Tesla tells NZ owners Full Self-Driving Capability is now Tesla Assisted Driving Basic

Tesla owners in New Zealand are being told that Full Self-Driving Capability has a new name, in a notice that says the change is for Europe.

The message, sent through the Tesla app on 16 October and received by EVs and Beyond, reads: “As we continue expanding our driver-assistance features across Europe, we are updating the name of Full Self-Driving Capability to Tesla Assisted Driving Basic. No action is needed.”

Tesla began dropping the Full Self-Driving name in Europe earlier this month. German transport officials had described it as “somewhat misleading” because the system does not take over the full driving task, and Reuters reported that Tesla offered the rename during talks with German officials over approval. Its European websites now refer to Tesla Assisted Driving.

The system has been approved in eight EU countries, starting with the Netherlands in April, but an EU-wide vote has been pushed back to at least December after France and Sweden objected to plans to let it operate above detected speed limits.

What Basic covers

On Tesla’s UK support pages, Tesla Assisted Driving Basic is the package previously sold as Full Self-Driving Capability. It includes Auto Lane Change, Navigate on Autosteer, Autopark, Summon and Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control, with Autosteer on city streets listed as upcoming. Tesla says the features require active supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous.

That is separate from FSD (Supervised), the system that can drive itself through town with the driver supervising, which Tesla offers in New Zealand as a $159-a-month subscription.

Tesla’s New Zealand website still uses the Autopilot and FSD (Supervised) names and makes no mention of Tesla Assisted Driving. We have asked Tesla New Zealand whether the rename applies here or the notice was sent to local owners in error.