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Tesla invites Europeans to take ‘Drive To Believe’ challenge: one week with Model S
A new program being offered by Tesla invites residents in select European markets to participate in the company’s latest ‘Drive To Believe’ challenge and win a chance to experience Model S through an extended one week test drive.
Residents of the UK, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Luxembourg, Italy, Denmark, and Ireland that win the challenge will have the opportunity to swap their existing vehicles for a Tesla Model S on specific dates between November 16 and December 31, 2016.
“At Tesla, we believe that it takes driving a Tesla and experiencing its superior performance, safety, and technology, to be convinced. We now want to give you that opportunity as well.”, reads the description on Tesla’s ‘Drive to Believe’ online form.
It’s no secret that Tesla is making a significant investment in expanding its European footprint. CEO Elon Musk recently told investors that the company has plans to expand its battery production into Europe with a second Gigafactory. The company also recently announced that it had acquired top-notch German engineering firm Grohmann Engineering to form a new division aimed at building automated assembly systems, a step towards Musk’s goal of “building the machine that builds the machine”. Continued efforts on scaling Tesla’s European infrastructure while streamlining manufacturing processes and logistics allows the company to position itself ahead of demand.
Meanwhile, programs such as the latest ‘Drive To Believe’ challenge allows the company’s sales arm to focus on driving demand overseas. Secondarily, by having prize winners sign off on terms that would allow Tesla to film their experience with a Model S, the company is able to leverage its Customer Stories program as a tool to build trust among interested buyers and further stimulate sales efforts.
We’ve included the full details of Tesla’s ‘Drive to Believe’ European competition.
TESLA ‘DRIVE TO BELIEVE’ EUROPEAN COMPETITION 2016
1. The promoter
1.1 The promoter is: Tesla Motors Netherlands B.V., Burgemeester Stramanweg 122 (1101 EN), Amsterdam Netherlands (Tesla).
2. The competition
2.1 The title of the competition is TESLA ‘DRIVE TO BELIEVE’.
2.2 Entrants must answer a skill-based question within the space provided in the competition field online at www.tesla.com/drive-to-believe
2.3 The competition will run in one phase. For you to be eligible for the competition, your entry must be submitted between 00:01 on 16th November to 23:59 on 31 December 2016
2.4 You may enter the competition only once.
2.5 All competition entries received after 23:59 on 31 December 2016 will be automatically disqualified from the competition.
2.6 To enter the competition you must fill in all required fields on www.tesla.com/drive-to-believe
2.7 Participation in the competition can only take place at www.tesla.com/drive-to-believe. No applications to enter made in any other manner will be accepted.
2.8 No purchase necessary.
2.9 Tesla will not accept:
(a) responsibility for competition entries that are lost, mislaid, damaged or delayed in transit, regardless of cause, including, for example, as a result of any equipment failure, technical malfunction, systems, satellite, network, server, computer hardware or software failure of any kind; or
(b) proof of transmission as proof of receipt of entry to the competition.
2.10 By submitting a competition entry, you are agreeing to be bound by these terms and conditions.
2.11 The competition entry selection will be based on the entrant’s specific eligibility for the competition. The decision of Tesla (acting reasonably) will be final. Tesla reserves the right to amend the criteria used to judge entries.
2.12 By entering the competition, you hereby warrant that all information submitted by you in your entry is true, accurate and complete in every respect. Tesla reserves the right to verify any information contained in your entry and/or your eligibility to enter the competition.
2.13 Tesla reserve the right in its absolute discretion to disqualify any entrant if it has reasonable grounds to believe that an entrant has breached any of these terms and conditions or any applicable law. Each entrant acknowledges and agrees that any failure to comply with these terms and conditions could lead to Tesla disqualifying that person, without Tesla giving any reason for such disqualification or granting any opportunity for challenge.
2.14 In the event that a prize-winner is disqualified from the competition, Tesla will select an alternative prize-winner in the same manner as the original prize-winner and such selection will be subject to these terms and conditions.
3. Eligibility
3.1 The competition is only open to all residents in the following European markets: UK, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Luxembourg, Italy, Denmark, Ireland
3.2 Entrants must be 25 years of age or above and own a car and hold a valid driver’s license for the market they reside in and enter the competition from.
3.3 Entrants must be able to provide proof of identity.
3.4 Entrants must be willing to be filmed and for all footage and image and voice recordings of their person to be used for Tesla promotional purposes, in all media, globally, in perpetuity for no additional fee or financial remuneration of any kind.
3.5 Any person that is any of the following is not eligible to win the competition:
(a) an employee of Tesla or its holding or subsidiary companies;
(b) an employee of agents or suppliers of Tesla or its holding or subsidiary companies, who are professionally connected with the competition or its administration; or
(c) a member of the immediate families or households of (a) and (b) above.
Tesla reserves the right to disqualify any person that it knows is, or has reasonable grounds to believe is, ineligible for the competition as a result of this condition.
3.6 In entering the competition, you confirm that you are eligible to do so and eligible to claim the prize. Tesla may require you to provide proof that you are eligible to enter the competition.
3.7 Tesla will not accept competition entries that are:
(a) automatically generated by computer;
(b) completed by third parties;
(c) illegible, have been altered, reconstructed, forged or tampered with;
(d) incomplete.
3.8 There is a limit of one entry per person for the duration of the competition. In the event that Tesla discovers or has reasonable grounds to believe that the same person has made multiple entries, such person and any entries made by them shall be disqualified and, if such entrant has already been selected as a prize-winner, an alternative prize-winner will be selected in accordance with condition 2.14
3.9 Tesla reserves all rights to disqualify you if your conduct is contrary to the spirit or intention of the competition or if you engage in political slogans or homophobic language, behaviour of a lewd or explicitly sexual nature or engage in content which is defamatory, obscene, illegal, vulgar, offensive or otherwise unsuitable or infringes others’ rights (including intellectual property rights).
4 The prize
4.1 The prize is as following:
(a) Competition winners must swap their current car for a Tesla Model S for the duration of one week to take place on specific dates Tesla will select between 00:01 on 16th November to 23:59 on 31 December 2016.
4.2 The prize is supplied by Tesla.
4.3 There is no cash alternative for the prize. The prize is not negotiable or transferable.
4.4 In order to claim the prize you must comply with condition 6.
5. Winner announcement
5.1 The winners of the competition will be announced across all media to be selected by Tesla on a date or dates to be selected by Tesla.
5.2 The decision of Tesla is final and no correspondence or discussion will be entered into.
5.3 Tesla will contact the winner personally as soon as Tesla has selected a shortlist of winners.
6. Claiming the prize
6.1 If you are the winner of the prize, you will have 2 days from the Announcement Date to claim the prize. If you do not claim the prize within this timeframe, your claim will become invalid.
6.2 The prize may not be claimed by a third party on your behalf.
6.3 Tesla will make all reasonable efforts to contact the winner. If the winner cannot be contacted or is not available, or has not claimed their prize within 2 days of contact, Tesla reserves the right to offer the prize to the next eligible entrant selected from the correct entries that were received.
6.4 Tesla does not accept any responsibility if you are not able to take up the prize.
6.5 No prize will be awarded where any entrant has committed any form of misconduct (as determined by Tesla in its sole discretion).
7. Limitation of liability
Insofar as is permitted by law, Tesla, its agents or distributors will not in any circumstances be responsible or liable to compensate the winner or accept any liability for any loss, damage, disappointment, personal injury or death occurring as a result of any entrant entering this competition, taking up the prize, or as a result of any entrant winning or not winning any prize, except where it is caused by the negligence of Tesla, its agents or distributors or that of their employees. Your statutory rights are not affected.
8. Ownership and intellectual property rights
8.1 You agree that Tesla (and any third party authorised by Tesla) may use your person, voice and image for any promotional purpose (for example, placing it on the Tesla webpage and social channels for advertising media. You give Tesla (and any third party authorised by Tesla) your irrevocable permission to use, reproduce, publish, display, transmit, copy, amend, store, sell and sub-license your person, voice and image worldwide and in perpetuity for promotional purposes and for the purposes of the competition. Tesla will own the right to your image and voice recordings captured during the duration of the competition.
8.2 By submitting your competition entry, you agree to:
(a) assign to Tesla all your voice and image rights with full title guarantee; and
(b) waive all moral rights,
8.3 You agree that Tesla may, but is not required to, make your personal image and voice recordings available on our social media channels and websites and any other media, whether now known or invented in the future, and in connection with any publicity of the competition. You agree to grant Tesla a non-exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable license, for the full period of any intellectual property rights in your image and voice recordings, to use, display, publish, transmit, copy, edit, alter, store, re-format for such purposes.
9. Data protection and publicity
9.1 If you are the winner of the competition you agree that Tesla may use your name, image, and town or country of residence to announce the winner of this competition and for any other reasonable and related promotional purposes.
9.2 You further agree to participate in any reasonable publicity required by Tesla.
9.3 By entering the competition, you agree that any personal information provided by you with the competition entry may be held and used only by Tesla or their agents and suppliers to administer the competition.
10. General
10.1 If there is any reason to believe that there has been a breach of these terms and conditions, Tesla may, at its sole discretion, reserve the right to exclude you from participating in the competition.
10.2 In the event of any dispute regarding these terms and conditions, the conduct or results of the competition, or any other matter relating to a competition, the decision of Tesla shall be final and unchallengeable and no correspondence or discussion shall be entered into, comment issued, or reason given in respect of any decision made by Tesla.
10.3 Tesla reserves the right to hold void, suspend, cancel, or amend all or any part of the competition where it becomes necessary to do so. Any changes to these terms and conditions, or cancellation of the competition, will be posted on the Tesla website. It is the responsibility of entrants to keep themselves informed as to any changes to the terms and conditions.
10.4 These terms and conditions and any dispute arising out of or in connection with them or their subject matter (including any non-contractual disputes or claims) shall be governed by the laws of the Netherlands and the parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of The Netherlands.
Tesla Full Self-Driving (Supervised) has taken yet another significant step forward in Europe. On May 29, Estonia became the third European Union country to approve the advanced driver-assistance technology, following approvals in the Netherlands and Lithuania.
Tesla Europe announced the news on X, confirming the expansion has continued across the continent that, at one time, seemed to be taking its sweet old time giving any approval to the FSD suite.
FSD Supervised now approved in Estonia🇪🇪. Rollout will begin soon pic.twitter.com/y5a64qlp5m
— Tesla Europe, Middle East & Africa (@teslaeurope) May 29, 2026
Estonia’s Transport Administration (Transpordiamet) granted the approval by recognizing the type certification issued by the Dutch vehicle authority RDW. This mutual recognition mechanism, enabled by EU regulations, allows other member states to fast-track deployment without repeating extensive local testing.
The Estonian authority noted that Tesla’s FSD had undergone rigorous evaluation on European roads for approximately 18 months before the initial Dutch approval in April 2026.
FSD Supervised remains classified as a Level 2 advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS). Drivers must maintain full attention, keep their hands on the wheel, and stay ready to intervene at any moment.
The system assists with tasks such as automatic lane changes, navigation through city streets, and responding to traffic objects, but it does not constitute full autonomy. Estonian officials emphasized this distinction, underscoring that safety responsibility lies entirely with the driver.
The rapid progression across the Baltic region highlights Tesla’s strategic approach to European expansion. The Netherlands provided the foundational type approval in April, unlocking doors for neighboring countries.
Lithuania followed swiftly in mid-May, with rollout beginning shortly thereafter. Estonia’s decision, coming just days later, demonstrates how smaller, digitally progressive nations are accelerating adoption.
Tesla owners in Estonia can expect an over-the-air software update in the coming weeks, bringing the latest FSD capabilities to compatible vehicles
This expansion builds on Tesla’s global momentum. FSD Supervised is now available in 11 countries worldwide, including the United States, Canada, Australia, and South Korea. In Europe, the approvals signal growing regulatory confidence in Tesla’s vision-based AI approach, which relies on cameras and neural networks rather than lidar or radar-heavy alternatives used by some competitors.
For Tesla, these European milestones are more than symbolic. They validate years of data collection and software iteration while opening new revenue streams through FSD subscriptions and purchases.
As the company continues refining its AI models with real-world miles from diverse driving environments, including Estonia’s variable winter conditions, the dataset grows richer, potentially benefiting global users.
Elon Musk has firmly denied recent media reports suggesting that SpaceX has reduced its target valuation for an upcoming initial public offering.
The denial came directly from the SpaceX and Tesla frontman on his social media platform X, where he responded with a single word, “False,” to a post from ZeroHedge that cited Bloomberg sources.
This swift rebuttal underscores Musk’s ongoing effort to manage speculation surrounding one of the most anticipated market debuts in recent history.
False
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 29, 2026
According to the disputed reports, SpaceX had lowered its IPO valuation goal to at least $1.8 trillion from previous ambitions exceeding $2 trillion.
The claims emerged amid growing anticipation for the company’s confidential S-1 filing, which positions it for a potential public listing as early as June.
Some had pointed to strong revenue growth, particularly from the Starlink satellite internet service, which contributed heavily to the firm’s 2025 figures of $18.7 billion. Yet challenges persist in other areas, including substantial investments and losses tied to ambitious projects like Starship development and artificial intelligence initiatives, which plan to make life multiplanetary eventually.
Musk’s response highlights a pattern in which he actively counters what he views as inaccurate portrayals of his companies’ trajectories.
SpaceX, already valued privately at extraordinary levels, stands as a cornerstone of Musk’s empire alongside Tesla and xAI. The entrepreneur has long emphasized the transformative potential of reusable rockets and global broadband access, factors that fuel investor enthusiasm despite operational hurdles.
By rejecting the valuation downgrade narrative, Musk signals confidence in SpaceX’s fundamentals and its readiness for public markets on terms favorable to its long-term vision. People have been waiting a very long time to invest in SpaceX, and the valuation, as well as the introductory share price, is not going to need adjusting.
They’ll have plenty of suitors.
This episode reflects broader dynamics in the technology sector, where rumors often swirl around high-profile entities. Musk’s direct engagement with media narratives serves to maintain transparency and control the narrative around his ventures.
As SpaceX prepares for greater scrutiny in public markets, the founder’s denial reinforces optimism about its prospects. Supporters argue that the company’s innovative edge positions it for enduring success, far beyond short-term valuation debates. With the denial now public, attention turns to forthcoming regulatory filings that could provide clearer insights into SpaceX’s strategy and financial health.
The coming weeks promise to reveal more about how SpaceX will transition into a publicly traded powerhouse.
Tesla’s dreams of operating a fully autonomous ride-hailing platform just took a massive step toward reality, as two separate events have indicated the company is perhaps closer than ever to achieving self-driving as a product.
On Thursday, Tesla was granted authorization by the State of Texas to operate driverless vehicles in a commercial manner. On May 28, Senate Bill 2807, passed by the 89th Texas Legislature, took effect after being passed back on September 1, 2025.
The bill establishes a statewide regulatory framework requiring authorization from the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles for companies to operate automated vehicles commercially on Texas roads.
This covers driverless, or SAE Level 4+, operations for passenger transport, meaning Robotaxi, or freight.
Tesla and other companies can self-certify their vehicles and tech as long as they:
- Operate in compliance with Texas traffic laws
- Maintain proper registration, title, and insurance
- Use compliant automated driving systems
- Record onboard activity and handle system failures and glitches safely.
The new authorization, which was first reported by James Stephenson on X, allows companies to utilize their own processes to determine if their vehicles are ready to operate without drivers.
🚨BREAKING:
Tesla has been authorized by the State of Texas to operate driverless vehicles commercially under the new law that took effect today, May 28th, 2026. Tesla has officially self-certified the software running on its robotaxis as Level 4. $TSLA pic.twitter.com/KSJdsvlaW5— James Stephenson (@ICannot_Enough) May 28, 2026
It is a rule that expedites the entire approval process, keeping agencies out of a usually long, lengthy, and frustrating task that is essential to technological advancements. It essentially means Tesla can launch commercial Robotaxi operations at this point.
On the very same day, Tesla continued the momentum as CEO Elon Musk shared a video of Cybercab units autonomously driving off the property at Gigafactory Texas. This is a major step in the story of the Cybercab.
Mass production of the Cybercab started at Giga Texas in April, and it is already heading out of the factory on its own.
Cybercab driving itself out of the GigaTexas factory pic.twitter.com/EwAMVVDjYy
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 28, 2026
These two major events mark a drastic step forward in Tesla’s progress toward Cybercab and the permissions it needs to operate a self-driving ride-hailing service. Tesla is now able to operate autonomously under Texas law by self-certifying, and with the potentially imminent rollout of Cybercab, Tesla’s autonomous dreams are starting to take serious shape.
Tesla Full Self-Driving expansion in Europe continues with new addition
Elon Musk strikes down reports on SpaceX IPO rumors
