Article from Danish Engineering media ing.dk. Danish to English translated with Lingvanex.

https://ing.dk/artikel/tesla-fejrede-stor-sejr-selvkoerende-biler-eu-parat-med-snubletraad

Tesla celebrated big victory for self-driving cars: EU ready with trip wire | The engineer

Tesla is pushing to get the EU Commission to approve the Full Self-Driving Supervised system. If it is a no, the Dutch approval will also be withdrawn.

The fact that the Dutch Transport Agency RDW approved Tesla's system FSD Supervised (self-driving, assisted) at the beginning of April was a victory for Tesla.

But now the real battle for the introduction of the system in the EU has begun.

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FSD stands for Full Self-Driving, and the Supervised addition means that it is a variant of the system that requires the driver to be constantly alert and ready to take over the driving. Thus, like Tesla Autopilot, it is a system for advanced driver support at level 2 on SAE's automation scale, where 5 is the highest level.

RDW has forwarded the issue to the EU Commission and its committee TCMV, the Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles. An approval in TCMV will mean that the system will be allowed to be used throughout the EU.

It would of course be a big victory for Tesla, whose CEO Elon Musk has invested a lot of prestige in the system. The company is still far from being able to offer full self-driving in Europe, but an approval would be a step in the right direction.

Nordic skepticism

Last week, the committee held its first meeting, where FSD Supervised was discussed. No decision was taken. In return, the Reuters news agency got hold of communications, which showed large differences in the Member States' views on the functionality included in the decision. From the Nordic side, there was, among other things, skepticism about winter conditions.

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»Are they really introducing a system that allows driving without your hands on the steering wheel even on icy roads at 80 km/h?« asked Jukka Juhola, representative of Finland's transport authority.

Hans Nordin, who is an investigator at the Swedish Transport Agency, wrote in an email that he was »quite surprised« that Tesla FSD allowed speeding and that it should not be allowed.

»It is important to say that it was an interpretation of initial public information in relation to current regulations where such functions are not permitted. It was not an interpretation of an official Swedish position,« says Hans Nordin to Ny Teknik about his wording in the email.

Tesla customers write to authorities

Elon Musk last year urged Tesla customers to contact European lawmakers to influence them to approve FSD Supervised. A Norwegian Tesla owner wrote that a rejection could “lead to lives being lost that would otherwise have been saved by technology”, according to Reuters.

A Norwegian official found that the authority had to spend a lot of time responding to misguided consumers. A European Tesla representative apologized and said that these kinds of emails usually do not make it easier to get an approval.

Hans Nordin says that the Danish Transport Agency has received a number of questions and views regarding Tesla FSD Supervised.

»We handle them according to the usual routines. The interest is great, but it does not seem to be as intense here as, for example, in Norway,« he says.

Hans Nordin does not sit on the committee himself; one of his colleagues does. In any case, it is Sweden's position, which is ultimately decided by the government, that is put forward in the committee, he points out. But what the position entails is not public. The committee's work takes place completely without insight. When asked why, he replies:

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»It is committee work which is governed by EU rules for exactly that type of work.«

Article 39

The process takes place in accordance with Article 39 of a European regulation on motor vehicles. Article 39 is specifically concerned with the possibility of seeking derogations from applicable rules in the type approval process for new technology or new principles. A similar system from Ford, Blue Cruise, for example, was also dealt with under Article 39. It was approved in 2023 and means that the driver must let his hands off the wheel.

The pressure is great on the participants in the process. The European Transport Safety Council, ETSC, has sent an open letter to Dutch RDW with a number of questions. Among other things, the ETSC challenges the Dutch authority's conclusion that FSD Supervised makes a positive contribution to road safety, and believes that it is difficult to reconcile with the available knowledge.

Hans Nordin points out that if the committee concludes that FSD Supervised is not approved, then the Dutch approval will also be withdrawn after six months. However, vehicles manufactured between the time of the Dutch approval and six months after the TCMV's no may continue to use the system, according to Article 39.

A no would of course be a hard setback for Tesla. But when TCMV is ready to make a decision remains unclear.

»We actually don't know. It depends on the discussions and negotiations in the committee before reaching a decision meeting. Usually it can take between two and three meetings, but it's hard to say for sure,« says Hans Nordin.

Requires a qualified majority

The next meeting will be held on 30 June. An approval requires a qualified majority, that is to say that 15 of the 27 countries, which represent at least 65 percent of the EU's population, must vote yes. If a number of populous countries say no, the system will not be approved, even if they are fewer than 15 in number. After TCMV, no further approval is required; after that, EU type approvals can be issued, according to Hans Nordin.

If FSD Supervised is approved, only vehicles placed on the road after approval apply. What should happen to all the cars that are already in traffic is an unresolved question.

»We analyze how best to handle vehicles that have already been put into use. This is done through national regulation rather than international harmonisation. We understand that there are expectations from vehicle owners and we hope to find a good way to deal with it,« says Hans Nordin.

The article originates from the Swedish media New Technique. The engineer translates and brings selected articles from Ny Teknik as part of a collaboration between the two media.