Tesla struggles in new driver-assistance tests with Autopilot name deemed misleading

Tesla and Volvo have both been criticised as part of Euro NCAP’s latest round of car safety tests, with the former’s ‘Autopilot’ autonomous driving system described as having an "inappropriate" and “misleading” name.

Following its most recent batch of Assisted Driving Grading assessments, Euro NCAP blasted Tesla for the name of its Autopilot system, which led to the Model S only managing to scrape a ‘Moderate’ rating after performing strongly in the Safety Backup tests, but poorly in the Assistance Competence section.

This latter test focuses on how easy it is for drivers to comprehend a system’s capabilities and limitations, how effective functions like adaptive cruise control and speed-limit assist are, and how easy it is to retake control of the car.

As the name suggests, safety backup tests focus on how well a car avoids a collision and how it overcomes certain issues such as a blocked sensor.

With all of this in mind, the technical manager of assisted driving systems at Euro NCAP, Adriano Palao, accused Tesla of “misleading consumers about their Autopilot system’s capabilities simply through its name and marketing, which could have potential safety implications”. 

Euro NCAP says the name is "inappropriate" because it “suggests full automation”; some of the main criticisms of Tesla’s autonomous systems include the amount of force needed to correct steering inputs, as well as the over-reliance on the car’s centre touchscreen for displaying alerts.

Tesla refused to comment, however it did point Auto Express to a disclaimer on its online car configurator, which states: "The currently enabled features require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous."

As mentioned above, it’s not just Tesla that disappointed Euro NCAP; Volvo also received lower-than-expected scores for its Pilot Assist system. Safety experts were unimpressed with how Volvo’s system fails to lock out drivers from semi-autonomous functionality, even if they repeatedly take their hands off the wheel.

Conversely, the likes of the Renault 5, Kia EV3, Toyota bZ4X and Porsche Macan were all rated as ‘Very Good’ by the team at Euro NCAP. The Macan was particularly praised for how it clearly notifies drivers of its self-driving capacities, earning strong scores in both the competence and safety backup categories.

Next year, Euro NCAP will completely overhaul its safety rating procedures, focusing on what it describes as four main pillars: safe driving, crash avoidance, crash protection and post-crash safety. 

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