BEIJING, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Germany has asked electric carmaker Tesla to stop advertising its vehicles as having an "autopilot" function as it seems to create false customer expectations that had reportedly led to two fatal crashes.
"It can be confirmed that a letter to Tesla exists with the request to no longer use the misleading term Autopilot for the driver assistance system of the car," a spokesperson for the Germany Transport Ministry told Reuters.
Germany has been conducting an investigation into the autopilot system in Tesla vehicles, which has been available with its Model S series since October 2015, according to AFP. The system allows the vehicle to automatically change lanes, manage speed and brake to avoid a collision. However, the German transport authority has warned owners of Tesla cars that their vehicles could not be operated without their constant attention.
A Tesla Model S driver was killed in May after colliding with a truck in Florida. In September, a Tesla car crashed into a tourist bus in northern Germany, lightly injuring the driver who said he had activated the vehicle's autopilot system.
