Elon Musks geheimer Vorstoß nach Großbritannien, um fahrerlosen Teslas zuzulassen
Elon Musks geheimer Vorstoß nach Großbritannien, um fahrerlosen Teslas zuzulassen
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Elon Musk’s [Tesla ](https://inews.co.uk/topic/tesla?srsltid=AfmBOorFulsoRIgrvW_9ScA6jbhrtl7Y-ivlHWGBgN0A31xfVVCOer2E&ico=in-line_link)met with senior civil servants several times to push the Government to fast-track its [self-driving cars](https://inews.co.uk/topic/driverless-cars?srsltid=AfmBOooF9mNiimqwq_nkNLJESmdr3No-nEdgWAANVtPMBdbR6Qe1EvZp&ico=in-line_link), *The i Paper* can reveal.
Lobbyists for [Elon Musk’](https://inews.co.uk/topic/elon-musk?ico=in-line_link)s electric car company met with Department for Transport officials five times between August and October last year, with the first meeting taking place less than a month after Labour’s election victory.
Corporate stakeholders often meet civil servants to discuss industry issues, but details of the meetings come as the Government faces growing scrutiny over [lobbying ](https://inews.co.uk/topic/lobbying?srsltid=AfmBOorsBVQ99XOL1J9T1D1v1e-mApcwjEVmRtdjD4zcVl_Uii4HiUIN&ico=in-line_link)after the gifting of free tickets to major events and other hospitality to ministers and their advisers.
Although the meetings were recorded on departmental disclosure logs, the full details of what was discussed were only released after a Freedom of Information request.
Minutes of one meeting on 2 August disclose that Tesla’s chief UK lobbyist, Natasha Mahmoudian, offered a Tesla demo to Emma Ward, the Department for Transport’s (DfT) director-general who is in charge of road transport policy.
The Tesla lobbyist said the company’s top priority was to get the new Labour Government to move ahead with green-lighting [autonomous vehicles (AV)](https://inews.co.uk/news/technology/uk-road-fully-self-driving-cars-2021-alks-system-autonomous-vehicle-981065?ico=in-line_link). Tesla has staked its financial success on its self-driving technology, with a series of optimistic predictions about the profitability and timings of fully automated driving.
Currently, self-driving vehicles in the UK can only perform certain tasks to assist a driver, like cruise control, lane-keeping or assistance with parking.