France starts tests on Tesla's self-driving tech

By Gilles Guillaume

PARIS, Sept 3 (Reuters) - France has begun tests on two cars to better assess Tesla's FSD advanced driver assistance system, French Minister of Transport Philippe Tabarot said, in a move that could bring Europe a step closer to approval of Elon Musk's autonomous driving technology.

Netherlands road authority RDW approved Tesla's Full Self Driving system for use on Dutch roads on a provisional basis in April, prompting Belgium, Denmark, Estonia and Lithuania to do the same in advance of a bloc-wide vote on the plan that could take place as early as next month. 

FSD is a driver assistance system that can accelerate, brake, and steer a car while its human driver remains ready to intervene, but does not effectuate a fully self-driving car.

In July, Tabarot had said the safety trade-offs were not yet sufficient to justify authorisation, specifically in areas of speed limitation and driver attention warnings.

In a post on X late on Tuesday, the minister said he had had "a constructive exchange" with Musk regarding the technology after working closely with Tesla for several months on technical adaptations needed for France to support its approval.

"With the provision of two vehicles equipped with FSD by Tesla, we are now entering a new phase: that of on-road testing," he said.

France wants to do its own tests to verify the data provided by the Netherlands and Tesla, and to test the system on French roads, said a transport ministry source. It is aiming to have test results in mid to late September, to be in a position to vote on a decision by the bloc in coming months.

A vote could take place next month or early December, said the source, adding that he expected Tesla to be open to addressing their concerns, allowing the technology to be approved in Europe.

(Reporting by Gilles Guillaume; Editing by Jan Harvey)