Taiwan can't wait for Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD)? A legislative session reveals the current situation openly

Taiwan has yet to see Tesla FSD, and most outside blame it on "regulations prohibiting, the Ministry of Transportation being too conservative." But in the record of the review discussion held by Legislator Ge Rujun at the Legislative Yuan on June 10, the real current situation was laid bare: FSD is currently positioned as Level 2 driver assistance, which under the Ministry of Transportation's current regulations can be reviewed without legislative amendment. The real bottleneck is Tesla's "application in progress, not officially submitted." The Ministry of Transportation provided a schedule of holding a technical committee 2 to 4 weeks after submission, while the US, Canada, the Netherlands, South Korea, and China have already opened it for road use.
(Background: Tesla launched "FSD autonomous driving" smoothly in China’s market, is Taiwan next?)
(Additional background: Full analysis of Tesla's autonomous driving FSD: Is Level 2 safe enough? Global approvals and expansion status)

Table of Contents

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• Government not approving? But the process is stuck at Tesla’s submission
• Between L2 and L3, a legislative amendment is needed
• The 2018 regulations are not designed for FSD
• Taiwan imported European standards along with other rules
• Ministry of Transportation officials provided review timeline
• Taiwanese drivers are still waiting for a document
• Every day, someone dies under the wheels

Key Summary

• FSD is currently Level 2 driver assistance, which can be reviewed under the Ministry of Transportation’s "Guidelines for the Review of New Technology Driving Systems" approved in February 2025, without legislative change
• The real bottleneck is Tesla’s "application in progress, not officially submitted," still in data preparation and communication with the Vehicle Safety Inspection Center
• The Ministry of Transportation promised that within 2 to 4 weeks after submission, a technical committee would be convened; FSD in the US, Canada, the Netherlands, South Korea, and China has already been approved for road use

In Amsterdam, a Tesla is turning a street corner by itself. In California, FSD has just surpassed 11 billion miles driven. In Taiwan, the same model, paid for the same, can only be manually operated; owners cannot activate that feature.

All Teslas are the same, with the same software and chips, and contain many parts produced in Taiwan.

Whether FSD can be used depends on which country's roads the car is on.

On the afternoon of June 10, three groups gathered in the Legislative Yuan conference room to focus on this issue: Legislator Ge Rujun’s office, the Ministry of Transportation’s Public Transportation and Supervision Division, and the Vehicle Safety Inspection Center. Their question was: why does Taiwan still not have FSD?

Government not approving? But the process is stuck at Tesla’s submission

The most counterintuitive part of this meeting is that it overturns a long-held belief.

Many think that Tesla’s FSD cannot enter Taiwan because of "regulations prohibiting," "government conservatism," or "legislative hurdles," as if there is a clear law stating "automatic driving prohibited," blocking the entire matter.

But the discussion at the scene shows otherwise. The following content is from the meeting record.

Representatives from the Ministry of Transportation and the Vehicle Safety Inspection Center clearly stated that FSD is currently positioned as a Level 2 driver assistance system, not an autonomous driving system that allows drivers to let go of both hands. Under this positioning, Taiwan does not need to amend laws first; it can proceed with pre-approval through existing administrative procedures.

So where is the progress stuck?

It’s stuck with Tesla itself. The real situation revealed in the meeting is that Tesla is "applying, but not yet officially submitted." In other words, the manufacturer is still preparing data and communicating with the Vehicle Safety Inspection Center; the files are not yet complete, and the case has not officially entered review.

One reason is that Tesla Taiwan does not have a full technical team locally; many technical data need to be confirmed back at the original factory abroad, and even engineers responsible for verification have to be specially brought from overseas.

Therefore, the precise answer to "why does Taiwan still not have FSD" is "the manufacturer has not yet fully submitted."

Between L2 and L3, a legislative amendment is needed

To understand Taiwan’s autonomous driving regulations, we first need to clarify the grading system.

Internationally, autonomous driving capability is divided into Level 0 to Level 5. Level 2 is driver assistance, where the car can accelerate, decelerate, and steer itself, but the ultimate responsibility for the steering wheel remains with the driver, who must keep both hands on the wheel and eyes on the road; if an accident occurs, it’s the driver’s responsibility. Levels 3 and above are true autonomous driving, where the system is responsible, and the human can relinquish control, with responsibility shifting to the software.

Tesla currently promotes FSD (Supervised), and the "Supervised" in its name is the key point. In regulatory classification, it still falls under Level 2.

FSD remains at Level 2, and according to Taiwan’s current system, it relies on the "Guidelines for the Review of New Technology Driving Systems" approved by the Ministry of Transportation in February 2025, which divides verification into two stages: technical feasibility and road suitability within the country, without the need for legal amendment.

But if someday Tesla upgrades FSD to a Level 3 that allows hands-free operation, that’s another matter. It would require legal revision, redefining accident responsibility, insurance, and supervision.

So the question "why does Taiwan still not have FSD" actually contains two layers: the future Level 3 version is the part that truly requires legal action.

The 2018 regulations are not designed for FSD

Many Tesla enthusiasts wonder: doesn’t Taiwan already have autonomous vehicle regulations?

Yes, and no.

In November 2018, Taiwan passed the "Unmanned Vehicle Technology Innovation Experiment Act" in a three-reading process, overseen by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, centered on a "regulatory sandbox." It allows unmanned vehicles, ships, drones, and similar devices to conduct road tests within designated areas and under specific conditions, temporarily relaxing existing laws.

Taiwan’s first case was the WinBus autonomous shuttle bus connecting Changbin to Lukang, approved in early 2020, a fully domestic-made autonomous vehicle costing about 40 million NT dollars. By 2021, about 11 cases were testing on roads under the sandbox framework.

It sounds like Taiwan had plans before, but the problem is that this law was not designed for FSD.

The regulatory sandbox is for "experiments," allowing developers to test R&D-stage unmanned vehicles in controlled environments. It is not an open pathway for "ordinary car owners to commute daily." A Taiwan owner of a Model Y cannot activate FSD on their daily route using this sandbox.

FSD aims to go through a process for mass production and sale to general consumers—submitting to the Ministry of Transportation and Vehicle Safety Inspection Center for review. That’s why, in the June 10 meeting, the representatives sitting at the table were from the Supervision Division and the Vehicle Safety Inspection Center, not from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which oversees the sandbox back then.

Taiwan imported European standards along with other rules

Another complicated part.

Taiwan’s vehicle safety inspections largely adopt UNECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) technical regulations. From January 2025, Taiwan recognizes UN R79, a set of standards concerning vehicle steering systems.

Adopting international standards is generally good, saving the effort of creating rules from scratch. But the side effect is that Europe’s conservative attitude toward advanced FSD functions has also been imported.

Under R79, some of FSD’s flagship urban capabilities—like automatic lane change, intersection judgment, and automatic steering in city streets—are restricted. This is also why, as previously reported, after Taiwan adopted R79, the progress of FSD was once thought to depend on approval from relevant European regions.

Legislator Ge Rujun’s appeal at the meeting was to loosen this restriction. He proposed that Taiwan could directly recognize the certification results from the Dutch Ministry of Transport (RDW), instead of waiting for the EU-wide TCMV vote. The Netherlands already approved FSD in April this year, with data showing safety improvements of about three times. In other words, others already have a performance record; Taiwan does not need to re-test from scratch.

A representative from the Ministry of Transportation responded on the spot that recognizing the Dutch RDW certification results is unrelated to the EU-wide vote, and this route is feasible.

Regarding the US standard FMVSS adopted by some Tesla functions, Ge Rujun suggested three parallel approaches: directly inquire with the US Department of Transportation, check the US Federal Register, and ask Tesla to provide official documents issued by the US government. The Ministry of Transportation estimates that this US route will take about 2 to 3 months, with clearer results expected by July.

The Ministry of Transportation officials provided a review timeline

During the meeting, the Ministry of Transportation representatives also outlined the timeline if Tesla officially submits.

• After Tesla’s formal submission, the first technical committee review would be held within 2 to 4 weeks to examine testing plans
• Once the plan is approved and reported to the Ministry, about 2 weeks to finalize
• After completing on-road testing, the final review takes about 2 to 4 weeks
• Confirmation of US FMVSS standards takes about 2 to 3 months, with a clear result expected by July

Additionally, testing on national highways and expressways was previously a gray area. The meeting revealed that the Highways Bureau and the Directorate General of Highways reached a consensus on testing protocols on May 27, so this part is no longer unregulated.

Adding up these timelines, it becomes clear that once Tesla submits the files properly, the process from approval to review completion in Taiwan is measured in "weeks," not "years." If someone is paying attention, delays without reason should be avoidable.

Taiwanese drivers are still waiting for a document

Zooming out, FSD relates to the overall progress of traffic logic.

Currently, globally, FSD is already open for road use in the US, Canada, the Netherlands, South Korea, and China. The US has opened all major functions; the Netherlands approved it in April; South Korea has officially opened the service; the UK will complete autonomous vehicle legislation in 2024; Japan plans to open general road testing by the end of 2025. The 28 EU countries are more conservative, mostly only allowing control related to traffic signals and parking signs, with city automatic steering not yet fully approved, and they are working toward EU-level approval via TCMV voting.

Data shows Tesla’s FSD has accumulated about 16.6 million kilometers of collision-free highway driving, with global public miles exceeding 11 billion miles.

Taiwan faces the most awkward contrast globally.

Taiwan is the core of the global automotive chip and AI computing supply chain. NVIDIA, Tesla’s autonomous driving hardware, are backed by TSMC, Taiwan’s packaging and testing factories, and Taiwanese engineers. Taiwan’s industry participates in the development of autonomous driving worldwide.

Part of the value of 0050 (a Taiwanese stock index ETF) lies in autonomous driving, yet Taiwanese people cannot use FSD on their own roads.

Every day, someone dies under the wheels

If FSD is only regarded as a tech toy or a luxury gadget for the wealthy, this meeting is just a niche tech seminar.

But we can understand that Taiwan’s traffic safety could improve significantly once FSD is properly implemented.

Taiwan’s annual traffic accident fatalities have long hovered around 2,000 to 3,000 people. In terms of daily lives, several lives are lost at intersections, on curves, and in collisions that could be avoided if the system responded faster than humans.

The data showing a safety boost of about three times after the Netherlands approved FSD is a starting point for public opinion. If a system already verified in multiple countries can significantly reduce accidents, delaying it due to incomplete files is truly a tragedy for road users.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Taiwanese drivers currently use Tesla FSD?

Not yet, but the bottleneck is not legal prohibition. FSD is currently Level 2 driver assistance, which can be reviewed under the Ministry of Transportation’s "Guidelines for the Review of New Technology Driving Systems" approved in February 2025, without legal amendments. Tesla is still in the "application in progress, not yet officially submitted" stage, preparing data and communicating with the Vehicle Safety Inspection Center.

Why can FSD be reviewed without legal amendments?

Because FSD (Supervised) is positioned as Level 2, where the driver must be responsible at all times, with hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. It is driver assistance. To reach Level 3 or higher (system responsible, hands-free), current laws would need to be amended, and responsibilities redefined.

What acceleration measures did Ge Rujun propose at the meeting?

Mainly three: recognize the Dutch RDW certification results, avoid waiting for the EU TCMV vote; pursue multiple parallel inquiries into US FMVSS standards; and shorten review timelines. The Ministry of Transportation promised that once Tesla formally submits, the first technical committee will be convened within 2 to 4 weeks.