EVwire brief: The Municipality of Strängnäs, Sweden is set to decide whether to allow Tesla to test its Full Self-Driving (FSD) system on municipal roads, with a recommendation in favor of approval.
The proposed test program would run for one year and involve supervised driving on local streets. The move would expand Tesla’s growing FSD testing footprint across Sweden and Europe in general.
The update was shared on X by Tesla community member Anders Nyman:
Context:
The proposal comes from municipal officials, with city environment and service manager Anders Ekman recommending approval for Tesla’s request. The tests would be limited to municipal roads, which are separate from national infrastructure already approved for similar trials.
Tesla has already conducted over 1,000,000 miles of testing across European countries as of last month, and Swedish authorities have previously approved testing on national roads. Municipal-level approvals, however, are required to expand into local urban environments.
Expectations are high that other European countries will soon approve FSD Supervised, following the system’s approval from the RDW
If approved, Strängnäs would join a growing list of Swedish municipalities supporting Tesla’s FSD testing, including Nacka, with Danderyd expected to follow.
These deployments are part of a broader European rollout, where Tesla is gradually expanding access to Supervised FSD while working within regulatory frameworks that still require active driver oversight.
The tests are expected to be relatively low-profile, with officials noting that most residents may not notice them beyond occasional unusual driving behavior.
“It would probably be if you see a Tesla in a roundabout and its driver isn’t holding the wheel. Then you’d probably perk up. But I think this feels exciting.”
Labor tensions continue in parallel in Sweden
The expansion of Tesla’s testing in Sweden comes amid ongoing labor tensions against the IF Metall union. Tesla Sweden and IF Metall’s conflict has now been ongoing for 2.5 years.
LO Stockholm recently awarded its “Kängan” (The Kick) to Mats Gerdau for allowing FSD testing in Nacka. The union argued the decision “favored” Tesla despite the company not signing a collective bargaining agreement.
Gerdau defended the move as a matter of public service: “Allowing self-driving cars is great. LO has its own interest in advocating for collective agreements. And we have an interest in providing good service to citizens.”
He also pushed back on excluding companies based on labor agreements: “Some of those companies don't have collective agreements—does that mean they're bad companies? No, of course not.”
Source: Strengnas Tidning
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