After an “exchange” with Elon Musk, France authorizes Tesla autonomous-driving road tests

France is preparing to let Tesla test its Full Self-Driving system on public roads, marking a reversal only a month after the transport minister said the country was not ready to authorize it.

Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said he held a “constructive exchange” with Elon Musk about Tesla’s system. French authorities have worked with the U.S. automaker for several months on technical changes needed for approval, which must be decided at the European level in the coming weeks.

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Constructive exchange this evening with @elonmusk about Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system

Tesla will provide two vehicles equipped with the system for the next stage, which Tabarot described as road testing. The announcement follows his earlier warning that the technology offered technological progress but that its safety trade-offs were not yet sufficient for authorization in its existing form.

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We are now entering a new stage: road testing

Tesla calls the system FSD Supervised. It still requires the driver to monitor the vehicle actively and does not make it autonomous, according to the company. Tesla says the system uses artificial intelligence trained on data from more than six million vehicles and relies on exterior cameras to handle urban and highway driving, parking manoeuvres and leaving a parking space while the driver supervises from outside.

The optional feature already operates in several countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia and South Korea. The Netherlands provisionally authorized it in April, becoming the first European country to do so. Tabarot said European and international rules still require drivers to remain in control and generally keep at least one hand on the wheel.

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In France, we consider that this system brings a number of technological advances, but that the safety trade-offs are not yet sufficient for authorization in its current form