Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) reportedly presented misleading safety data to European regulators to seek approval for its Full Self-Driving (FSD) system in Europe.
Independent traffic-safety researchers have taken issue with Tesla’s self-published safety statistics, which the company has been using to advocate for its FSD system, claiming it to be up to 10 times safer than human drivers, as per a Reuters report on Monday.
Upon review, Reuters said, it discovered several invalid data comparisons in Tesla’s statistics, which seemingly “inflated” its safety claims. The company has presented these exaggerated safety figures to regulators in Sweden and the Netherlands, according to the report.
Tesla initiated the FSD approval process with the Dutch road regulator, RDW, in late 2024. In a letter to RDW, Tesla stated that “increased usage” of FSD “leads to safer roads,” the report said. Tesla approached Swedish regulators in April seeking approval for its FSD system, claiming vehicles using FSD can travel over seven times farther between crashes than the average U.S. human driver, it added. The presentation claimed that FSD could have prevented about 32,000 deaths and 1.9 million injuries.
Researchers told Reuters that the figures are misleading because they rely on an unrealistic assumption that every U.S. vehicle would be replaced by a Tesla equipped with FSD technology.
The Reuters analysis also found that Tesla inflated its safety claims by comparing crash rates from FSD-triggered airbag deployments with broader U.S. accident data that includes minor collisions. It also benchmarks its vehicles against the average U.S. car, which is typically older and lacks newer safety technologies, skewing the results in Tesla's favor.
Tesla did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comment.
Tesla FSD Faces Investor Skepticism
This controversy comes on the heels of Tesla’s recent announcement of its first European safety data for FSD. The company reported that drivers using FSD Supervised on public roads in the Netherlands recorded 3.5 times fewer collisions than manual drivers over the past two months.
However, Tesla’s FSD system has faced criticism in the past. In April, investor Gary Black expressed concerns about the unrealistic expectations set by Tesla bulls regarding the FSD system. He said some investors are "blindly parroting" CEO Elon Musk's 2030 delivery targets and wrongly believe Tesla's data advantage will make its autonomous driving lead uncatchable, calling the narrative overly optimistic.
Tesla's FSD system drew criticism from investor Ross Gerber, co-founder of Gerber Kawasaki, who said it is still not comparable to human driving ability. His remarks came after Tesla claimed its FSD has "eyes in the back of its head," highlighting its camera-based safety advantages. Gerber pushed back, arguing that human senses outperform Tesla's eight-camera vision system and questioning its effectiveness in real-world driving.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Image: Nick Oza via Imagn Images
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