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While the average non-Tesla owner might be confused on phrases like “autopilot”, any Tesla owner is very aware of its capabilities and shortcomings.

When you first purchase your Tesla and are beginning the setup process, you’re presented with multiple warning screens like this: https://boygeniusreport.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/autostee...

That’s an old image: I couldn’t find the current warning screen on Google Images, but it’s even more stark and serious about the driver’s role w.r.t. autopilot.




Aren't the ads largely targeted to non-owners? Even if I agreed with your point, I just don't see how it's relevant.


I’m actually confused by the phrase “ads”, because my understanding is that Tesla has an advertising budget of $0. I assume they’re referring to marketing materials (pamphlets, websites, etc).


The law is against fraudulent advertisement.

The channel used to perform the advertisement and how expensive that channel is are completely irrelevant.

For example, if Tesla claims in their website that their cars can drive themselves and they can't, that's false advertising and illegal in Germany. If Tesla organizes a concert in some city somewhere, and the singer states that Tesla's cars can drive themselves and they can't, that's false advertisement.

If Tesla distributes stickers to their car owners that claim that Tesla's can drive themselves, and their car owners stick them in public bathrooms where people can see them, that is, as well, illegal advertisement, even if Tesla did not stick those stickers themselves.

The law basically requires all companies selling products in Germany to be honest about what their products can and cannot do. This is good for consumers, and good for companies doing business there, because everybody is forced to play by the same rules.

The definition of being honest and what communication means etc. are all super loose, so most companies don't risk lying about their products. There are dozens of consumer protection organizations that'll sue a company for you due to false advertisement. The main consequences for the sued company are usually damages if there are any, and mainly the fines designed to discourage false advertisement. Most of the money ends up on the tax payers accounts, so consumers are really encouraged to report these times of crimes.


But that stuff is particularly relevant for non-owners as well and thus must be judged primarily through the eyes of non-owners. It doesn't matter whether Tesla pays anyone for screen time or whatever to get their message to receptive eyeballs - these eyeballs are those of non-owners which Tesla wants to convert to Tesla owners, that's the point.

The ban in question relates to any kind of marketing material, whether it is on Tesla's website or part of advertisement billboards.


Advertising is a pre-purchase concern however, and requires companies to not be deceptive. "You'll figure out what our term really meant after you buy it" isn't much of a defense.


Due to recent hype we decided to re-visit the state of Tesla. Our local Tesla seller told us a week ago (after our test drive) that FSD was awesome and that once the legislation in EU allowed it (bad guys in EU blocking the progress) and fullyfull-FSD was available, the price of the car would increase as much as 50% and that it was a great investment. Having some related tech knowledge we saw how utopian that still was and our test drive had convinced us self-driving was still at least 10 years away... It is false advertising and most younger tech enthusiasts may not see all the challenges involved in camera-based self-driving!


FSD is very cool. But Musk also parrots the idea that Teslas are investments, which makes no sense to me. Why would my $50k Model Y be worth $75k in 10 years, when a brand-new Model Y in 10 years would also cost $50k (assuming prices stay constant)?


So, after you buy the thing, it helpfully informs you that the advertising was bollocks? Seems like an excellent reason to ban the advertising.


Why do they call it "auto steer"? It's a much more misleading term than "lane centering".




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