Tesla: the arrival of supervised automatic driving soon in Europe?

Tesla drivers in Europe know that their version of Autopilot is heavily restricted and does not allow autonomous driving (although supervised by a driver) as is the case elsewhere. But the functionality Full Self-Driving (FSD), that is to say supervised autonomous driving, could well end up arriving on the Old Continent despite the legislation currently on its path.

Tesla celebrates victory a little quickly

November 22 on XTesla indicated that it had worked for 12 months to ensure that the FSD arrived in Europe. For this, demos have been sent to regulators in most European countries. Above all, the manufacturer indicates that it wants a partnership with the Dutch regulatory authorities (RDW) to make an exception to authorize FSD, and thus open a first breach on the continent.

Tesla also says that FSD is currently illegal in Europe due to outdated regulations and that changing its technology to make it compatible would make it unsafe and unusable. The firm states: “*While we have modified the FSD to be as compliant as possible where logical and reasonable, we will not sacrifice the security of a proven system or significantly degrade ease of use for customers.*”

In its post, Tesla even indicates that the RDW is committed to giving a national agreement in February 2026, while providing a link so that Tesla drivers can “express their enthusiasm and thank them for making this possible as quickly as possible“. Except that the RDW does not have the same story.

A potential first step in February

The regulator indicates as follows: “We do not provide detailed information on ongoing manufacturers’ requests as this is commercially sensitive information. However, we can say that the RDW and Tesla have established a timetable according to which Tesla should demonstrate in February 2026 that the Supervised FSD system meets the required standards.“

We are therefore still far from an agreement, and Tesla still has to prove itself. The RDW adds: “The RDW and Tesla are aware of the efforts required to reach a decision on this issue in February. It remains to be determined whether this deadline will be respected. For the RDW, (road) safety is paramount.“