Electric vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA) is launching its full self-driving feature in Europe.
The Austin, Texas-based company said the Netherlands has approved its driver-assistance feature, marking the first European approval for the software upgrade to Tesla vehicles.
When enabled, the full self-driving feature is capable of doing most of the driving for Tesla owners. However, the software has also led to many crashes, some fatal, as well as lawsuits.
Many Wall Street analysts say that Tesla’s self-driving technology is key to its stock performance.
In fact, the driver assistance technology accounts for a majority of the company’s $1.5 trillion U.S. valuation in many Wall Street financial models.
Tesla launched an artificial intelligence (A.I.) enabled robotaxi service in Austin, Texas last June, and analysts expect other U.S. cities to be added to the trials soon.
Management at Tesla have promised more details of its self-driving plans in Europe and robotaxi progress when they report first-quarter financial results on April 22 of this year.
TSLA stock has dropped for eight consecutive weeks and is down 20% this year, trading at $349 U.S. per share currently.
