Notebookcheck Logo

Model Y fails driver in license road test over FSD and regen braking as examiners mull banning Teslas altogether

Model Y one-pedal driving leads to road test fail (Image source: Tesla)
Model Y one-pedal driving leads to road test fail (Image source: Tesla)
There is a growing number of Model Y and other electric vehicles on US roads, and the number of driving license tests with them would only be increasing, but state authorities don't seem ready for the change.

The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) has cited staple Model Y features like one-pedal driving and driver-assist options as reasons for failing a road test and refusal to issue a driving license.

After a driving test with her parents' Model Y, one candidate lined up to take her license the next day, and was told that she failed the test due to an overwhelming amount of active driver-assist features in the car.

Apparently, she "didn't touch the brake pedal enough," so the examiners thought that the car is in Full Self-Driving (Supervised) mode.

When confronted that this particular Model Y doesn't have FSD purchased, they insisted that the brake pedal wasn't used as the examiner expected. Even after explaining how regenerative braking and one-pedal driving work on the Model Y, ADOT still insisted that this is not the case with other vehicles, so the test isn't valid.

One of the parents pointed out that tests carried out on automatic transmissions are still valid for driving stick, so the fact that ICE vehicles don't offer one-pedal driving shouldn't be a disqualifying factor. The state authorities then mentioned that they are evaluating whether to ban Teslas from driving license road tests altogether.

Eventually, however, ADOT decided to deal with the complexity, granted the driving license, and said that they will now work on figuring out whether to incorporate electric vehicles with one-pedal driving and driver-assist features in their testing routine. 

In places like Europe or Australia, a driver's test taken on a vehicle with automatic transmission is not valid for driving cars with stick shifts, and one has to use exam center cars for the test. In the US, however, road tests are much easier as most DMV test centers allow a driving license candidate to take the exam in their own cars that they will most likely be driving from then on anyway.

Get the Tesla Universal Wall Connector EV Charger with Dual Plug on Amazon

Source(s)

TheDuke432 (Reddit)

Read all 24 comments / answer
static version load dynamic
Loading Comments
Comment on this article
Please share our article, every link counts!
> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2024 09 > Model Y fails driver in license road test over FSD and regen braking as examiners mull banning Teslas altogether
Daniel Zlatev, 2024-09-21 (Update: 2024-09-28)