TSLA
Europe says “hold up”
Tesla’s big self-driving sales pitch is getting a reality check across the Atlantic. Reuters reports that regulators in the Netherlands and several Nordic countries have raised concerns about Supervised FSD, including how it behaves on icy roads, whether it speeds up too aggressively, and whether it can skirt phone-use prevention rules.
Why this matters to your Tesla thesis
This isn’t just bureaucrats doing paperwork for sport. Tesla’s $1 trillion-ish pay package for Elon Musk is tied to huge milestones, including 10 million active FSD subscriptions. So every regulatory pothole matters, because the company needs that driverless dream to become a recurring revenue machine, not just a flashy demo reel.
Brussels isn’t exactly a rubber stamp
The Dutch RDW already approved the technology, but EU-wide approval still needs a supermajority of member states representing 65% of the bloc’s population. That’s a much tougher lift than “one country says yes,” and now Tesla’s lobbying blitz could backfire if regulators decide the company is speeding through the process faster than the software does on a downhill stretch.
The bigger picture
Tesla is still growing in parts of Europe, but the company’s future valuation story keeps orbiting autonomy, robotaxis, and FSD subscriptions. If Europe slows the rollout, that doesn’t kill the bull case—but it does make the path to Musk’s milestone-filled payday a lot bumpier.