Tesla daily: Slovakia becomes the 9th EU country to approve FSD; Cybercab assembly lead leaves; union resistance in Australia

Key evidence

• On 16 Oct Slovakia's transport ministry formally recognised the provisional type approval issued by the Dutch RDW, making Slovakia the 9th EU country to approve (the Netherlands, Lithuania, Estonia, Denmark, Belgium, Slovenia, Czechia, Croatia and Slovakia). Together they cover about 13.9% of the EU population
• EU-wide approval needs a double majority: at least 15 countries representing 65% of the population. The EU motor vehicles technical committee did not vote at its 6 Oct meeting, and the next vote is December at the earliest. Approval is still 6 countries and about 51 percentage points of population short. Germany, France and Italy will decide the outcome (Germany 18.6%, France 15.2%, Italy 13.1%)
• Points of disagreement: on 22 Jul the French transport minister said FSD can exceed speed limits by up to 50% in some situations, and France also regards driver attention monitoring as inadequate. Since early September France has allowed road tests and says it is working with Tesla on technical adaptations. On 6 Oct Germany's transport ministry said it had agreed a speeding cap of 10% with Tesla, describing it as a concession by Tesla; Tesla has not confirmed it. Norway said on 16 Oct that it is waiting for the EU's conclusion, and Belgium said on 15 Oct that the speed-offset function is being considered for adjustment or removal
• Jody Kerns, senior manager of Cybercab final assembly at Giga Texas, announced on LinkedIn this week that he is joining Rivian as director of R2 final assembly. He took over Cybercab assembly in February 2026 and saw it through from the first unit off the line to commercial operation on 3 Sep. Before that he spent 14 years in final assembly at Volkswagen of America
• Earlier, Michael So, who led new product introduction for Cybercab (employee No. 1 at the Texas factory), left in April-May for a nuclear energy start-up
• In September NHTSA required sworn certification that vehicles without steering wheels meet federal safety standards
• Cybercab is touring major Australian cities including Brisbane. The Transport Workers' Union wants a safety driver in every vehicle and compensation for drivers who lose their jobs; Uber backs a mix of human drivers and driverless cars; current Australian law does not allow fully driverless operation on public roads