Calling it “full self-driving” is promoting it as being autonomous, regardless of what the disclaimers say. If it’s not capable of that, they should call it something else.
Right? You can't have a label say X, and then in small print say that it absolutely is not X. It's equivalent to a product saying "Contains absolutely no nuts!" and then in small print saying "may contain nuts".
Full Self Driving means that the car is capable of driving itself, not that it can handle all situations autonomously.
A counter example, the package of Cheezits says "made with 100% real cheese", even though they are not 100% cheese, cheese is the 3rd ingredient, below flour and oil, but of the cheese used in the product, it's 100% real cheese. (so it makes it a meaningless statement, I guess they mean "no artificial cheese flavoring")
That's not a very good argument: "made with" implies that it is one of several ingredients. If Cheezits said "made entirely of" then the consumer would be understandably confused if there are other ingredients. Think about what you would answer to the questions "Did you make this pizza WITH sourdough?" vs "Is this cake made entirely OF lego?".
If the car can't "fully" self drive, then it shouldn't be marketed as such. Call it "partially self driving", "assisted self driving" or whatever.
That depends on your definition of driving, for example, take the dictionary definition:
"To guide, control, or direct (a vehicle)."
My car has driver assistance features, it can do basic lane keeping, keep a set distance behind the car in front (even in stop and go traffic), and has emergency braking assistance. But no one would say that it's self-driving.
Tesla FSD can control the car from entering the highway to taking your exit (plus some support for driving on smaller streets).
The disclaimer is clear, the FSD means that the car is capable of full self-driving, but is not capable of autonomous driving without a driver paying attention.
Given that Tesla hasn't been sued into oblivion by drivers who got into accidents by incorrectly treating FSD as autonomous driving, I think the argument will hold up in court.
I’m not trying to be obtuse but I genuinely don’t understand what the difference between the terms ”full self-driving” and “autonomous driving” are. They’re synonymous to me, and I have to imagine they are to the average person.
Autopilot is an advanced driver assistance system that enhances safety and convenience behind the wheel. When used properly, Autopilot reduces your overall workload as a driver. Each new Tesla vehicle is equipped with 8 external cameras, 12 ultrasonic sensors and a powerful onboard computer provide an additional layer of safety to guide you on your journey. Model 3 and Model Y built for the North American market have transitioned to camera-based Tesla Vision, which are not equipped with radar and instead rely on Tesla’s advanced suite of cameras and neural net processing to deliver Autopilot and related features. Model S and Model X continue to be equipped with radar.
Autopilot comes standard on every new Tesla. For owners who took delivery of their cars without Autopilot, there are two packages available for purchase, depending on when your car was built: Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Capability.
Autopilot and Full Self-Driving Capability are intended for use with a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel and is prepared to take over at any moment. While these features are designed to become more capable over time, the currently enabled features do not make the vehicle autonomous.