The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has given Tesla a very clear warning: if the company doesn’t change its “Autopilot” and “Full Self-Driving” advertising within 90 days, it will lose its vehicle sales and manufacturing licenses for 30 days. This comes after an administrative law judge said that Tesla broke state law by falsely advertising its advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) as being more self-driving than they really are, which means they need constant supervision. The DMV agreed with the judge’s findings but put off immediate penalties so that Tesla would have time to comply while investigations are still going on.
Tesla’s use of words like “Autopilot” makes it sound like the car can drive itself, which is not true, even though they say drivers need to pay attention. The argument got worse after a number of high-profile crashes linked to the system, which led to DMV charges in 2022. The DMV announced the 90-day grace period on December 16, 2025. If people didn’t follow the rules, the ban would start after 60 days.
California is home to almost a third of Tesla’s U.S. sales, so a ban would be a big blow at a time when registrations and global deliveries are falling. Tesla says there are no customer complaints and that sales are still going strong. They say they will appeal if they need to. The company has changed its marketing by calling features “supervised,” but regulators want a full rebranding.
