Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) driver assistance software is now available in Lithuania, the second European country to approve its use, as the company pushes to position itself as an AI and robotics powerhouse rather than just a carmaker.
Making FSD available in Europe – which began last month when Dutch regulator RDW approved its use – is critical to the ambitions of Tesla and CEO Elon Musk. It’s also financially significant for Musk, whose $1 trillion pay package is tied to the achievement of certain product goals, including reaching “10 million active FSD subscriptions” by 2035.
Tesla has a long way to go before reaching 10 million subscriptions. The company said during its first-quarter earnings call in April that it has nearly 1.3 million paying FSD customers worldwide.
of Tesla FSD (Supervised) it was first released in beta in late 2020. The advanced driver support system, which still requires active driver supervision, has received regular updates since then to remove bugs and improve reliability and performance. Today, the system can handle driving maneuvers such as steering, changing lanes and parking. Tesla allowed owners to pay a one-time fee for the software. In January, Musk announced that the only way to access the feature would be through a monthly subscription that currently costs $99.
The growth of FSD in Europe has not been fast or furious – regulatory scrutiny has traditionally slowed growth compared to the United States. Today, FSD is only available in the Netherlands and now in Lithuania. The rollout could be accelerated if Dutch regulator RDW, which oversaw the first European approval, succeeds in its bid to Acceptance throughout the EU.
Meanwhile, European countries can recognize the Dutch certification and allow FSD. And a number of them seem to be in the queue.
Greece’s transport ministry said on Wednesday that an upcoming bill would approve the FSD, Reuters was mentioned. Belgium is also expected to approve the use of FSD, following the same authorization process used by RDW.
Outside of Europe, FSD is available in Australia, Canada, China, Mexico, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, South Korea and the United States, according to Tesla.
FSD (Supervised) isn’t the only product that fits Musk’s vision of turning Tesla into a leader in artificial intelligence and robotics, but it’s the only one that’s actually available to a wide range of consumers.
FSD Unsupervised, a version of the software that handles all the driving without any expectation of a driver taking control, is not available to Tesla owners. It’s used in a small fleet of about 50 Tesla robotaxis operating in Austin, Dallas and Houston.
Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot, meanwhile, is not yet in mass production or available to consumers.
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