company’s Q1 2025 All-Hands meeting that the robotaxi’s production line will resemble a high-speed consumer electronics line. Part of this is due to Tesla’s unboxed process, which should make the Cybercab easy to produce.

Elon Musk expects Tesla to produce about 2 million Cybercabs per year. And while the vehicle is expected to see volume production at Giga Texas next year, the CEO noted that the vehicle will be manufactured in more than one facility when it is fully ramped.

No More Chase Cars

While the Cybercab is not yet being produced, Tesla is evidently busy testing the vehicle’s fully autonomous driving system. This could be hinted at by the Cybercabs that have been spotted around the Giga Texas complex over the past months. Following last year’s We, Robot event, drone operators such as longtime Tesla watcher Joe Tegtmeyer have spotted Cybercabs being tested around the Giga Texas complex.

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At the time, videos from Giga Texas showed that the driverless Cybercabs were always accompanied by a manually driven Model 3 validation chase car. This was understandable considering that the Giga Texas complex features pedestrians, other cars, and construction areas. As per the drone operator in a recent post on social media platform X, however, Tesla seems to have stopped using chase cars for its Cybercab tests a few weeks ago.

Aggressive Tints

The reasons behind this alleged update are up for speculation, though it would not be surprising if the Cybercab’s autonomous driving system could now safely navigate the Gigafactory Texas complex on its own. Interestingly enough, the Cybercabs that were recently photographed by the drone operator featured very aggressive tint, making it almost impossible to make out the interior of the robotaxi.

This is quite interesting as other Cybercabs that have been spotted around Giga Texas were only equipped with semi-dark tints. One such vehicle that was spotted in February was even speculated to be fitted with an apparent steering wheel.

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