While Tesla's full self-driving capabilities continue to increase, the latest public software build is still very limited on city streets. It will stop at traffic lights and stop signs, but not automatically proceed on a green light or make any turns.
Tesla has been testing out a much more advanced version of their FSD beta to a very limited number of users. However it looks like this is all about to change. Elon recently tweeted that they would be expanding the program to more users and asked Twitter users to let them know if they'd like to try out the FSD beta.
To no one's surprise Tesla and Elon were flooded with requests to accept people into the beta. It's not clear whether Elon saw this coming, but less than a day later Elon tweeted that Tesla would be adding a “Download beta” button to the 'Service' section of the car that would allow users to opt-in to the new 8.3 FSD beta.
Due to high levels of demand for FSD Beta, adding “Download Beta” button to Service section of car display in ~10 days https://t.co/D6M3ZiMarG
We can likely expect this option to be available in the software section (Elon likely made a typo when he said Service) next to the 'Standard' and 'Advanced' Software Update Preference section.
In follow up tweets Elon has also said that he expects the 8.3 FSD beta to clear QA by March 20th and that's when we could expect the Download Beta button to show up.
When this button becomes available it will mark the first time a Tesla owner will gain the ability to force a software update for their vehicle. Elon confirmed that after the user agrees to the risks involved, the download will begin immediately if the car is connected to Wi-Fi.
The beta will currently be limited to the US, but Elon has confirmed that Tesla will be looking to expand to Europe and Canada soon.
Update:
Elon Musk has now given an update that we should expect the FSD Beta Button during the FSD v9 release, sometime next month. It's disappointing that it's been delayed but good to know that Tesla is still planning to release it.
Thanks to Tesla Yoda on X, we have found out that Tesla’s Robotaxi fleet is registered on the Texas Department of Transportation’s public-facing Automated Vehicle Deployment website. This makes the fleet’s movements publicly viewable and trackable, and marks a first for Tesla.
This isn’t just any old FSD test - this is the first officially acknowledged, government-tracked, and sanctioned deployment of a Tesla Model Y operating as a ride-share vehicle. But that’s not all - Texas DOT’s tracker notes that the Tesla does not have a safety driver.
View on the Map
Visitors to the Texas DOT website can filter for “Tesla”, and see, currently, a single active vehicle operating in the Austin Metro area. According to the state’s official data, here’s what we know:
Company: Tesla
Description: Ride-share service
Status in Texas: Testing
Safety Driver: No
The final point is definitely the most significant here. While Tesla has been testing FSD with safety drivers for some time in Austin and LA for employee-only testing, this is the first time that a vehicle has been officially registered and deployed on public roads without a human behind the wheel for safety.
The fact that there is no safety driver officially shifts the liability from the occupant of the driver’s seat to Tesla, for the first time in a public setting. That’s already pretty significant - we previously dove into how Tesla plans to insure its own vehicles, and potentially owner vehicles in the Robotaxi fleets.
The status currently lists Tesla as “Testing,” confirming that the service isn’t available to the public, but this is expected to change in the coming weeks.
This testing phase is likely part of a short but crucial period that lets Tesla capture data on the safety levels of its current iteration of Unsupervised FSD without a driver supervising. Tesla already stated that they’d be avoiding difficult areas, so this testing can also expose additional areas Tesla may want to avoid, such as school zones or blind driveways.
Tesla will need to prove, both internally and externally, that FSD Unsupervised has the necessary performance to safely navigate the streets without any incidents.
Regulatory Milestone
For years, the concept of a Tesla Robotaxi has been a future promise. Now, it's a present-day reality, albeit in a testing capacity.
Having an official government body list a Tesla as an active, driverless vehicle shows that they’ve been able to clear regulatory hurdles, which Tesla has often pointed to as the issue. It demonstrates a level of confidence from both Tesla and Texas regulators in the system's capabilities.
While it's just a single vehicle for today, we’ll likely see this list slowly expand over time. Alongside being able to track Robotaxi incidents at the City of Austin’s website, we’ll be able to closely watch Tesla’s progress with its first Robotaxi deployments.
The road to bringing FSD to Europe has been a long and complex one and filled with regulatory and bureaucratic hurdles. Elon Musk, as well as other members of Tesla’s AI team, have previously voiced their grievances with the regulatory approval process on X.
However, it appears that there is finally some progress in getting things moving with recent changes to upcoming autonomy regulations, but the process still seems slow.
Waiting on the Dutch
Elon commented on X recently, stating that Tesla is waiting for approval from Dutch authorities and then the EU to start rolling out FSD in Europe. Tesla is focusing on acquiring approvals from the Dutch transportation authority, which will provide them with the platform they need to gain broader acceptance in Europe. Outside of the Netherlands, Tesla is also conducting testing in Norway, which provides a couple of avenues for them to obtain national-level approval.
The frustration has been ongoing, with multiple committee meetings bringing up autonomy regulation but always pulling back at the last second before approving anything. The last meeting on Regulation 157, which governs Automated Lane Keeping Systems, concluded with authorities from the UK and Spain requesting additional time to analyze the data before reaching a conclusion.
Tesla, as well as Elon, have motioned several times for owners to reach out to their elected representatives to move the process forward, as it seems that Tesla’s own efforts are being stymied.
This can seem odd, especially since Tesla has previously demoed FSD working exceptionally smoothly on European roads - and just did it again in Rome when they shared the video below on X.
— Tesla Europe & Middle East (@teslaeurope) June 12, 2025
DCAS Phase 3
While the approval process has been slow, Kees Roelandschap pointed out that there may be a different regulatory step that could allow FSD to gain a foothold in Europe.
According to Kees, the European Commission is now taking a new approach to approving ADAS systems under the new DCAS Phase 3 regulations. The Commission is now seeking data from systems currently operational in the United States that can perform System-Initiated Maneuvers and don’t require hands-on intervention for every request.
This is key because those are two of the core functionalities that make FSD so usable, and it also means that there may not be a need to wait years for proper regulations to be written from scratch. Now, the Commission will be looking at real-world data based on existing, deployed technology, which could speed up the process immensely.
What This Means
This new, data-driven regulatory approach could be the path for Tesla to reach its previous target of September for European FSD. While the cogs of bureaucracy are ever slow, sometimes all it takes is a little data to have them turn a bit faster in this case.
Alongside specific countries granting approval for limited field testing with employees, there is some light at the end of the tunnel for FSD in Europe, and hopes are that a release will occur by the end of 2025. With Europe now looking to North America for how FSD is performing, Tesla’s Robotaxi results could also play a role.
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