France has granted approval on Wednesday, September 2 for open road trials to test the reliability of Tesla's fully automatic and supervised driving system, ahead of a European homologation decision expected in the coming weeks. The decision comes after initial testing indicated that Tesla's supervised automated driving system could be adjusted to comply fully with European and international regulatory standards.
French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot announced the authorization following what he described as a constructive exchange with Elon Musk, the chief executive and founder of electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla.
The announcement marks a significant shift in stance for the French government. In July, Tabarot stated that France did not plan to authorize the feature on French roads at that stage, citing explicit concerns regarding its safety level.
Initial circuit tests conducted recently identified no blocking points that were impossible to solve, according to the French Ministry of Transport. However, ministry officials emphasized that authorization for fully autonomous vehicles without human supervision is not currently being considered for safety reasons.
Tesla's Full Self-Driving (Supervised) feature is already approved in approximately ten countries worldwide, including the Netherlands, a fellow European Union member state. Tesla clarifies on its official website that the technology currently requires active driver supervision and does not make the vehicle fully autonomous.
The system relies on artificial intelligence trained using data gathered from more than six million Tesla vehicles currently in operation around the world. Utilizing external cameras designed to eliminate blind spots, the technology can manage driving on city streets and highways, perform automatic parallel parking, and navigate out of parking spaces independently.
Six levels of vehicle automation
Global car manufacturers are progressively incorporating autonomous capabilities into their vehicles, with the long-term goal of designing cars capable of operating without any human intervention. Since 2014, SAE International, an American mobility engineering standards organization, has classified vehicles from Level 0 to Level 5 based on their degree of automation.
Level 0 represents no automation, applying only to the oldest vehicles still in operation on public roads. While these cars may feature basic warning or intervention systems, a human driver retains total control and makes all operational decisions. Level 1 introduces driver assistance systems, where the car can control a single element of driving, such as adaptive cruise control or collision avoidance, while the human driver maintains full responsibility for monitoring the road and taking over when necessary.
Level 2 covers semi-autonomous driving, where onboard computers manage acceleration, braking, steering, lane changes, automatic parking, and driver monitoring. Tesla's Full Self-Driving system corresponds directly to this level, requiring the person behind the wheel to maintain active oversight at all times.
Level 3 provides conditional automation, allowing the vehicle to handle all aspects of driving under specific conditions. However, the driver must remain alert and ready to intervene whenever requested by the system.
Level 4 signifies total autonomy within controlled conditions, enabling vehicles to operate completely driverless in geographically restricted zones. An example of Level 4 technology is the 100 percent autonomous, driverless robotaxi service developed by Waymo, the self-driving subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet Inc.
Level 5 represents complete automation across all locations and driving environments, acting as the full equivalent of a human driver. Under Level 5, passengers would simply enter a destination and allow the car to complete the trip, leaving them free to prepare for meetings, make calls, answer emails, or take a nap. To date, no Level 5 vehicle has ever been commercialized.
Timeline and international deployment
Achieving Level 5 autonomy remains out of reach for commercial consumers at present. Automotive research firm S&P Global Mobility estimates that the probability of a consumer being able to purchase a vehicle capable of driving everywhere by itself without driver intervention will not occur before 2035.
Despite the extended timeline, major automakers including Tesla, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi are already actively working to develop Level 5 autonomous driving technologies.
In the United States and China, Level 4 autonomous driving is already authorized in the form of commercial robotaxi fleets or within designated pilot testing zones.
However, driverless taxi technology still presents unexpected challenges in practice. Last year, a reporting team from French television channel TF1 tested autonomous taxi technology in China for its JT 13h news program, observing that the technology remained far from perfected. Within Europe, safety regulations currently limit authorized autonomous driving to Level 3.
European funding and competitive gap
To help narrow the competitive gap, the European Union announced a 1 billion euro action plan last year to support research and development in autonomous driving and connected vehicles. By comparison, technology giant Alphabet has invested more than 30 billion dollars into autonomous vehicle development.
The EU initiative aims to relaunch Europe in the global race for autonomous vehicle technology. The European Commission stated at the time that European carmakers were lagging behind on key technologies, indicating that the action plan represented a shift in gear to help the industry play a leading role in the transition toward connected, automated, and AI-driven vehicles.
A portion of these European funds will be allocated to projects of common interest through the European Alliance for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, an organization bringing together vehicle manufacturers, original equipment suppliers, and digital technology companies.
