Tesla Redefines English, Says ‘Full Self-Driving’ Doesn’t Mean ‘Autonomous’

It’s a safe bet that most customers who hear “Full Self-Driving” think it means “autonomous driving,” but a Tesla engineer says that is not the case.

Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) has been the source of significant problems for the company, as customers have used the feature exactly as the name implies — trusting their Tesla to fully self-drive. The resulting accidents and incidents have predictably drawn scrutiny from regulators and lawsuits from customers.

According to Clean Energy Revolution, a Tesla engineer has testified in a lawsuit that FSD was never meant to imply autonomous driving:

While testifying last week, Tesla engineer Eloy Rubio Blanco repudiated the allegations that the name “Full Self-Driving” was chosen to deceive the public. Blanco stated that Tesla drivers did not believe that their vehicles were autonomous.

While Tesla may have some brilliant engineers, in the future, the company might do well to consult a dictionary when naming features.