EU Groups Challenge Tesla FSD Speed Functions Under UN

Key Moments

Regulatory Pushback on Tesla FSD Features

Investing.com – The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) called on the European Commission and EU member states on Tuesday to block two specific speed-related functions in Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system. The organization said that one of these functions conflicts with a United Nations regulation governing driver-assistance technologies.

The recommendation comes ahead of continued discussions within the EU’s Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles (TCMV) on Oct. 6. Regulators are weighing whether Tesla’s provisional approval should be extended to apply across the European Union.

Conflict With UN Regulation No. 171

ETSC stated that Tesla’s “speed offset” feature is explicitly banned under UN Regulation No. 171. According to the group, this function lets drivers select a permanent offset of up to 50% above detected speed limits. In practice, that means a 50 km/h limit could be interpreted as a 75 km/h upper bound, and a 30 km/h limit could turn into 45 km/h.

Under the UN regulation, driver-assistance systems are not allowed to enable drivers to configure a default offset above a system-determined speed limit, ETSC said.

The group noted that Tesla did not list “speed offset” among the functions it considered to require an exemption under the EU’s Article 39 procedure. ETSC said this indicates the feature was treated as compliant with existing rules – a view the safety body rejects, arguing the function should not have been cleared.

Concerns Over “Contextual Max Speed”

ETSC also flagged issues with another feature called “contextual max speed.” This function can rely on the speed of nearby traffic to define the vehicle’s maximum speed.

The organization acknowledged that contextual factors such as road markings, road layout and infrastructure can support more accurate detection of speed limits by automated systems. However, ETSC argued that using surrounding traffic as a reference point risks normalizing speeding, since drivers on European roads frequently travel faster than posted limits.

Regulatory Status Across the EU

Tesla’s FSD (Supervised) obtained provisional national type approval from the Dutch vehicle authority RDW on April 10 under the EU’s Article 39 exemption framework. This mechanism allows conditional approval for technologies that do not fully align with existing regulatory provisions.

The provisional Dutch approval could extend to the entire EU if the European Commission endorses it following a favorable vote by member-state representatives on the TCMV. A vote has not yet been scheduled, although additional discussions are planned on Oct. 6.

Several EU countries – Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania and Slovenia – have already recognized the Dutch decision, enabling the use of FSD (Supervised) within their borders.

Findings From Belgian Testing

ETSC pointed to recent Belgian testing of Tesla’s system, which reportedly showed the technology repeatedly detecting but failing to act on 30 km/h zone signs. The tests also found that the system attempted to overtake cyclists on designated cycle streets, where overtaking is not permitted.

ETSC said those Belgian results were not directly linked to the two speed-related functions under scrutiny, as the tests did not use either “speed offset” or “contextual max speed.”

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