EVwire Brief: Tesla and the Dutch vehicle authority (RDW) have completed the final testing phase for Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in Europe.
Tesla noted that approval in the Netherlands is currently expected around April 10, a shift from an earlier March 20 estimate.
Once granted, the approval could be recognized by other European countries, potentially accelerating FSD’s broader deployment across the region.
The update was shared by Tesla’s Europe and Middle East account on X, which confirmed that all required documentation for FSD (Supervised) has been submitted for UN R-171 approval and Article 39 exemptions.
Tesla estimated that an EU-wide approval could follow as early as summer, though this would depend on how FSD’s national-level recognition progresses.
Tesla’s submission follows an extensive validation process spanning more than 18 months.
This included over 1.6 million kilometers of real-world FSD (Supervised) testing across European roads, along with more than 13,000 customer ride-alongs and over 4,500 controlled track test scenarios. We actually did one of the ride-alongs in Spain just recently, which you can read about on EVwire here.
Tesla has implemented several initiatives in Europe to familiarize drivers with FSD (Supervised) and its capabilities
The approval effort also involved thousands of pages of documentation covering more than 400 compliance requirements, as well as numerous research studies focused on safety performance and system validation.
Tesla described the process as a collaborative effort with RDW, highlighting the scale of regulatory work required to bring supervised autonomy to European markets.
Elon Musk also responded to the update on X, joking that the timeline could shift to April 20, a reference to a number that’s been infamous for the CEO.
RDW approval could unlock FSD’s broader European rollout
A successful approval in the Netherlands would serve as a key regulatory gateway for FSD, as it could push other European countries to recognize the system’s certification at a national level.
This framework could significantly streamline Tesla’s expansion of FSD (Supervised) across Europe, where regulatory fragmentation has historically slowed the rollout of advanced driver-assistance solutions.
Tesla has offered FSD as an optional add-on to vehicle orders in Europe since 2019, so the system’s upcoming approval has been a long time coming.
Data from the U.S. shows Teslas operating with FSD (Supervised) are 7x less likely to be involved in a major or minor accident
Tesla has pointed to internal safety data suggesting that vehicles operating with FSD (Supervised) experience significantly fewer major collisions per mile compared to manually driven vehicles.
According to the company, one major collision occurs approximately every 5.3 million miles with FSD (Supervised), compared to about 2.2 million miles for vehicles driven manually with active safety systems and roughly 855,000 miles without them.
The U.S. average over the same period was approximately one major collision every 660,000 miles.
While the wait for FSD (Supervised) in Europe has been extensive, it would likely be worth it, just for the system’s safety benefits alone.
