Tesla Launches Full Self Driving in Lithuania

Tesla rolled out supervised full self-driving in Lithuania on May 20, making the European country the second to use the technology on public roads following the Netherlands, according to the company’s announcement on X.

“Making European roads safer, one by one,” Tesla Europe, Middle East and Africa said.

Lithuanian Minister of Transport and Communications Juras Taminskas said the country is ready to use the technology to help make long road trips more comfortable.

“Lithuania is among the first in Europe where cars can now drive themselves. These technologies can already make a real contribution to safer and more comfortable driving, especially on longer journeys or in monotonous traffic,” Taminskas said in a statement.

The supervised version of the self-driving technology will require the driver to be able to take control of the vehicle, but Tesla owners can engage the feature to drive them to work or take them around town as they relax.

The software used in Lithuania will be based on experience Tesla gathered from vehicles already using the system in the Netherlands, where drivers have been able to engage in autonomous driving since April.

Musk last month thanked regulatory authorities in the Netherlands for paving the way for autonomous driving in Europe.

“Congratulations to the Tesla team and thank you to the regulatory authorities in the Netherlands for all the hard work required to make this happen,” Musk posted on X April 10.

Greece is expected to be the next country to approve Tesla’s full self-driving technology for use on its roads.

The European full self-driving releases are supervised, allowing a car to steer, accelerate, brake, and navigate itself, but requiring the driver to remain fully attentive and ready to take the controls at any time.

Texas-based Tesla is also working on fully autonomous technology, which has already been deployed in the test cities of Austin, Texas; San Francisco, and Shanghai.

Musk said he expects fully autonomous cars to be widespread in the United States by the end of the year.

Tesla’s newest version of its full self-driving software, V14.3.3, started rolling out May 16 and includes increased speed for the smart summon feature and improvements in multiple functions, such as handling of small animal safety, traffic lights at complex intersections, parking, and handling.

Tesla stopped selling one-time purchases of full self-driving after Feb. 14 in the United States and began offering it to owners only through a monthly subscription. In Europe, the end date for buying the technology is May 21 before the company switches to a subscription-only model.

Tesla’s full self-driving capability is now operational in 10 markets—the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, China, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, the Netherlands, and Lithuania.