Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s messaging round driverless automobile know-how doesn’t all the time “match engineering actuality,” in accordance with assembly notes by the California Division of Motor Autos launched late Thursday.

Tesla workers, together with the corporate’s director of Autopilot Software program, CJ Moore, and affiliate common counsel, Eric Williams, couldn’t affirm to the California regulators that Tesla would be capable of produce a very driverless automobile this yr, regardless of the CEO’s steerage that it might.

In a January 2021 earnings name, Tesla CEO Elon Musk mentioned he was “extremely assured the automotive will be capable of drive itself with reliability in extra of human this yr.”

At an Axel Springer award ceremony in December 2020, Musk mentioned, “I am extraordinarily assured of attaining full autonomy and releasing it to the Tesla buyer base subsequent yr.” The moderator requested him if he was speaking about Degree 5 autonomy, and Musk nodded and mentioned “Sure, sure.”

A group from the California DMV Autonomous Autos department, led by Chief Miguel Acosta, requested Tesla workers about Musk’s messaging relating to so-called “Degree 5,” or totally driverless, know-how throughout a March 9 assembly. The correspondence was initially obtained by authorized transparency group Plainsite by way of a California Public Information Act request.

DMV regulators wrote of their assembly notes that “DMV requested CJ to deal with, from an engineering perspective, Elon’s messaging about L5 capability by the top of the yr.”

The notes proceed, “Elon’s tweet doesn’t match engineering actuality per CJ. Tesla is at Degree 2 at the moment.”

In its memo, the DMV is referring to CJ Moore, Director of Autopilot Software program on the electrical automobile maker. “Degree 2” know-how refers to a driver help system that isn’t autonomous, however as an alternative requires a driver to stay within the driver’s seat and able to steer the automotive at any time.

Musk has incessantly touted the corporate’s so-called “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) and FSD beta performance on Twitter, as he did in a sequence of tweets on March 6:

In a follow-up letter to Tesla on April 21, California DMV’s Miguel Acosta cautioned the electrical automobile maker that it should meticulously talk the correct use and limits of its techniques because it expands the FSD beta program to extra drivers. He wrote: “As Tesla is conscious, the general public’s misunderstanding concerning the limits of the know-how and its misuse can have tragic penalties.”

The Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration has opened greater than two dozen investigations into Tesla-involved collisions, and the Nationwide Transportation Security Board has warned that Tesla is utilizing drivers on public roads to check superior autonomous options, whereas calling on NHTSA for stricter tips across the know-how.

Tesla was not instantly accessible to touch upon the DMV memo.

Learn the complete California DMV memo on Plainsite.