EVwire brief: The Færdselsstyrelsens (Danish Road Traffic Authority) has publicly pushed back against recent reports suggesting it expressed skepticism or criticism toward Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) Supervised system.
Recently, Reuters published an article claiming that “European regulators show(ed) marked skepticism” towards FSD Supervised and its safety benefits.
The Danish Road Traffic Authority’s response to Reuters’ claims is direct (emphasis ours).
“In recent days, it has been reported in several media outlets that the Danish Road Traffic Authority has expressed criticism and skepticism about Tesla's FSD Supervised.
“The Danish Road Traffic Authority has at no time expressed either positive or negative opinions about the approval of Tesla's FSD Supervised, and therefore cannot recognize the criticisms we are being quoted for.”
Here’s a screenshot of the Danish Road Traffic Authority’s post (in original Danish and translated through Google Translate).
Context:
The Reuters report cited email correspondence involving regulators from the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway regarding Tesla’s push to secure European approval for FSD Supervised.
Reuters reported that some regulators had raised concerns involving speeding behavior, icy road performance, and driver monitoring safeguards. The report also claimed that regulators were frustrated by Tesla publicly encouraging owners to contact authorities regarding FSD Supervised’s approval.
The publication also included several quotes from regulators expressing their doubts about the capabilities of FSD Supervised, such as Hans Nordin, a Swedish Transport Agency investigator, who criticized Tesla’s decision to allow FSD to speed.
Reuters posted a video about its report:
Nordin also reportedly expressed concerns that the system’s name, Full Self-Driving Supervised, could mislead drivers into thinking that their car can drive itself without human supervision.
Tesla’s FSD Supervised system was recently accepted by the Dutch vehicle authority RDW, which is now seeking broader EU approval through the bloc’s regulatory process.
During its approval, the RDW highlighted that FSD Supervised, when used properly, makes roads safer. Here’s the RDWs comment (emphasis ours).
“Due to the continuous strict monitoring of the driver in the vehicle, the system is safer than other driver assistance systems… The proper use of this driver's system makes a positive contribution to road safety.”
We covered the RDW’s FSD Supervised approval in this article:
In its statement, the Danish Road Traffic Authority stressed that regulatory discussions tied to vehicle approvals are subject to strict confidentiality requirements under Danish and EU law.
Here’s the rest of the statement. (We know this is unusual, but in articles like this, it’s best to have the full statement of the parties involved.)
“In addition to the media coverage, the Danish Road Traffic Authority also receives a large number of inquiries and requests for access to documents regarding whether we are currently processing an application from Tesla.
“The Danish Transport Authority's regulatory tasks in relation to vehicle type approval are subject to national and EU legal obligations of secrecy and confidentiality.
“This applies both to any processing of specific cases regarding approval or acceptance of type approvals, and to participation in and any voting in committees established under the EU Commission, including the TCMV (Technical Committee Motor Vehicles).
“We refer to press releases from vehicle manufacturers and to published information about TCMV meetings on the EU Commission's Comitology Register.”
Tesla expects FSD Supervised to be approved in more European countries soon
Source: Færdselsstyrelsens, Reuters, and Philip Engberg on X
DIG DEEPER into the Tesla industry news with our dedicated TESLAWIRE page. And don’t forget to subscribe to our EV industry newsletter to join 14,000+ EV geeks.
