Tesla’s push to expand Full Self-Driving (FSD) testing into Europe has hit a roadblock in Sweden, where Stockholm’s Traffic Office has rejected the company’s request to test FSD (Supervised) on city streets. While you might expect the denial was due to safety or technical concerns with the software, the decision was actually made because the city is too busy with other work.
According to documents from the city’s Traffic Office and shared by @FSDEurope on X, the rejection stems from the agency’s current workload, including what it called numerous ongoing “innovation projects.” Officials emphasized that they are in the process of updating their approach to automation and are already stretched thin by existing pilot programs.
“The Traffic Office is currently working on updating its approach to automation. At the same time, the city and the office are heavily burdened with other ongoing innovation tests. Our ambition is to actively participate in and learn from the continued development in the field of automation. Against this background, combined with the fact that the current test is the first of its kind, entails certain risks for both infrastructure and third parties, and is planned to be carried out throughout the entire city, the City of Stockholm assesses that it is currently not possible to approve the implementation of the test.”
Tesla had proposed to carry out a city-wide pilot of its FSD (Supervised) software, which requires an attentive human driver behind the wheel. Last year Tesla demonstrated FSD to a Swedish transportation official, but that test took place in Germany.
The decision reflects a broader trend of caution among European countries when it comes to advanced driver assistance technologies. While China has approved FSD deployments (albeit under a different name), and there are no regulatory barriers to its release in Australia, many European countries remain hesitant, opting to delay city-wide testing until more comprehensive regulatory frameworks are in place.
Even though there is no official approval in any part of Europe yet, Tesla has conducted demonstrations of FSD in other parts of region, including Norway, Germany, Italy, and elsewhere, but public testing has yet to take place.
FSD Supervised testing in Rome, Italy
— Tesla Europe & Middle East (@teslaeurope) June 12, 2025
Pending regulatory approval pic.twitter.com/TXh3uQIfrx
This denial adds to the challenges Tesla is already facing in Sweden. The company has been locked in a prolonged dispute with Swedish labour unions since late 2023, with no signs of either party backing down from their side. The strike has triggered several other sympathy strikes, even from neighbouring countries, which has affected service operations, delays in opening new Supercharger stations, and delays in customers receiving license plates for their new car.
Stockholm (Sweden ) has officially blocked Tesla from testing FSD (Supervised)!
— FSD in Denmark? (@FSDEurope) June 16, 2025
Why? Not due to technical flaws or safety concerns, but because they’re “too busy” with other innovation projects and think the test is too new and too city-wide to handle. pic.twitter.com/5DDY5B2Rqm
