France Tests Tesla FSD

Post written: 10 September 2026

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France Launches Independent Tesla FSD Road Tests — and the EU Clock Is Now Ticking

In a significant diplomatic and regulatory turn, France has launched independent, on-road tests of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) Supervised system — a move that could prove pivotal for the technology’s future not just in France, but across the European Union and, by extension, in the United Kingdom. For those of us watching the FSD story unfold from Britain, the next eight weeks may be among the most consequential yet.

What Happened in France?

On 2 September 2026, French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot announced on X, following a video call with Elon Musk, that two vehicles equipped with FSD Supervised had been handed to the UTAC — France’s homologation body — to carry out independent tests on open roads.

The significance of this announcement cannot be overstated.

The move marks a significant change in France’s approach to the technology, with Minister Tabarot describing his discussion with Musk as “constructive” before confirming the two vehicles would undergo road testing.

Crucially,

the new tests do not mean France has approved Tesla FSD — they mean Paris is now actively gathering the evidence it needs to decide whether it should.

French authorities want to make their own assessment of the system rather than simply relying on Tesla’s evidence or testing conducted elsewhere in Europe.

That independent stance matters enormously:

the role of independent regulators such as UTAC is crucial to guarantee that data provided by manufacturers is reliable, and independent analyses could influence the homologation of FSD Supervised and other similar systems in the future.

France’s Earlier Scepticism

France had remained cautious about FSD, with officials previously raising concerns about how the system handles speed restrictions and how drivers are warned when they stop paying sufficient attention — questions that put one of Europe’s largest car markets among the important remaining obstacles to a wider rollout.

Only weeks earlier, the Minister had judged Tesla’s safety guarantees insufficient.

That makes the speed of France’s reversal all the more striking — and suggests that Tesla’s newly published safety data dashboard, alongside the Musk–Tabarot call, moved the needle in Paris.

The EU-Wide Vote: 6 October 2026 (or December)

France’s on-road tests are explicitly timed to feed into a critical European decision.

The subject must now be examined at European level, with FSD on the agenda of a specialised EU technical committee meeting on 6 October and in early December 2026.

At the TCMV (Technical Committee – Motor Vehicles) meeting expected on 6 October 2026, a vote on EU-wide approval of FSD Supervised is planned. If the vote is positive (qualified majority), the European Commission will adopt an implementing act authorising the Dutch approval authority to grant a type approval valid throughout the entire European Union.

The bar is high.

Approval needs a double majority — at least 15 of the 27 member states representing 65% of the EU population.

France, as one of the bloc’s most populous nations,

carries considerable weight, and its support can help build a majority among member states.

Where Does FSD Supervised Stand Across Europe Right Now?

FSD Supervised is already approved in five EU countries — the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Estonia and Lithuania — under a provisional type approval issued by the Dutch RDW in April 2026.

A positive TCMV vote on 6 October could extend the system to 450 million people, but France and Germany have not yet approved FSD.

Tesla has been making the safety case loudly ahead of the vote.

The company claims to have accumulated more than 100 million kilometres of supervised driving on European roads between April and August 2026, with vehicles using FSD Supervised recording 4.1 times fewer collisions than Teslas driven manually in the European sample studied.

These results constitute a powerful commercial argument, but they must be interpreted with caution.

Not everyone is convinced by Tesla’s self-reported figures.

According to a Reuters report of 6 August 2026, European authorities led by the Dutch RDW are withholding detailed safety and evaluation data on Tesla’s FSD Supervised. Regulators in Germany, Norway, Denmark and other countries have also restricted access to testing data, with Norway’s public roads administration noting that the assessment data received from the Dutch was “not the same” as what Tesla publishes on its website.

Sweden’s Shifting Position

Sweden’s government officially declared its support for EU-wide approval of Tesla FSD Supervised on 1 September 2026, stating it was “the Government’s position and ambition” that an EU-wide approval of advanced driver-assistance systems such as FSD Supervised should take place.

That represents a notable shift for Stockholm, which had earlier written formally to the TCMV with conditions attached to any yes vote.

What Does This Mean for the UK?

Britain sits outside the EU regulatory process, so whatever happens in Brussels on 6 October will not automatically unlock FSD Supervised on UK roads. However, the EU outcome matters enormously as a precursor and confidence signal.

The UK’s Automated Vehicles Act 2024 gives Britain one of the most modern liability frameworks in the world for future unsupervised autonomy, but for today’s supervised FSD, the Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) route remains the critical path.

On 17 June 2026, the Department for Transport opened a public consultation on the Automated Vehicles Statement of Safety Principles (which closed 9 September 2026), but Tesla has not yet formally applied for FSD Supervised approval in the UK.

A realistic projection for an initial supervised rollout in the UK remains late 2026 or early 2027, assuming Tesla submits a formal application in the coming weeks or months and the VCA review proceeds smoothly.

Tesla FSD still needs a standard type approval after January 2027, with one valid UN certificate then recognisable in the UK, the EU and other R171 countries, as UNECE supervised-driving rules land in January 2027.

One helpful factor for UK prospects: Australia, a right-hand-drive market like Britain, has been rolling out advanced FSD Supervised updates to HW4 vehicles in 2026, and the real-world right-hand-drive data and software refinements from Australia will directly strengthen Tesla’s eventual VCA submission.

Hardware Considerations for UK Tesla Owners

The European approvals currently cover Hardware 4 (HW4) cars only — the hardware found in newer Tesla models — while HW3 cars, common in older UK Teslas, are not yet covered. Tesla is expected to release an HW3 “Lite” or optimised branch of FSD that is almost as capable as the HW4 version.

The Bottom Line

France’s decision to conduct independent UTAC tests is the most significant regulatory development in the European FSD story since the Dutch RDW granted its provisional type approval in April.

The results are expected during September and could directly influence how France votes when European governments consider whether the technology should be permitted across the EU.

Should France vote in favour at the October TCMV meeting — or even signal a positive disposition — it removes one of the largest remaining obstacles to an EU-wide green light.

For UK Tesla owners, that domino effect cannot come quickly enough. The EU vote, France’s UTAC results, and the VCA’s own review process are now converging on a timeline that makes late 2026 or early 2027 the most credible window for FSD Supervised to finally arrive on British roads. Watch this space — and watch Paris very closely indeed.