Tesla Gave Regulators Misleading FSD Safety Data

Tesla Sent Inflated FSD Safety Data to European Regulators

Tesla gave self-published Full Self-Driving safety statistics to government regulators in Sweden and the Netherlands. Reuters obtained the correspondence through public records requests. Ten of 11 independent traffic-safety researchers who reviewed Tesla's methodology called it misleading marketing — not a serious safety study.

We have been tracking this story closely. The regulatory lobbying campaign adds a new layer to a Reuters investigation that first exposed the flawed data in May 2026.

The "32,000 Lives Saved" Claim

In April 2026, Tesla policy manager Ivan Komusanac emailed Swedish regulators to request FSD approval. He attached a slide deck. It claimed FSD could have saved 32,000 lives and prevented 1.9 million injuries. It also claimed Teslas using FSD travel more than seven times farther between crashes than the average U.S. human driver.

Independent researchers say the 32,000-lives figure rests on a flawed premise. It assumes every vehicle in the U.S. — freight trucks, motorcycles, everything — would be replaced by an FSD-enabled Tesla. That assumption is the foundation of the statistic.

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What Is Wrong With Tesla's Methodology

Tesla compares crash rates in FSD-equipped vehicles that triggered airbag deployments against a U.S. crash rate that includes far less severe accidents. That is an apples-to-oranges comparison. It inflates the safety margin by a factor of three, according to Electrek's reporting.

Tesla also benchmarks its cars against the average U.S. vehicle, which is about 12 years old. Newer vehicles across all brands have better safety features. A new Toyota Camry is safer than the average U.S. vehicle too — that does not prove Toyota has solved autonomous driving.

Which Countries Received the Lobbying Materials

Here is what the documents show about each country and its response:

RDW approved FSD in April 2026 and is now seeking EU-wide approval on Tesla's behalf. RDW told Reuters it "does not rely on marketing claims or external statistics" and runs its own tests. But the agency did not say whether it checked the validity of Tesla's U.S. safety statistics.

How European Regulators Responded

Responses were mixed across countries:

• Sweden: Anders Eriksson of the Swedish Transport Agency said regulators "look beyond headline figures." The agency did not answer Reuters' questions about what other evidence Tesla provided.
• Norway: Stein-Helge Mundal said Tesla's figures "are self-produced," making it "difficult to find correlation with the authorities' accident statistics."
• Greece: A regulator cited data "from the other side of the Atlantic" showing FSD "leads to a very significant drop in accidents." The transport ministry declined to say whether that data came from Tesla's own report.

The European Transport Safety Council's Dudley Curtis put it plainly. Tesla should "give the data to a university, have it independently verified by a qualified researcher, and then let's talk."

Why FSD Approval in Europe Matters to Tesla

Tesla has said FSD approval in Europe is key to regaining market share. Sales fell sharply last year amid backlash over Elon Musk's political activities. BYD has outsold Tesla in Europe for multiple consecutive months, with Chinese EV makers making steady inroads.

EU-wide approval requires representatives of 55% of member states — covering 65% of the bloc's population — to vote yes. Four countries have already approved FSD nationally: the Netherlands, Lithuania, Belgium, and Denmark.

Tesla did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment. The next concrete step is RDW's ongoing push for EU-wide approval, with individual country approvals continuing in parallel.