FSD NEWS 🇪🇺 Following talks with German regulators, Tesla has offered to drop the "Full Self-Driving" (FSD) label in Europe and rename the software "Tesla Assisted Driving" (TAD) 🔥
The concession directly tackles a major regulatory sticking point: European officials argue that calling it "FSD" is misleading.
Because the system functions strictly as a driver-assist tool rather than a fully autonomous platform, the driver remains 100% legally responsible behind the wheel and must stay alert at all times.
German Transport Minister Steffen Bilger confirmed that Berlin and Tesla reached common ground back in September after hashing out key technical and liability details. Bilger announced he will now actively champion swift, EU-wide approval so drivers across the continent can finally get access.
The negotiations also yielded an interesting compromise: the German Ministry and Tesla agreed that the system can slightly exceed posted speed limits, by up to 10%, to keep traffic flowing naturally.
Ditching the controversial "FSD" name in favor of "Tesla Assisted Driving" shows Tesla is ready to play ball with European regulators to finally secure a green light.
FSD NEWS 🇩🇪 Germany is considering approving Tesla’s FSD Supervised on its own national territory if an EU-wide consensus cannot be reached 🔥
Transport Minister Steffen Bilger confirmed that while an EU-wide framework remains the ideal route, Germany will explore its own path if European negotiations stall, prioritizing innovation and potential safety gains despite open technical and liability questions.
This unilateral move is legally possible under Article 39(5) of EU Regulation 2018/858, which allows individual member states to adopt provisional technology exemptions already granted by the Dutch vehicle licensing authority (RDW).
Because formal EU committee decisions have been delayed until at least December, taking this step would align Germany with a growing list of nations that have already opted in: 🇳🇱 the Netherlands, 🇧🇪 Belgium, 🇩🇰 Denmark, 🇨🇿 the Czech Republic, 🇪🇪 Estonia, 🇱🇹 Lithuania, and 🇸🇮 Slovenia.
Before giving any green light, the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) plans to conduct independent vehicle tests. German regulators want concrete answers regarding driver-attention safeguards, legal liability, and an identified software flaw that can cause vehicles to exceed posted speed limits.
Going solo, however, comes with a ticking clock and significant legal exposure. If the European Commission ultimately vetoes the broader EU framework, any German national exemption would automatically expire after six months.
While conventional rules allow previously built vehicles to stay registered, it remains entirely unresolved whether Tesla would be legally forced to remotely revoke over-the-air software features from existing owners.
A national approval would also trap the feature inside German borders. Because neighboring transit hubs like France and Austria have not adopted the exemption, German drivers would face a fragmented patchwork where FSD operates domestically but must abruptly disengage the moment they cross an international boundary.