Reuters: Tesla pushed regulator to ease self-driving review

A Reuters investigation published Wednesday found that Tesla has run a pressure campaign aimed at getting its "Full Self-Driving (Supervised)" system approved across the European Union, and that the campaign is working. The report says Tesla pushed regulators to make their safety reviews less rigorous, sent them company research making strong claims about crash reductions, and used social media to rally fans to demand fast approvals.reuters

The findings come as support grows among European governments. Germany's transport minister, Steffen Bilger, said this week that he wants the system approved across the EU soon. Elon Musk replied on X: "Danke Schön!"benzinga+2

Dutch review under scrutiny

The Dutch regulator RDW gave FSD provisional approval on April 10 and has recommended approving it across the bloc. Seven other EU countries have since accepted the Dutch decision: Lithuania, Estonia, Denmark, Belgium, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Croatia. Reuters reviewed correspondence between Tesla and RDW and found that Tesla repeatedly tried to scale back the review, including by disputing €365,000 in testing costs. One RDW staffer then invited Tesla to suggest how the regulator "might adjust or reduce the required effort." RDW said it assesses driver-assistance systems "objectively and independently."eletric-vehicles+2

Tesla says FSD-equipped cars are 4.1 times less likely to crash than cars driven manually. Seven traffic-safety researchers who reviewed Tesla's Europe study for Reuters said it offers no evidence for the company's central claim that the system prevents fatal crashes. The study measured driving behaviors such as horn honking and hard braking instead of actual crashes. It also compared Tesla's own trained engineering drivers with ordinary owners. "When you start getting into 'lives saved,' that's where it gets nonsensical," said Marco Benedetti of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. Tesla did not respond to Reuters' questions.reuters+1

Germany weighs its own path

Bilger told a Berlin conference that an EU-level agreement is the best outcome. If that fails, he said, "one would have to talk about what could be done in Germany," according to the German news agency dpa. He said "many technical things" and questions of liability still had to be resolved. According to Benzinga, Tesla has offered to rename the system "Tesla Assisted Driving" in Europe.benzinga+1

Germany, France, Italy and Spain have not accepted the Dutch approval. French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot opposed expanding FSD in July, which led Musk to post that delaying it "will cost lives." Tabarot later described a "constructive exchange" with Musk.eletric-vehicles+1

Vote delayed

EU-wide approval needs the support of at least 15 of the 27 member states, representing 65% of the bloc's population. The Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles scheduled only a "continuation of discussions" for its October 6 meeting, so December is the earliest likely date for a vote. Sweden and other countries have raised concerns about a feature that lets drivers set the car to exceed speed limits.reuters+1

"We do not approve systems because they are popular, and we do not reject them because they are controversial," said Stein-Helge Mundal, a chief engineer at Norway's Public Roads Administration.reuters