Tesla's Model 3 Autopilot arrives disabled in Europe

Tesla has begun shipping the first Model 3 units to Europe, however, and despite the people who paid the extra €5,000 for Autopilot, their dreams will be frustrated…

A new controversy surrounding Tesla is set to generate plenty of discussion. Its highly anticipated Model 3 will come with the Autopilot option disabled in European territory. That option costs an extra of no less than €5,000, so customers have every reason to be, at the very least, angry…

The reason behind the deactivation of the Autopilot system in the new Model 3 lies in the fact that the American company is awaiting approval from the RDW, an authority headquartered in the Netherlands that is responsible for studying the various functions of autopilots, among other things.

According to a spokesperson for Tesla, the company says that within a maximum of 2 weeks, the Autopilot function will be enabled and will be 100% functional in the territories of the European Union. This means that all the relevant tests on the Model 3 have borne fruit and have been an absolute success.

Of course, Tesla obtained approval to sell its new Model 3 in Europe last January; however, Autopilot was not part of that approval, though it is also available on models such as the Model X and Model S.

Tesla’s goals go beyond European territory. The Chinese market is one of the tech giant’s main targets, which is why practically all vehicles are destined for either Europe or China, since, in fact, the latter is the largest market in the world when it comes to electric vehicles.

What is clear is that new technologies require review, and sometimes the main consequence of this is delays before consumers can enjoy them.