Self-driving Teslas to hit Dutch roads as Musk jokes about 4/20 deadline

The Dutch vehicle authority, RDW, will decide by April 10th whether Tesla Europe is allowed to test Full Self-Driving technology in the Netherlands.

“Together with RDW, we have officially completed the final vehicle testing phase for Full Self-Driving (Supervised) and have submitted all documentation required for the UN R-171 approval + Article 39 exemptions,” Tesla Europe said in a statement on X.

According to the car manufacturer, the RDW is currently reviewing the documentation and test results. The Dutch vehicle authority told Tesla to expect approval for testing on April 10th.

“Tesla ​and the RDW are now going through the last steps in the evaluation process. During this final ​phase, our inspectors are studying all the data ‌and ⁠test results, and after that has been finished, a decision will be made about the admissibility of the driver ​assistance system ⁠FSD (Supervised),” the RDW said in a statement to Reuters.

The company spokesperson would not confirm the April 10th date. Initially, the plan was to issue the FSD (Supervised) approval on March 20th. However, that date wasn't met.

X-owner Elon Musk has joked that the deadline would most likely be pushed to April 20th. Why? Because April 20th (4/20) is the unofficial international cannabis holiday. And the Netherlands is known for its liberal policies on soft drugs. Get it?

Tesla has reportedly been working on European approval for 18 months, including documentation, development, real-world testing, research, and audits.

While testing, Tesla has already driven more than 1.6 million kilometers in Europe using Full Self-Driving (FSD) technology. In doing so, over 13,000 Tesla customers have had the opportunity to experience the system.

Additionally, over 4,500 track test scenarios have been executed, resulting in thousands of pages of written documentation for more than 400 compliance requirements.

Following the approval in the Netherlands, Tesla anticipates an EU-wide approval this summer.

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