Tesla's Autopilot advanced driver-assistance suite has been under scrutiny across the globe for years. While the technology is made up of safety systems that are similar to those found in many new cars, the Autopilot name itself has been a red flag for many, and Tesla's lack of transparency never seems to work in its favor. The tech is currently being investigated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the US.
Tesla has been including Autopilot in its cars for years. In many markets, you can pay to upgrade to Enhanced Autopilot or the Full Self-Driving Beta capability, but it's not cheap. Even if you pay for FSD Beta, it doesn't guarantee you'll get to use it right away, especially if you live outside of North America.
At any rate, a recent article published by Electrek claims that, due to concerns by the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) in Germany, Tesla must make some changes to its Autopilot technology. Autopilot has the same name in most global markets, but the features aren't necessarily the same. CEO Elon Musk often talks about regulators and mentions that they may hold things up.
Since the rules of the road are different in various countries, and different areas of the world are subject to different official regulations, it comes as no surprise that Tesla's Autopilot system is often under fire. Moreover, Tesla does most of its system testing in California, and owners in other areas have noted that the tech may not work as well outside of California, and especially outside of the country.
In this case, all we really know is that regulators aren't yet letting Tesla release some of the Autopilot features in Germany. Based on information published by Wirtschaftswoche and shared by Electrek, the KBA officials have cited "abnormalities” related to the safety suite. The regulators note that Tesla has already fixed some of the issues, at least in part, but there are still more to address. A portion of the brief article reads:
"In a Tesla investigation by the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA), which has been running since the beginning of the year, the electric car manufacturer can book a partial success. According to a KBA spokesman, the KBA carried out tests on Tesla vehicles as part of market surveillance and found “abnormalities”."
The article reiterates that the problems have already been "partially remedied" by Tesla. However, the remedies for the additional concerns are still being tested and validated. KBA President Richard Damm said the organization is waiting to hear from Tesla about the other abnormalities, and if it doesn't receive details from the automaker soon, the KBA may intervene.
The only detail related to the Tesla Autopilot feature is that the KBA believes auto lane change may be illegal in Europe. However, that doesn't explain multiple abnormalities or which features Tesla has already "partly" fixed and/or is working to fix.
