Tesla CEO Elon Musk paints an optimistic picture that the company’s “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) system will receive approval across the European Union in a short time. However, regulatory bodies of various countries in Europe have serious doubts about the technology’s safety standards and marketing strategies.

Dutch road regulator RDW approved Tesla’s “FSD (Supervised)” technology in April. Now, with this approval, they are trying to initiate a permit process valid throughout the European Union.

Regulators’ security concerns

Regulatory authorities in the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway express various reservations about the safety of FSD technology. These institutions question the system’s tendency to exceed speed limits and whether its performance is safe enough in icy road conditions.

Regulators are also concerned about the possibility that drivers could disable features that prevent cell phone use. Some authorities state that the name “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” may create a false perception among consumers that the vehicle is completely self-driving.

A Swedish inspector expresses surprise that Tesla’s FSD system allowed speeding, and that this is unacceptable. Finnish authorities, on the other hand, raise questions about the performance of the system on snowy and icy roads.

Tesla attaches great importance to FSD approval to increase its share in the European market again. The company states that it expects the approval process across Europe to be completed in the second or third quarter of this year.

Print strategy and approval process

European regulators have expressed dismay at Tesla’s strategy of encouraging vehicle owners to put pressure on regulators. In his previous statements, Musk had called on customers to put pressure on regulators.

A Norwegian official states that such guidance misinforms consumers and complicates the work of regulatory authorities. Ivan Komusanac, Tesla’s EU policy manager, acknowledged that this did not help the approval process and apologized to officials.

In order for FSD to gain approval across Europe, approval is required from 55% of member countries and 65% of the population. There is currently no voting schedule and the next meetings are expected to be held in July and October.

Some regulators say they find the system’s performance in complex traffic conditions positive. A Danish official states that the vehicles perform very successfully in Copenhagen traffic.

This difficult approval process for Tesla in Europe is seen as a critical turning point for the company’s sales targets and competitiveness in the region.

Do you think Tesla’s FSD technology is ready to meet Europe’s stringent safety standards?