BarcelonaGeek@BarcelonaGeekYT
Spain has answered me about FSD approval! 🇪🇸
📄They basically say that under Article 39, FSD could be approved once Tesla demonstrates through sufficient real-world testing on Spanish roads, that the system operates safely, ensuring full safety guarantees for both vehicle occupants and all other road users.
🚀In a previous email, Spain’s road safety authority (DGT) confirmed that FSD testing in Spain has now reached over 80,000 km without a single incident.
📄This is the full translated response I got today from Spain’s SGCSI (Spain’s real RDW equivalent) about FSD approval in Spain:
In response to your inquiry, please note that the procedure relating to exemptions for new technologies or new concepts is regulated under Article 39 of Regulation (EU) 2019/858, on the approval and market surveillance of motor vehicles and their trailers, and of systems, components and separate technical units intended for such vehicles, amending Regulations (EC) No 715/2007 and (EC) No 595/2009 and repealing Directive 2007/46/EC.
That article provides for the possibility for an approval authority to grant a provisional EU type-approval, valid only within the territory of its Member State, in relation to a type of vehicle covered by the exemption sought.
Likewise, the granting of type-approvals valid throughout the entire territory of the EU that exempt new technologies or new concepts shall be subject to authorisation by the Commission, which shall adopt implementing acts, through the examination procedure referred to in Article 83(2), to decide whether to grant that authorisation.
In turn, the approval authorities of other Member States may accept the provisional EU type-approval in their own territory, provided that they inform the approval authority that granted the provisional EU type-approval of their acceptance in writing. In Spain, the approval authority is the Ministry of Industry and Tourism.
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) system, a Level 2 driver assistance system according to SAE J3016, has received provisional EU approval from the Dutch approval authority, following the corresponding real-world testing campaign in that country.
Level 2 driver assistance systems are systems capable of assisting the driver with the simultaneous longitudinal and lateral control of the vehicle on a continuous basis, and they require the driver to remain attentive to the driving task. The operation of such systems enables active prevention of possible human errors, thereby actively contributing to road safety and reducing potential accident risks.
Without prejudice to the above, validation of these systems requires a thorough assessment of their behaviour on the roads where they are to be deployed, in order to verify that the system is capable of recognising and responding appropriately to the specific characteristics of those roads, and to ensure the prevention of possible accidents and fatalities resulting from its behaviour.
The validation of the FSD system for obtaining approval in the Netherlands was carried out by verifying the system’s behaviour on that country’s road infrastructure.
For the above reasons, acceptance in Spain is not immediate and requires the manufacturer to demonstrate that it has carried out a sufficient number of tests on Spanish road infrastructure to ensure that its deployment could be carried out with full safety guarantees, both for the vehicle’s users and for all other users of public roads.