Federal government for Tesla driving assistant: Musk successfully lobbies the German transport minister

Federal Transport Minister Steffen Bilger (CDU) spoke personally with the extreme right-wing Tesla boss Elon Musk about the approval of automatic driving assistance for electric cars and shortly afterwards advocated for its prompt release in Europe. On September 9, 2026, there was an exchange between Bilger and the civil servant State Secretary Stefan Schnorr with “Elon Musk about Tesla's driving assistance system,” according to a response from the ministry to a question from the Left Party member of the Bundestag Vinzenz Glaser. The ministry did not answer questions from the taz about the detailed circumstances by the time of going to press.

A few weeks after the exchange with Musk, on October 6th, the Ministry of Transport stated in a press release that Bilger would work for a timely approval of the driving assistance system at the European level. At a specialist conference on the same day, Bilger announced that he would consider approval for Germany if necessary.

Bilger, who took over the office from his sacked predecessor Patrick Schnieder (CDU) in July, was only sworn in the day before the exchange with Musk. “It is a scandal that Transport Minister Bilger, immediately after being sworn in, exchanged ideas personally with Tesla boss Elon Musk, who supports right-wing extremist parties and actors worldwide,” says Glaser. “This reveals where Bilger’s political priorities lie: luxury cars and corporate interests, instead of a transport policy for the majority of people.”

Tesla's driving assistance system is highly controversial. Among other things, it takes care of braking, accelerating and steering. However, drivers must remain vigilant. Therefore – contrary to what the name “FSD – Full Self-Driving Supervised” suggests – no autonomous driving is possible. In contrast to other systems, the Tesla assistant works exclusively with cameras and not with other technology such as radar. Critics warn that, for example, in bad weather conditions, obstacles are overlooked and accidents occur. In the USA, authorities are investigating a number of such cases.

The approval of the Tesla Assistant is currently being negotiated at EU level. The system has already been approved in 7 small member states, including Belgium, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. Together, these countries make up around 12 percent of the EU population. Approval requires the consent of at least 15 of the 27 member states, which together make up at least 65 percent of the EU population. Germany plays an important role with a population share of 18.5 percent. This explains Musk's interest in personally intervening with the German transport minister.

In the press release of October 6th, the Ministry of Transport announced that “Tesla” had offered to abandon the “somewhat misleading” name “Full Self-Driving Supervised” in Europe and instead use the name “Tesla Assisted Driving”.

In a passage in the communication that is marked as a direct quote from Bilger, it is said that many technical aspects and liability issues need to be clarified during the approval process. “I discussed this with Tesla in September,” the Transport Minister is quoted as saying – without mentioning the name Elon Musk. “We quickly found a common understanding and reached a constructive agreement,” explains Bilger. His goal is for Tesla drivers to be able to use the advantages of “Assisted Driving” throughout the EU as quickly as possible.

The entire communication reads as if Bilger, his state secretary and Musk had negotiated directly with each other. The ministry and Tesla have “agreed” that “the driver assistance system may exceed the maximum permissible speed slightly – by a maximum of ten percent,” it says. This point has so far been viewed very critically by German authorities.

The responsibility for driving the vehicle remains 100 percent with the person driving, according to the statement. Based on “these agreements,” Germany supports a timely continuation of the European approval process for the system.

“Bilger now fulfills all the wishes of his fascist friend Musk with a kiss on the hand,” criticizes Left Party MP Glaser. Bilger makes politics for super-rich business owners, while millions of local transport users have to continue to wait for affordable and reliable public transport.