Tesla FSD Faces Hurdles in China, Secrecy Concerns in Europe

Tesla Full Self Driving (FSD) is still not at the unsupervised level in the United States. If your car is driving itself with FSD, you are supposed to be paying attention the whole time and ready to intervene. However, many FSD users love the capability and swear by it. I have a friend who just drove from Florida to Michigan and used FSD 100% of the time. So, naturally, Tesla has been keen to roll the feature out in other major markets, such as China and Europe. It’s been interesting watching discussions around its approval and release in those places, and we’ve got some updates this week.

Tesla FSD in China … or Not?

An article in the South China Morning Post puts it right in the title: “Tesla faces uphill battle for FSD entry as China rewrites self-driving car rules: analysts.” Like in the US, China is getting quite strict when it comes to vehicle data management. With modern connected cars and now self-driving cars — including all of the sensors collecting data everywhere they go — governments are coming to the conclusion there are various national security concerns to take very seriously.

Of course, Tesla is a US company, even if half of its business is in China and Elon Musk is always excessively positive about the Chinese government and the people of China. “The likelihood that US electric vehicle (EV) giant Tesla will obtain Beijing’s approval for higher-level autonomous driving remains a distant prospect, according to analysts,” the article summarizes. “Though Tesla recently hired people to test its Full Self-Driving (FSD) system in China, many obstacles remained, with data regulation a core issue, they said.” It looks like there will be plenty of opportunity for work for people lobbying the government on this topic. Also note that Tesla can’t send data it collects in China overseas (to the US).

Also of note, the Chinese government just released an outline of mandatory standards autonomous driving systems — the first the country has put out. These don’t start until July 1, 2027, but they are much more serious and noteworthy than what the US has been doing or the UN has announced globally. For L3 and L4 autonomous driving systems, SCMP highlights that the standards “would hold carmakers accountable for accidents that happen when the system is active and require systems to leave at least 10 seconds for the drivers to take control of a car before a potential accident.” Tesla FSD is currently just L2+, so that wouldn’t apply to the company for now, but if it ever wants to go beyond that in China, it has to be ready for this.

Tesla Secrecy in Europe

What about Europe? Tesla has been rolling out FSD in some European countries, as it is approved, and the EU as a whole could approve it as soon as October, but a matter of data secrecy has come up.

Some have wanted more information and data showing that Tesla FSD is safe to use in Europe, while Tesla has pressed governments to keep data on these things secret. “European regulators could approve Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system across the EU as soon as October, but the Dutch regulator leading the review will not explain how it concluded the driver-assistance technology is safe — or share documentation that Tesla has pressed to keep secret,” Reuters writes.

The Dutch regulator who first approved FSD for use in Europe won’t release evaluation details, with the reason for it being that it cannot reveal trade secrets. Additionally, emails that have been revealed between the company and the regulator show that Tesla pressed the Dutch RDW, starting in 2024, to ensure that any safety reviews would remain permanently confidential. Incidentally, regulators in Germany, Norway, Denmark, and a couple other countries are also refusing to share such data. Apparently, deals have been struck.

Reportedly, in the emails, a Tesla representative refused to move forward until it was confirmed a certain document would “never” be released to the public and explanation of how they could ensure it would be “withheld from public disclosure.”

Beyond that, “France has said it will not approve Full-Self Driving because of concerns about speeding and insufficient technology to ensure the human driver is paying attention,” Reuters adds.

So … hmm … we’ll see what happens. A vote is scheduled for October 6, 2026, on whether to approve Tesla FSD use all across the European Union.