Sweden may oppose Tesla's supervised self-driving tech in Europe over speeding concerns

By Marie Mannes and Abhirup Roy

STOCKHOLM/SAN FRANCISCO, June 19 (Reuters) - A Swedish transport authority is recommending a vote against the Europe-wide rollout of Tesla's supervised self-driving software, unless the U.S. EV maker disables its ability to exceed legal speed limits, a regulatory letter shows.

In a previously unreported letter dated April 30, obtained through a freedom of information request, the Swedish Transport Administration (TRV) said Tesla's Full Self-Driving (Supervised) feature should not be approved for European Union roads unless its ability to ignore speed limits is removed.

The letter was sent to the EU's Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles (TCMV), which is due to meet again on June 30 to discuss the matter, ahead of a vote at a later date on whether to roll out the technology across the bloc.

Tesla has already secured approval in some European countries for FSD, which allows vehicles to steer themselves on city streets and highways under human supervision. EU-wide approval would support Tesla's sales in the region, where it faces growing competition from Chinese EV makers.

Tesla, led by CEO Elon Musk, did not respond to requests for comment. Its user manual says drivers should not rely solely on the system for speed limits and must "drive at a safe speed based on traffic and road conditions".

FSD allows users to set a "Speed Offset", letting the vehicle exceed posted limits by a driver-defined margin.

In its letter, the TRV said that "allowing automated systems to systematically exceed legal speed limits ... risks undermining both the legal framework and the expected safety benefits of vehicle automation".

It called for the feature to be removed. "Failing this, the Swedish Transport Administration recommends that TCMV vote against the proposed introduction," it said.

Internal documents reviewed by Reuters show the Swedish Transport Agency (STA), the country's national type approver, has raised concerns with Tesla and Dutch regulator RDW, including in a two-hour meeting on June 4. The RDW approved the use of FSD in April and is backing an EU-wide rollout.

A TRV spokesperson said its position had not changed since the April letter and that it was aligned with the STA.

"It is my understanding that Sweden's representative in TCMV will only vote in favour if Tesla's speeding functionality is removed," the person said.

The STA, which represents Sweden at the TCMV, said discussions were ongoing within the EU committee and it was "assessing the matter to establish a Swedish position".

SET YOUR OWN SPEED LIMIT

Tesla's FSD uses cameras and map data to detect speed limits. In the U.S., it can exceed those limits, offering a range of driving modes such as Sloth, Chill, Standard, Hurry and Mad Max.

Those options are not offered in Europe. Instead, Tesla provides "Contextual Max Speed", which adjusts to traffic flow, and "Speed Offset", allowing speeds above the legal limit.

Other Nordic countries, including Finland and Norway, have also raised concerns, though Lithuania, Estonia, Denmark, and Belgium have recently allowed FSD, following the Netherlands.

An Estonian transport official said speeding remained a concern but that the country approved FSD because the driver retains ultimate responsibility under the supervised system. Estonia has yet to decide how it will vote.

A spokesperson for Denmark's road authority said drivers have full responsibility when using FSD, including adhering to speed limits.

EU approval requires a qualified majority of 15 of the bloc's 27 member states representing at least 65% of the population.

If rejected, the Dutch provisional approval would lapse after six months, and national approvals based on it would also be withdrawn, according to the Danish road authority.

(Reporting by Marie Mannes in Stockholm and Abhirup Roy in San Francisco. Additional reporting by Toby Sterling in Amsterdam, Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen. Editing by Peter Henderson, Adam Jourdan and Mark Potter)