Finland Approves Tesla Assisted Driving for Use on Public Roads

Finland’s transport authority has recognized a Dutch provisional type-approval so Tesla Assisted Driving can be used on Finnish roads.

Traficom said on November 11 that the recognition, dated November 10, allows Tesla to start offering the system to customers in Finland immediately.

Traficom recognized the Dutch approval a day before it issued the notice

The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency, Traficom, said the November 10 decision lets the driver-assistance system be used on public roads in Finland. Tesla can begin offering it to customers there at once.

Finland is moving slightly ahead of a broader European Union process, according to Traficom.

The agency expects a final EU-wide decision during the coming winter. It said Tesla has been willing to make changes that member states have requested, and that recognizing the approval now would let Finnish Tesla drivers get used to the system before the most difficult winter conditions arrive.

Senior specialist Jukka Juhola said the system’s design and approval assessment had taken winter conditions into account, but that it may face limits if cameras are covered by snow, slush or dirt, or if traffic conditions are more difficult than usual.

The system has been renamed and its speed settings tightened

The change drivers will notice first is the name. The feature was previously called FSD (Supervised), short for Full Self-Driving (Supervised). References to self-driving have been removed, and the system is now called Tesla Assisted Driving, including in Finnish- and Swedish-language marketing and owner guidance.

Speed-control settings have also changed. Drivers can no longer set the system to run continuously at up to 50% over the posted limit. Settings that allow a speed deviation now reset to no deviation whenever the car is restarted, and Traficom says drivers are being given clearer information about the speed settings in use.

Juhola said the name change should help people understand that this remains a driver-assistance system, and that the driver is still fully responsible for driving. Further changes are expected before any EU-wide approval, which Traficom said would not significantly change how the system is used but should help drivers stay alert.

The national decision does not commit Finland in the EU vote

Final approval across the EU still requires a successful vote in the European Commission’s Technical Committee on Motor Vehicles. Traficom said that after a successful vote, it takes about three weeks for the approval to take effect throughout the union, and that national recognition does not bind Finland when it later decides its position in that vote.

Juhola told Reuters that Finland has 8,000 to 9,000 Tesla vehicles compatible with the system, around 0.3% of the country’s car fleet. Reuters also reported that nearly a dozen countries, including Slovakia and Belgium, have already granted provisional approvals, and that an EU vote could come as soon as December.

Traficom said introducing Tesla Assisted Driving does not require a modification inspection if the vehicle itself has not been modified. It also stressed that the driver must remain ready to steer, brake or accelerate, including in winter conditions, even when the system has not asked for a handover.

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