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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.
News
Elon Musk teases expectations for Tesla’s AI6 self-driving chip
This optimistic timeline for tape-out—the stage where chip design is finalized before manufacturing—signals Tesla’s push to rapidly advance its silicon capabilities.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is outlining expectations for the AI6 self-driving chip, which is still two generations away. Despite this, it is already in the plans of the company and its serial entrepreneur CEO, who has high expectations for it.
Musk provided fresh details on the company’s aggressive AI hardware roadmap, spotlighting the upcoming AI6 chip designed to supercharge Tesla’s self-driving tech, humanoid robots, and data center operations.
In a post on X dated March 19, Musk stated, “With some luck and acceleration using AI, we might be able to tape out AI6 in December.”
With some luck and acceleration using AI, we might be able to tape out AI6 in December
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 19, 2026
This optimistic timeline for tape-out—the stage where chip design is finalized before manufacturing—signals Tesla’s push to rapidly advance its silicon capabilities.
The announcement builds on progress with the predecessor AI5. Earlier in January, Musk announced that the AI5 design was “in good shape” and “almost done,” describing it as an “existential” project for the company that demanded his personal attention on weekends.
He characterized AI5 as roughly equivalent to Nvidia’s Hopper class performance in a single system-on-chip (SoC) and Blackwell-level as a dual configuration, but at significantly lower cost and power usage.
Elon Musk is setting high expectations for Tesla AI5 and AI6 chips
Musk highlighted that AI5 “will punch far above its weight” thanks to Tesla’s co-designed AI software and hardware stack, making maximal use of every circuit. While capable of data center training tasks, it is primarily optimized for edge computing in Optimus robots and Robotaxi vehicles.
For AI6, Musk envisions substantial gains. “In the same half reticle and same process node, we think a single AI6 chip has the potential to match a dual SoC AI5,” he explained.
The company is targeting ambitious nine-month development cycles for future chips, allowing rapid iteration to AI7, AI8, and beyond. AI5/AI6 engineering remains Musk’s top time allocation at Tesla, with the CEO calling AI5 “good” and AI6 “great.”
Samsung is expected to manufacture the AI6 chips, following deals worth billions, while AI5 will leverage TSMC and Samsung production. These chips will form the backbone of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system, enabling safer and more capable autonomy, alongside powering dexterous movements in Optimus bots and efficient inference in expanding data centers.
Tesla to discuss expansion of Samsung AI6 production plans: report
Musk has also restarted work on the Dojo 3 supercomputer project now that AI5 is progressing. Long-term plans include in-house manufacturing via the Terafab facility.
By accelerating chip development with AI tools, Tesla aims to reduce dependence on third-party GPUs and deliver high-performance, energy-efficient solutions tailored to its ecosystem. Success with AI6 could mark a major milestone in Tesla’s journey toward full autonomy and robotics leadership, though timelines remain subject to manufacturing realities.
Elon Musk
SpaceX is quietly becoming the U.S. Military’s only reliable rocket
Space Force drops ULA for SpaceX on GPS launch after Vulcan rocket anomaly investigation halts flights.
The U.S. Space Force announced today it is switching an upcoming GPS III satellite launch from United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket to a SpaceX Falcon 9, a move that is as much a reflection of Vulcan’s mounting problems as it is a validation of SpaceX’s growing dominance in national security space launch. The GPS III Space Vehicle 09, originally contracted to fly on Vulcan this month, will now target a late April liftoff on Falcon 9, marking the fourth consecutive GPS III satellite the Space Force has moved to SpaceX after contracts were originally awarded to ULA.
The immediate trigger is a solid rocket motor anomaly that occurred on February 12 during Vulcan’s USSF-87 mission. Although the payloads reached orbit and ULA declared the mission successful, the company characterized the malfunction as a “significant performance anomaly” and has since paused all military launches on Vulcan pending a root cause investigation.
“With this change, we are answering the call for rapid delivery of advanced GPS capability while the Vulcan anomaly investigation continues,” said Systems Delta 81 Commander Col. Ryan Hiserote. “We are once again demonstrating our team’s flexibility and are fully committed to leverage all options available for responsive and reliable launch for the Nation.”
The broader reality is that SpaceX’s reliability record and launch cadence have made it the path of least resistance for the Pentagon, and bodes well with Elon Musk’s plans to IPO SpaceX sometime this year. Its Falcon 9 is the most flight-proven rocket in history, and the Space Force’s Rapid Response Trailblazer program was specifically designed to enable exactly this kind of provider swap for GPS missions, and effectively building SpaceX’s flexibility into the national security launch architecture by design.
For ULA, the stakes are existential. The company entered 2026 with aspirations of finally turning a corner after years of Vulcan delays, with interim CEO John Elbon pointing to a backlog of over 80 missions as reason for optimism. Meanwhile, SpaceX’s contracts with the Space Force have given it a formal pathway to take on even more national security launches going forward.
The significance of today’s announcement extends beyond one satellite swap. It reinforces that America’s most critical space infrastructure, including GPS, missile warning, and beyond, is increasingly dependent on a single commercial provider.
News
Tesla Full Self-Driving gets huge breakthrough on European expansion
All documentation for UN R-171 approval and Article 39 exemptions has been submitted, with RDW now conducting its internal review. Approval in the Netherlands is expected on April 10, shifted from the original March 20 target, following 18 months of rigorous collaboration.
Tesla Full Self-Driving has gotten a huge breakthrough as the company is still planning big things for its European expansion, hoping to bring the impressive platform into the continent after years of attempts.
Tesla Europe has announced a major breakthrough: the company has officially completed the final vehicle testing phase for Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in partnership with the Dutch vehicle authority RDW.
All documentation for UN R-171 approval and Article 39 exemptions has been submitted, with RDW now conducting its internal review. Approval in the Netherlands is expected on April 10, shifted from the original March 20 target, following 18 months of rigorous collaboration.
Together with RDW, we have officially completed the final vehicle testing phase for Full Self-Driving (Supervised) and have submitted all documentation required for the UN R-171 approval + Article 39 exemptions. The RDW team is now reviewing the documentation and test results…
— Tesla Europe, Middle East & Africa (@teslaeurope) March 20, 2026
The process has been exhaustive. Tesla said it has logged more than 1.6 million kilometers of FSD (Supervised) testing on European roads, conducted over 13,000 customer ride-alongs, executed 4,500+ track test scenarios, produced thousands of pages of documentation covering 400+ compliance requirements, and completed dozens of independent safety studies.
The company expressed pride in the partnership and anticipation of bringing the feature to “patient EU customers” soon after approval.
Europe’s regulatory landscape has presented steep challenges for Tesla’s advanced driver-assistance systems. The EU enforces some of the world’s strictest safety standards under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe framework, particularly UN Regulation 171 on Driver Control Assistance Systems.
Unlike the more permissive U.S. environment, European rules historically limited system-initiated maneuvers, required constant driver supervision, and demanded country-by-country or bloc-wide exemptions. Tesla faced repeated delays, with initial February 2026 targets pushed back amid RDW’s insistence that safety, not public or corporate pressure, would govern timelines.
Tesla Europe builds momentum with expanding FSD demos and regional launches
A former Tesla executive warned in 2024 that certain regulatory elements could slip to 2028, highlighting bureaucratic hurdles, extensive audits, and the need for harmonized data privacy and liability frameworks across fragmented member states.
Yet progress is accelerating. Amendments to UN R-171 adopted in 2025 now permit hands-free highway lane changes and other automated features, clearing technical barriers. Once the Netherlands grants national approval, mutual recognition allows other EU countries to adopt it immediately, potentially leading to an EU-wide rollout by summer 2026.
This European breakthrough is part of Tesla’s broader push into foreign markets. Full Self-Driving (Supervised) is already live in the United States and expanding rapidly.
In China, where partial approvals exist, CEO Elon Musk has targeted full rollout around the same February–March 2026 window, despite lingering data-security reviews.
Additional markets, including the UAE, are slated for early 2026 launches. These expansions are critical as Tesla seeks to monetize software amid softening EV demand globally.
For European Tesla owners, the wait appears nearly over. Approval would unlock advanced autonomy features that have long been available elsewhere, marking a pivotal step in Tesla’s global autonomy ambitions and reinforcing its commitment to navigating complex international regulations.
Elon Musk teases expectations for Tesla’s AI6 self-driving chip
SpaceX is quietly becoming the U.S. Military’s only reliable rocket
