Since the activation of the total autonomous driving system, the network has been filled with videos showing the advanced characteristics of this technology that have managed to take a significant leap forward in performance. In addition to the price increase that it will entail, the only problem is that it has only been launched in certain units in the United States. But now Elon Musk himself has confirmed the start of his expansion in the first markets.
At the moment, I do not know if it will be limited to a small numbers of customers. Still, we know that Tesla will soon begin activation in Canada and the first customers in Europe, starting with one of Tesla’s key points, such as Norway.
There, the American manufacturer will benefit from more advanced legislation than the one in force in the rest of Europe, which will facilitate commissioning and testing on European roads thanks to the largest fleet in the entire continent.
Thanks to this, Tesla will be able to finish polishing the system to adapt it to the different characteristics of the old continent’s roads, which is a preview of its expansion into the rest of the markets that should take place before the end of this year.
It remains to be seen how the system will function under strict EU regulations and limitations once it is activated. Something that will have high importance since it will mean the success or not of the technology. An option that has increased its price to $10,000 in the United States has not done so in Europe.
It will be difficult for Tesla to convince users to pay up to 10,000 euros for this system if it comes with great limitations that make its great capacities almost useless due to regulations such as the European standard UN/ECE r79.
Because of this, Tesla has already had to adjust its Autopilot for the European market at the time, resulting in various features being restricted. For European owners of a Tesla model, the user experience is affected by these restrictions, which will make it more difficult to justify the alleged price increase, and that may even endanger the activation of the features beyond upgrades like stopping at traffic lights or stop signs.
We will know in the coming weeks where Autopilot will have to demonstrate that it is worth paying the increasingly high sum of money to activate it.