Tesla FSD clears Netherlands
Dutch regulator RDW has approved Tesla’s Full Self‑Driving for use on all Netherlands roads, and Tesla is pushing for an EU‑wide rollout as the next step. (x.com) The news landed alongside a Cantor Fitzgerald reiteration of an Overweight rating with a $510 target and local infrastructure moves like a new eight‑stall Supercharger in Abbeville, France. ( )
Tesla can now activate Full Self-Driving Supervised in the Netherlands after the Dutch vehicle authority approved the system on April 10. (rdw.nl) The regulator, known as RDW, said it spent more than one and a half years testing Tesla’s driver-assistance software on a test track and on public roads before issuing the approval. RDW said the permit has provisional validity in the Netherlands and could later support admission in all European Union member states. (rdw.nl) RDW did not approve a self-driving car. It approved a driver-controlled assistance system, which means the human driver remains legally responsible and must stay attentive enough to take over immediately. (rdw.nl) Tesla describes Full Self-Driving Supervised as software that can handle route navigation, steering, lane changes and parking “under your active supervision.” On Tesla’s own product page, the company says the feature is now available in the Netherlands alongside the United States, Canada, China, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea. (tesla.com) The Dutch approval matters because Europe has moved more slowly than North America and China on advanced driver-assistance rollouts, with national regulators and European Union rules shaping what can be enabled on public roads. RDW said the Dutch authorization can be followed by a broader European process involving other member states. (rdw.nl; nltimes.nl) Tesla had been signaling this decision for months. On March 20, RDW said Tesla and the agency were in the final stage of the review after an intensive joint test program that had begun about 18 months earlier. (rdw.nl) The restrictions are central to the approval. RDW said drivers cannot read a newspaper, use the system as a hands-off substitute for attention, or otherwise disengage from traffic, and the software monitors eye direction and whether the driver’s hands are available to retake the wheel. (rdw.nl) If the driver does not respond, the system escalates warnings and can be temporarily blocked from being enabled again. RDW said that monitoring requirement is part of why it concluded the software, when used correctly, can make a positive contribution to road safety. (rdw.nl) The approval arrived as Tesla faces a mixed market backdrop. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an Overweight rating on April 6 after Tesla reported 358,023 first-quarter deliveries and 408,386 vehicles produced, both below several Wall Street expectations. (investing.com) For Tesla, the next test is not whether the software can be switched on in one country, but whether Dutch approval can be turned into a wider European rollout under the same supervised-driving limits. (rdw.nl; tesla.com)
