Israel Permits Tesla Autonomous Driving System

Tesla began its development in Israel in early November 2019. The company's cars are in demand in Israel, which several times tried to import American-made Teslas through third-party dealerships, but Tesla executives rejected these requests. Tesla's business model doesn't allow third-party dealers to sell their cars; instead, the company prefers to sell its cars directly to customers through experience centers or galleries.

Until recently, Israeli law required that at least 90% of the shares of a company that imports cars in Israel be owned by Israelis. But, starting in September, for the company to work, it is only necessary that the company to be headed by an Israeli.

January 1, it became known that Tesla opens an R&D office in Israel. In the first phase, Israeli R&D will focus on studying local startups and technologies related to areas of interest to Tesla, as well as negotiating and exchanging information with Israeli companies, some of which Tesla already had business and technological relationships in the last two or three years.

Source: CBS San Francisco

Earlier this month, according to Calcalist, the Israel’s Ministry of Transport and Road Safety banned residents of the country from using Autopilot on the roads of country. They asked the company to notify all Tesla owners in Israel.

Today, according to the Calcalist, Israel’s Ministry of Transport and Road Safety revised its application and decided to allow Tesla cars sold in the country to use the company's semi-autonomous driving system.

According to this information, these changes became possible due to the fact that the capabilities of this system were verified and negotiations were held between the Ministry and Tesla representatives in Israel. Representatives of the company dispelled all fears of the Ministry, saying that the Autopilot is just a driving assistance system that doesn't replace a human driver who still needs to constantly hold the steering wheel with his hands in accordance with the requirements of the law.

By allowing Autonomous vehicle capabilities, the Ministry has not lifted the ban on two functions: remote control and the ability to summon the car from its parking lot without the presence of a driver. At the same time, the Ministry is studying possible changes in legislation that will allow autonomous parking, but this will take some time. Drivers will still have to constantly keep their hands on the steering wheel, even after making the appropriate changes.

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Featured image: Tesmanian