Tesla FSD Europe approval faces safety doubts: Here’s what to know

If you drive a Tesla in Europe, hands-free Full Self-Driving (FSD) could soon be on your dashboard. The Tesla FSD Europe approval now hinges on a vote by regulators from 27 EU countries. 

A Reuters investigation says the evidence behind it is thinner than Tesla claims.

The Netherlands has already signed off. Seven other countries, including the Czech Republic, Belgium and Denmark, have granted national approvals. Tesla needs backing from 55% of member states, representing 65% of the EU's population.

Tesla's "evidence dashboard" compares FSD cars driven by its own professional engineers with ordinary owners' cars. Its FSD sample covered only tens or hundreds of thousands of miles, against hundreds of millions for manually driven Teslas. 

Seven traffic-safety researchers told Reuters that the gap makes crash-rate comparisons impossible.

So Tesla used stand-ins: horn honking, blinker use, and hard braking. Researchers called some of those poor indicators of crash danger. The study's own fine print says its results are not "causal estimates".

How did Tesla press the Dutch regulator?

Emails obtained by Reuters reveal Tesla urging Rijksdienst voor het Wegverkeer (RDW), the Netherlands Vehicle Authority, the Dutch regulator, to get the testing process started quickly. One of the company representatives referred to the process as "mission critical" to Tesla's management. Tesla also disputed an invoice worth €365,000 for five months of work done, demanding to see a detailed invoice before paying.

In return, RDW proposed reducing the depth of the review. As RDW stated, it evaluates all manufacturers "objectively and independently".

Elon Musk wrote in X that FSD's delay in France "will result in deaths." Tesla owners began bombarding the French transport minister's page and writing emails to the transport ministries in Sweden and Norway.

The Norwegian road authority claimed it does not approve systems just because they are popular.

The EU-wide vote is expected soon. Sweden and Finland haven't announced decisions, and France's minister has softened his tone after speaking with Musk. If approval comes, Tesla becomes the first carmaker allowed to have hands-free driving on any European road.