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Carwow bolsters executive team with key appointments. Carwow Group has expanded its Executive Team with the appointment of Hizam Sahibudeen (pictured) as its chief technology officer and Rinesh Sheth as general counsel. Sahibudeen will lead Carwow's technology vision and strategy, manage the Engineering and IT & Security teams, and drive AI-embedded product innovation. John Veichmanis, Chief Executive Officer of Carwow Group, said: "Hizam is a proven champion of AI-native engineering practices and data-driven decision-making, meaning he has the experience, vision and energy to deliver world-class capabilities as we continue to scale the Carwow platform. "As our business continues to grow in scale and complexity, having Legal & Compliance represented at Executive level is the right step for the next chapter of Carwow Group. "Rinesh brings not only deep legal expertise but also sound commercial judgement and a genuine commitment to our mission and culture. His perspective will be invaluable as we navigate the opportunities ahead." Sahibudeen succeeds David Santoro, co-founder and former CTO at Carwow Group, who built the original Carwow platform and remains a valued member of the Engineering leadership team as Principle Engineer. He is a product-centric technology leader who joins with more than 20 years of experience in building scalable, secure systems and leading high-performance teams of up to 300 across the US, Europe and Asia. Sheth has also joined the Executive Team having served as Carwow's General Counsel since 2024, during which time he has built the Group's legal function and led the legal workstreams underpinning several of Carwow's most significant commercial milestones. He is a senior business lawyer and has over 20 years of international legal experience having worked on and led complex cross border M&A and commercial transactions.

Carwow's Tesla FSD video gets it wrong: what UK owners need to know. Table of Contents TODAY - 0h ago The News: YouTube channel Carwow published a video titled "Why Tesla Full Self Drive is Pointless!" to its 11 million subscribers - but the video tests Autopilot, not FSD, which isn't even approved in the UK yet. Why It Matters: Millions of UK viewers are now walking away with a fundamentally incorrect understanding of what Tesla's driver-assistance systems actually do - and what's legally available on British roads. A viral video, a critical mistake. Carwow - one of the UK's most-watched automotive YouTube channels - just dropped a video titled "Why Tesla Full Self Drive is Pointless!" The problem? It doesn't actually test Full Self-Driving. It tests Autopilot. And for the 11 million subscribers who watched it, that distinction almost certainly got lost. Tesla commentator Sawyer Merritt flagged the issue directly, pointing out that Carwow conflated Autopilot - Tesla's standard highway assist - with Full Self-Driving, a separate, more advanced capability that has not yet received regulatory approval in the UK. Autopilot was never designed for city streets, which is exactly where Carwow appears to have tested it. Autopilot vs. FSD: the difference that actually matters. This isn't a minor naming mix-up. Autopilot and FSD are fundamentally different products with different capabilities, different price points, and different regulatory statuses. Here's what each system actually does: | Feature | Autopilot | FSD (Supervised) | | Included with Tesla? Yes, standard | Paid upgrade | | Primary use case | Motorways & dual carriageways | City streets, complex routes | | Key capabilities | Lane keeping, adaptive cruise control | Traffic lights, stop signs, lane changes, city navigation | | Driver required? Yes - hands on wheel | Yes - active supervision required | | UK approval status | | Approved (Level 2) | | Not yet approved | When Carwow took a Tesla onto city streets and engaged Autopilot - a system explicitly designed for structured motorway environments - and then declared FSD "pointless," they weren't reviewing FSD. They were reviewing a system being used outside its intended environment, and labelling it something it isn't. Where the UK stands on FSD approval. The UK's regulatory path for autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles is actually one of the more progressive in the world, but FSD hasn't crossed the finish line yet. Following Brexit, the UK now operates under its own framework guided by the Automated Vehicles Act 2024, which lays the groundwork for self-driving technology from 2026 onward. The UK government has signalled it is fast-tracking commercial pilots for self-driving vehicle services on England's roads from Spring 2026. For personal owners, experts expect supervised FSD could receive national approval through the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) in mid-to-late 2026, with full UNECE international standard compliance potentially following around early 2027. In the meantime, all Tesla driver-assistance systems available in the UK - including Autopilot and Enhanced Autopilot - are classified as Level 2. That means the driver is legally and physically responsible at all times. Hands on the wheel. Eyes on the road. No exceptions. Why this kind of misinformation is genuinely harmful. It's tempting to dismiss this as a content creator getting their terminology slightly wrong. But the scale here matters. Eleven million subscribers. A title that directly references "Full Self Drive." Viewers who may never read a correction or follow-up. The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) has specifically flagged "mode confusion" - where drivers misunderstand the level of automation their vehicle actually has - as a genuine safety concern. The UK's Department for Transport is even consulting on secondary legislation that would make it a criminal offense to misuse terms like "self-driving" or "driverless" in vehicle marketing. The concern isn't abstract: overconfidence in a system's capabilities can lead to reduced driver attention at exactly the wrong moment. A video that presents Autopilot as FSD - and then concludes FSD is pointless because Autopilot struggled in city conditions - doesn't just misinform. It potentially shapes how viewers interact with these systems in their own vehicles. The BASENOR take. Timeline: Carwow video published March 19, 2026 | FSD UK approval expected mid-to-late 2026 at earliest Impact Level: Medium - reputational and public perception risk for Tesla in a key market Confidence: High - the regulatory facts are well-established; the video's framing is verifiably inaccurate Analysis: Carwow's video is a textbook example of a problem Tesla has struggled with for years: the gap between what its systems are called and what the public believes they can do. "Full Self-Driving" is an aspirational product name that has always invited confusion, and that confusion is now being amplified by major media channels to audiences of millions. Tesla UK owners should be aware that the video's conclusions are based on testing the wrong product in the wrong environment. When FSD does eventually arrive in the UK, it will be a meaningfully different experience from what Carwow demonstrated - and it will still require your full attention behind the wheel. Deep dive. The Carwow situation is a microcosm of a broader challenge Tesla faces globally: its product naming has consistently outpaced regulatory reality. "Full Self-Driving" implies a level of autonomy that no jurisdiction - including the US - has yet approved for unsupervised operation. In the UK, where FSD hasn't even been submitted for final approval, that gap is even wider. The result is a media environment where well-intentioned reviewers routinely test the wrong thing and draw the wrong conclusions. For UK Tesla owners, the practical takeaway is straightforward: Autopilot is what you have, it works well on motorways, and it requires your active supervision. FSD - the system that handles traffic lights, roundabouts, and complex city navigation - is not yet available to you, regardless of what any YouTube title suggests. When it does arrive, it will represent a genuine step change in capability, not the underwhelming city performance Carwow captured on camera. The broader concern is what happens in the interim. With the UK government actively legislating against misuse of self-driving terminology, high-profile content creators publishing inaccurate comparisons to millions of viewers sits in an uncomfortable space. It's unlikely to trigger legal action - Carwow isn't selling vehicles - but it does underscore why accurate, accessible reporting on these systems matters. Confusion about what a car can and cannot do isn't just an inconvenience. At highway speeds, it's a safety issue. For more on the state of its FSD coverage, including the latest on global regulatory progress, check its dedicated section. BASENOR Team Tesla accessory experts since 2017. Trusted by 500,000+ Tesla owners for the latest news, owner tips, and honest product insights. Stay in the Loop Join 27,000+ Tesla owners who get its tips first - plus 10% OFF

NextGear Capital & Carwow. Where opportunity meets buying power. NextGear Capital stock funding integrated into Carwow's stock sourcing platform. NextGear Capital has partnered with Carwow to make it quicker and easier for retailers to fund purchases through Carwow's daily online auctions. NextGear Capital funding options have been embedded within the Carwow Wallet digital payment solution, which means dealers can apply for a NextGear Capital account and instantly use their Stocking Plan to make a payment on an auction purchase. This will accelerate stock turn and ease cashflow pressures for dealers, making it easier to commit to new stock without having to wait for existing stock to leave the forecourt. Commenting on the new integrated stock funding within Carwow Wallet, Ben Bradley from Bradleys Cars in Sheffield said: "[NextGear Capital's] stock funding within Carwow Wallet is seamless; in just a couple of clicks, an auction win is paid for. It has been a fantastic addition to the platform and has significantly improved our cash flow management." As of February 2026, NextGear Capital has funded more than 900,000 vehicles worth a combined value of £8.1b. Since its launch, Carwow Wallet has supported the sale of almost 12,000 cars with a combined value of more than £185m in its daily auctions. In the first two months of 2026, it has already processed over £58m-worth of vehicles. Matt Cockerill, VP of Performance & Trading at Carwow, commented: "Dealers want less friction and more certainty at the point of purchase. This latest enhancement to Carwow Wallet is part of our continued investment in creating an end-to-end stock sourcing platform that simplifies life for our dealer partners. Integrating NextGear Capital funding into Carwow Wallet consolidates funding and payment into one workflow, meaning faster collections for sellers, clearer records for finance and a simpler sourcing experience for dealers." Zoe Sutton, Head of Partnerships & Banking Systems, NextGear Capital UK & Ireland, added: "In a fast moving, competitive market, the ability to buy decisively when the opportunity arises is vital. Stocking plans enable dealers to do just this, reducing their financial friction and scaling their inventory without tying up capital on their forecourts. We're excited to be partnering with Carwow to bring these benefits to dealers across the UK, enabling them to buy the cars they need, when they need them." Carwow auctions give dealers access to more than 20,000 vehicles per month and have facilitated over 300,000 vehicles on dealer forecourts to date. Dealers can sign up to Carwow auctions by completing the online registration form here. Eligible dealers can apply for, or link to, an existing NextGear Capital account within Carwow Wallet.