Musk’s gamble on Europe: Will others follow the Dutch and accept FSD?

RDW approval took 18 months and was based on more than one million kilometers (1.6 million km) driven on EU roads, 13,000 customer rides, and several filing cabinets full of documents. And, based on his judgment, he says the system is safe if used properly. Today, RDW will present its findings to other European regulators. At some point, probably at the end of this summer, the Committee on Motor Vehicles will vote on whether or not to accept RDW approval in all EU countries; Tesla needs 15 out of 27 countries to approve it.

Based on emails seen by Reuters, some of those regulators are skeptical. A Swedish government official was “surprised” to learn that the machine had been designed to break speeding laws, something he would not be happy about. He also questioned whether the FSD name “runs the risk of giving consumers a misleading impression,” which critics have maintained is the result of Tesla’s actions.

Winter performance was another problem: “Are they really introducing a system that allows hands-free driving on snowy roads at 80 km/h?” asked a Finnish official, who also raised the issue of large animal collisions—just think of Sweden’s famous moose test.

The emails also show Tesla’s lobbying of Swedish authorities to lure the Dutch just days after RDW announced its approval and before the Swedes had reviewed any of the documents.

The next meetings of the Technical Committee – when it can have a possible vote – are in July and October.