Latvia and Slovakia are the latest European countries to approve Tesla’s assisted-driving software, to the delight of some local motorists who campaigned for it, though challenges remain as the rollout begins.
Latvia yesterday became the 10th European country to approve Tesla Assisted Driving (TAD) software, following on the heels of Slovakia’s approval of the technology earlier this month. They mark another step in Tesla’s push to bring the technology to Europe, where the company is seeking support ahead of a crucial vote that could pave the way for a broader rollout EU-wide.
In Slovakia, Igor Marcek, 35, bought his own Tesla two years ago and is getting increasingly excited about the possibility of TAD, recently renamed from FSD.
“At some point the car will be able to drive on its own and save us time and energy, and we will be able to maybe deal with some other things while driving,” said Marcek, a financial agent and life coach in Bratislava.
Still, a test drive of a Tesla installed with TAD - which has a monthly subscription of €99 ($110.92)/month per month - highlighted safety issues.
While the software smoothly handled congested highway driving and traffic merges, Marcek had to manually slam on the brakes when the car failed to slow down for a closed barrier.
At a Supercharger station, the car failed to steer into an open charging bay, leading Marcek to take over.
“It is still a technology that is evolving so you really have to be awake there and pay attention to what the car is doing,” he said.
Tesla enthusiasts across Europe have mounted vocal campaigns to speed up deployment.
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