Tesla has renamed its driver-assistance system in Europe. What U.S. owners know as "Full Self-Driving (Supervised)" is now called "Tesla Assisted Driving" on the continent, TechCrunch reported on Oct. 9.

Why the name changed

Germany's transport minister, Steffen Bilger, said earlier this month that "Full Self-Driving" was somewhat misleading because the software does not perform the entire driving task. According to a release from his ministry cited by TechCrunch, Bilger spoke with Tesla in September and the company suggested the new name. Bilger now says he will advocate for approval across Europe. On Oct. 6 he had said that if an EU-wide agreement fails, Germany would consider "what can be done in Germany" on its own.

Where it's legal today

The Netherlands' vehicle regulator, RDW, approved the system first. Since then, seven more EU countries have adopted the Dutch approval for their own roads: Lithuania, Estonia, Denmark, Belgium, Slovenia, Czechia and, most recently, Croatia. Those are mostly small markets.

The EU's Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles discussed extending approval across the bloc on Oct. 6, for the third time, without a vote. A decision is now expected at its December meeting. Approval requires a qualified majority: at least 15 of 27 member states representing 65% of the EU population. The countries already on board cover only about 12% of that population; Germany alone has nearly 19%. Germany, Italy and Spain have not signed on, and Sweden wants the EU to reject the system unless Tesla removes the ability to set speeds above the limit, Electrek reported.

Questions about the Dutch review

A Reuters investigation published Oct. 7, summarized by Electrek, cited hundreds of pages of emails showing Tesla pushed RDW to scale back its review, including disputing a €365,000 bill. Seven traffic-safety researchers told Reuters that Tesla's European safety study used too small a sample and measured proxies such as hard braking rather than crashes. RDW told Reuters its engagement with manufacturers "does not compromise the independence or thoroughness of our assessment." Tesla's own study notes its comparisons can't be read as causal estimates.

What it means for owners

  • In approved countries: expect the "Tesla Assisted Driving" name in Tesla's European materials. It is still a supervised system; the driver remains responsible.
  • Everywhere else in the EU: no change until a national adoption or a December EU vote. France, which said in July it couldn't back the system, now says it is working with Tesla on changes that would let it support approval.
  • Want to try it? Visitors to the Paris Motor Show can ride on public roads in a Model 3 running the supervised system, according to NotATeslaKiller.

For investors, Europe is one of the few places Tesla can sell a software feature rivals don't yet match. December's vote is the next real milestone.