Tesla FSD hits Netherlands
Tesla began rolling out Full Self‑Driving (Supervised) to customers in the Netherlands one day after regulators approved it, making the Netherlands the first European country to permit Tesla’s supervised FSD rollout (notateslaapp.com) (theverge.com). The approval is limited to the Netherlands and may require drivers to deactivate FSD when crossing borders, the rollout follows about 18 months of local testing, and Tesla’s v14.3 update also adds a safety restriction that forces Chill or Sloth driving modes when the system detects hydroplaning risk; meanwhile the U.S. NHTSA investigation into FSD remains active (heise.de) (notateslaapp.com).
Tesla started rolling out Full Self-Driving (Supervised) to Dutch customers on April 11, one day after the Netherlands approved it for public roads. (rdw.nl) (electrek.co) The Dutch vehicle authority, RDW, said it had tested the system for more than one and a half years on a test track and on public roads before issuing the approval on April 10. RDW said the software is a driver-assistance system and “a vehicle with FSD Supervised is not self-driving.” (rdw.nl) The approval is valid in the Netherlands, not automatically across the European Union. Electrek reported the authorization was issued under United Nations Regulation 171 for Driver Control Assistance Systems, with other European Union countries left to decide whether to recognize it nationally. (electrek.co) (heise.de) That means the software can steer, change lanes, and handle many driving tasks, but the driver remains legally responsible and must be ready to take over immediately. RDW said the car monitors whether the driver’s eyes are on the road and whether their hands are available to retake the wheel. (rdw.nl) Tesla’s Dutch approval follows a long local test program. Electrek reported Tesla logged more than 1.6 million kilometers on European roads, more than 13,000 customer ride-alongs, and more than 4,500 track test scenarios during the review. (electrek.co) The rollout lands as Tesla is also shipping Full Self-Driving version 14.3, a software update that changes how aggressively the car drives. Tesla’s support page says version 14 includes “Speed Profiles,” and Not a Tesla App reported version 14.3 can force the calmer Chill or Sloth profiles when the system detects a possible hydroplaning surface. (tesla.com) (notateslaapp.com) U.S. regulators are still scrutinizing the same product family. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an engineering analysis on March 18 covering about 3.2 million Tesla vehicles equipped with Full Self-Driving after examining crashes in reduced-visibility conditions. (nhtsa.gov) A separate National Highway Traffic Safety Administration preliminary evaluation opened on October 7, 2025 is also still on the books. That probe covers an estimated 2.88 million Tesla vehicles and focuses on reports of traffic-law violations, including red-light and wrong-way incidents while Full Self-Driving was engaged. (nhtsa.gov) For Tesla, the Netherlands is now the first opening in Europe, but it is a narrow one: supervised use, one country, and a driver who stays responsible for every mile. (rdw.nl) (heise.de)
