The European subsidiary of Tesla announced today that it has completed all vehicle tests for Full Self-Driving in the Netherlands, but the expected approval date has been moved from March 20 to April 10. The announcement, presented by Tesla as progress, also indicates that a broader EU-wide approval is no longer expected before the summer.
See also: NHTSA: Tesla is one step away from FSD recall
Tesla Europe posted on X today that it has “officially completed the final vehicle testing phase” for the FSD with the Dutch road authority RDW and has submitted all required documents for UN R-171 approval and Article 39 exemptions. However, the RDW is still internally reviewing the documentation package and test results.
Tesla said that the Dutch regulator has communicated a new expected approval date of April 10, moving it from the target of March 20 that CEO Elon Musk had previously mentioned. It is worth noting that when Musk claimed that the RDW would grant them approval in March, the RDW had to correct him, stating that no approval is guaranteed. Tesla shared test data to support its case: over 1.6 million kilometers of FSD testing on EU roads, more than 13,000 customer rides, over 4,500 test scenarios on a track, and thousands of compliance documentation pages covering over 400 requirements.
After the Dutch approval, whenever it comes, other European countries could recognize the Dutch approval at the national level under the EU’s mutual recognition rules. Tesla expects a “possible EU-wide approval during the summer.” European Tesla owners have heard promises of advanced driver assistance features in the past. Musk claimed that FSD would be available in Europe in the summer of 2022, which did not happen.
See also: Viral video: Tesla 'Full Self-Driving' goes through railway barriers
At the end of 2024, Tesla said that approval would come in early 2025, which also did not happen. At the World Economic Forum in Davos in January, Musk indicated that FSD could be approved in Europe and China in February 2026, but the Chinese government quickly dismissed this claim. The European timeline also was not realized, as the expected approval date has been pushed back another three weeks.
Regulatory authorities were not quick to approve Tesla's claims. When Tesla first announced the Netherlands timeline for the end of 2025, the RDW clarified that it had only set a program for Tesla to demonstrate that the FSD meets the required standards, not to commit to approving it, something that appears to have been confirmed by Tesla today. The timing of today's announcement comes as Tesla's FSD program faces increasing scrutiny internally.
Just yesterday, NHTSA upgraded its investigation of FSD accidents to Mechanical Analysis covering 3.2 million vehicles, usually the final step before a recall.
See also: California: Tesla opens first Megacharger station for Semi customers
This announcement may appear as progress, and in a narrow technical sense, it is — the completion of a testing program with a national regulator is a specific milestone. However, Tesla owners in the EU have been disappointed by the missed deadlines of FSD in the past, so skepticism remains. The date has already been moved from March 20 to April 10 and there is no guarantee it will not be moved again.
