Tesla demonstrates full self-driving capabilities on UK public roads
Tesla released videos showing its Model 3 vehicles navigating London and Swindon without a person holding the steering wheel, using software currently available only to engineers. The company is awaiting regulatory approval to deploy the unsupervised full self-driving capabilities in the UK.
What happened
Tesla released two videos on 25 July 2025 showing a Model 3 vehicle negotiating central London and Swindon's Magic Roundabout while the person in the driver's seat was not holding the steering wheel.
The three-minute clip shot in London demonstrated the car dealing with roadworks and passing landmarks such as Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and Downing Street.
Tesla said the Model 3 used for the videos contains the same hardware as vehicles delivered to customers today, but has software currently available only to its engineers, and the company is awaiting regulatory approval to use its unsupervised full self-driving capabilities in the UK.
Index analysis
Steve Gooding, director of motoring research charity the RAC Foundation, stated that the regulatory test self-driving vehicles need to pass is not whether they can cope with UK roads on a given day, but whether they can cope every day in every combination of circumstances they might encounter, including when human drivers around them might be less inclined to stick to the rules.
Governance controls
The company is awaiting regulatory approval to use its unsupervised full self-driving capabilities in the UK.
On the date of the demonstration, the Government launched a consultation on what rules self-driving taxis should have to meet in future.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
This record was researched and written by the Index from original reporting. Its sources are still being verified by an editor, and they are listed here once that check is complete. Until then the record carries no reviewer.