Currently: Tesla says, per the minister, new names and stricter speed controls for Euro-FSD are coming
Image: teslamag.de (Driving with FSD Supervised in the USA)
On Tuesday, an EU technical committee discussed once again whether Tesla’s FSD Supervised system should receive widespread approval in the region, following eight countries that have already granted special permits for it. Germany is not among them yet, but shortly before the meeting, Transport Minister Steffen Bilger advocated for approving the system at the EU level soon. According to him, agreements had been reached with Tesla on key issues beforehand.
German Minister Supports Tesla
To date, German politicians and officials have not been outright opposed to requests regarding the approval of FSD Supervised but have adopted a wait-and-see attitude. In July, it was stated that the Federal Motor Transport Authority would first conduct its own tests with the assistance system and that a decision for the entire EU was desired. It had been expected since late September that a decision would not be made at the committee meeting on Tuesday; the next opportunity would now be in December.
What is new, however, is Transport Minister Bilger’s clear support for FSD approval in the EU. According to a dpa report, he even hinted at a meeting on Tuesday that Germany might grant an exception permit for the system, as seven other member states have done since April following the Netherlands. A statement from the ministry on the same day does not repeat the national option, but it confirms that Bilger is pushing for rapid EU approval.
Tesla Assisted Driving instead of FSD
The minister was also quoted as saying that he “had discussions with Tesla” in September, during which a “constructive agreement was reached,” which forms the basis for his support of the FSD approval. The agreement with Bilger concerns the naming convention. Tesla added “Supervised” to FSD (for Full Self-Driving) first in the U.S. and later in other countries. According to the minister, the company has now offered to rename the system Tesla Assisted Driving for EU approval.
The current name FSD is “somewhat misleading,” the statement says, citing this as the reason for this requirement (though Tesla passed a review by a German court years ago). It is not a system that takes over all driving tasks, even though it assists with acceleration, braking, and steering, the ministry clarifies.
FSD approval possible in December
The talks also resulted in an agreement with Tesla that FSD may only exceed the speed limit by up to 10 percent, the statement adds. This could remove another obstacle to EU-wide approval: previously, some national regulators had criticized the Tesla system for exceeding limits more significantly.
It now increasingly appears that European Tesla owners will receive the long-awaited approval for FSD (or Assisted Driving) by Christmas 2026. However, this applies only to those driving a relatively new electric vehicle equipped with the fourth generation of Autopilot hardware (HW4); the previous version, HW3, is less powerful (Tesla offers FSD Light for it in the U.S.) and would likely require its own approval process. Additionally, FSD cannot be purchased as an option across Europe since May; like in the U.S., it can only be subscribed to via monthly payments.
