The Netherlands Approves Tesla’s FSD Supervised
April 12, 2026 – 5:55 pm
In short:
The Dutch vehicle authority RDW approved Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software on April 10, 2026, marking the Netherlands as the first European country to authorize the system under UN Regulation 171, the EU standard for Driver Control Assistance Systems. This approval follows extensive testing and data submission, opening a regulatory path that could quickly extend to other European countries.
What the Netherlands Approved
RDW approved version 2026.3.6 of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software under UN Regulation 171. This allows drivers of compatible Tesla vehicles in the Netherlands to remove their hands from the steering wheel under specific driving conditions, while legally responsible for the vehicle at all times and required to maintain continuous awareness of the road. The system ensures this through eye-tracking cameras monitoring driver attention and a series of alerts if the driver becomes inattentive.
“A vehicle with FSD Supervised is not self-driving. It is a driver assistance system, and the driver remains responsible and must always maintain control.” – RDW
The Approval Process
The approval process was one of the most extensive RDW has conducted for a driver assistance system, spanning:
- Over 18 months of testing.
- 1.6 million kilometres of EU road test data.
- 4,500 closed-track tests.
- 13,000 ride-along evaluations.
- Satisfaction of more than 400 individual regulatory compliance requirements.
The RDW approval is valid for at least 36 months.
Tesla’s Next Steps
Elon Musk celebrated the approval on X, stating that RDW was "extremely rigorous in their review." Tesla announced that FSD Supervised will begin rolling out in the Netherlands shortly and expressed excitement about expanding to other European countries soon. The Dutch approval serves as a foundation for other EU member states to recognize and implement FSD Supervised independently.