Elon Musk's Tesla met with senior civil servants several times to push the Government to fast-track its self-driving cars, according to sources.
Lobbyists for Elon Musk'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.
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, submitted by The i Paper.
Minutes of one meeting in August disclose that Tesla's chief UK lobbyist, Natasha Mahmoudian, offered a Tesla demonstration to Emma Ward, the Department for Transport's director-general, who is in charge of road transport policy.
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Elon Musk's Tesla met with the Department for Transport to discuss the future of self-driving technology in the UK
PA/REUTERS
The Tesla lobbyist said the company's top priority was to get the new Labour Government to move ahead with green-lighting autonomous vehicles.
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.
In the meeting, which was dubbed "secret" by The i Paper, Mahmoudian, head of public policy at the company, explained that all Tesla cars are currently only able to perform certain manoeuvres autonomously under "level 2".
She added: "On AVs, all Tesla systems are level 2, which includes lane keeping, adaptive cruise control and lane changing.
"Keen to ensure level 2 systems work properly to allow for level 4 and 5 changes. Currently, system manoeuvres are not allowed in the UK, keen to understand what needs to happen in order for this to be supported."
Ward replied that the Government was keen to "keep the UK at the forefront" of AV technology, but noted that there was a "nervousness" around safety.
She said: "Still need to work through responsibility and 'who' is responsible should the vehicle fail. Confirmed ongoing conversation [with] ministers on this."
Progress on autonomous vehicles has slowed under the new Labour Government, with a target to have self-driving cars on the road by 2026 set by Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak slipping to 2027 under Labour.
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The delays to having fully autonomous cars on UK roads has caused some consternation in the motor industry, with an Uber executive this week stating they were "ready to go" on driverless taxis in the UK as soon as the Government was ready to implement it.
Safety concerns over autonomous vehicles have been highlighted through incidents in the United States and regulatory action against Tesla.
Data from the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that self-driving AI systems were involved in nearly 400 car crashes in 10 months in 2021.
In 2023, Tesla was forced to recall more than two million vehicles amid concerns over its hands-free Autopilot system, following a lengthy investigation by the NHTSA.
Tesla's Full Self-Driving technology is one of the most advanced systems in the world
REUTERSA Tesla source told The i Paper that the UK Government's delays in moving forward with the AV Bill puts it behind other European nations.
The source also rejected any safety concerns, noting that independent tests demonstrate a lack of issues with the technology.
A DfT spokesperson said: "Any suggestion that Tesla has gained a commercial advantage from meetings with the department is false.
"Officials routinely meet industry stakeholders to discuss a range of issues affecting the transport sector."
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