Tesla owners in Sweden are taking it upon themselves to lobby for the approval of FSD-style tests in the City of Stockholm. The owners’ efforts come amidst city officials’ continued refusal to allow Tesla to test its autonomous driving system in the capital.

In open letters and social media posts, Tesla owners have urged Stockholm to reconsider its stance, pointing to broader support for FSD trials across Europe. But despite their efforts, city officials appear unwilling to budge, reinforcing the capital’s hardline stance on the Elon Musk-led EV maker.

Public support shows brand loyalty

A group of Swedish Tesla owners recently sent an open letter to Stockholm leaders. Among them is Alexander Kristensen, who has written a letter to officials urging them to allow Tesla to test FSD in the region.

“Members of the Traffic Committee are politically appointed by the Stockholm City Council, whose mandate is determined by the popular vote. Your stance—continuing to block a conditional pilot of FSD— is thus a political decision and fully subject to the electorate’s judgment in the next municipal election.

“When the City prevents tests that could validate and refine the technology locally, it is perceived as hampering life-saving innovation,” the Tesla owners wrote.

The Swedish Transport Administration issued a response, acknowledging the Tesla owners’ feedback. The Transport Administration noted that it could proceed to grant a permit for Tesla to test FSD, but the company would still have to secure approval from local governments where the FSD-style tests will be conducted.

Stockholm remains firm

Despite this, Stockholm doubled down shortly after, stating that Tesla’s FSD software remains prohibited on city roads.

“Thank you for your comments and for taking an interest in traffic issues concerning the City of Stockholm. As previously stated, the City’s assessment of the current application remains unchanged and our position is set out in the opinion,” the City of Stockhom wrote.

In light of the city’s response, some Tesla owners have vowed to campaign against current officials in the next election.

The push for FSD testing comes as Tesla faces ongoing challenges in Sweden, including a labor dispute with unions over collective bargaining agreements. Since late 2023, the conflict has resulted in strikes, blockades, and legal battles, none of which appear close to resolution. Despite regulatory and labor headwinds, Tesla continues to expand in the region, including the recent installation of Superchargers in union-backed areas.

The City of Memphis has released initial air quality test results from three sites across the city, including one near Elon Musk’s xAI data center in South Memphis. 

According to city officials, the results showed no dangerous levels of pollutants. “At every site and for every pollutant tested, levels were either too low to detect or well below established safety thresholds,” the city’s report read.

xAI Welcomes Air Quality Test Results

Tests were conducted at Macedonia Church in Boxtown, The Links at Whitehaven, and City Hall Downtown. Memphis Mayor Paul Young stated that the data only represents a “snapshot in time” and that continued monitoring will take place.

“The City doesn’t control air quality regulations, but we stepped up to find answers. The initial results showed no dangerous levels of air pollutants at any of the tested sites. We are committed to ongoing testing to continue to inform and protect our community,” Mayor Young stated.

xAI, which opened a facility in Boxtown to house its Colossus supercomputer, welcomed the city’s initial findings. The artificial intelligence startup shared its comments in a post on social media platform X.

“xAI welcomes the independent third-party data showing no dangerous pollutant levels at test sites near our Memphis data center. We have built a world-class data center in Memphis and we couldn’t have done it without the support of the local community and its leaders,” the company stated.

Critics Are Not Satisfied

Environmental advocates and local leaders, however, were not satisfied with the city’s initial tests. The Southern Environmental Law Center criticized the city’s approach, arguing that smog-forming emissions, including nitrogen oxides from xAI’s turbines, pose health risks that the city’s testing did not account for, as noted in a FOX 13 Memphis report.

“The city failed to measure ozone pollution–better known as smog–which we already know is a major problem in the Memphis area… As community members have warned for the last year, smog-forming pollution is a major concern with the unpermitted turbines being run at xAI’s South Memphis data center,” the group noted.

State Representative Justin J. Pearson (D-Memphis) echoed the group’s criticism.

“We do not need any more misleading reports that are more concerned with finding a conclusion conducive to Mayor Young’s unwavering support of xAI, rather than discovering the truth. Our review of the information released by the City of Memphis earlier this evening revealed a glaring and critical omission in their pollution testing and results: the monitoring of ozone which is a considerable factor in air pollution problems in Memphis,” he noted.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has teased new progress on the company’s humanoid robot, Optimus. In a brief post on X, Musk shared that he had an “excellent review” with the Tesla Optimus team. He also confirmed that Optimus V3 is already using Grok voice assistant in a later reply. 

Musk’s recent posts suggest that the development of Tesla’s humanoid robot is advancing steadily behind the scenes.

Grok Already Integrated

Musk’s recent comments about Optimus were shared on social media platform X. Initially, Musk posted that Optimus V3 would be (chef’s kiss), and that he just had an excellent review with the humanoid robot’s team. Considering Musk’s post, it was no surprise that some Tesla fans asked if Optimus would be able to talk using Grok, xAI’s large language model. Musk confirmed that Optimus “already does.” 

Grok’s integration with Optimus may allow the robot to interact more naturally with its environment and users. Tesla previously noted that Optimus will rely on the same neural networks powering its Autopilot and FSD systems. The addition of Grok could then make Optimus even more user-friendly for regular consumers.

Closer to Production

The current iteration of Optimus features Tesla-designed actuators, improved limb control, and more human-like proportions. Recent demo videos released by the company showed Optimus units walking unassisted, balancing in place, and working in Tesla factories, among other tasks. Musk has also highlighted that Optimus would have upgraded hands with 22 degrees of freedom, close to a human hand.

Musk noted during the company’s Q1 2025 All Hands meeting that Tesla may be able to produce around 5,000 units this year. “This year, we hopefully will be able to make about 5,000 Optimus robots. We’re technically aiming for enough parts to make 10,000, maybe 12,000, but since it’s a totally new product with a totally new, like everything is totally new, I’ll say we’re succeeding if we get to half go the 10,000. But even 5,000 robots, that’s the size of a Roman legion, FYI,” Musk said during the meeting.