“Tesla Launches Advanced Driving Assistance ‘FSD’ Software in China”

Elon Musk-led electric vehicle company Tesla has launched its advanced driving assistance software, Full Self-Driving (FSD), in China.

According to reports by Chinese media including Bloomberg, Reuters, Pengpai, and Tsai Lianxi, Tesla announced on Monday that it has updated Autopilot, its driving assistance system, through its social media WeChat account to provide “Autopilot Auto-assisted Driving” function. The price is set at 64,000 yuan (8,800 dollars).

Tesla explained that the functions added by this update include changing the lane according to speed and route, driving traffic signal recognition such as straight, left and right turns, and U-turn at intersections, guiding the route of intersections and intersections based on navigation, driving the optimal route according to road conditions when navigation is not set, and monitoring the driver’s attention in the vehicle’s internal camera.

The feature is similar to the FSD offered by Tesla in the United States, but not at the same level, Reuters noted.

“There is not enough learning of data on China’s road conditions and traffic laws, which is lower than what is provided in the United States,” Reuters reported, citing an informed official.

Tesla is currently undergoing additional technology testing and verification, and will continue to optimize and upgrade its smart driving assistance function in China in the future.

In China, many native electric vehicle companies are already providing advanced driving assistance, but Tesla has not been able to come up with FSD functions because it has not been approved by the Chinese authorities to introduce them.

Earlier in April last year, Musk visited Beijing and met with Chinese State Council Prime Minister Li Chang to discuss the launch of FSD, and in June of the same year, Tesla reportedly decided to receive local guidance services through a contract with Baidu, a Chinese portal company.

In September of that year, Tesla announced its plan to launch FSD in China and Europe as early as the first quarter of this year, raising investors’ expectations.

In the field of autonomous driving, the U.S. and China are fiercely competing.

BYD, the largest electric vehicle company in the region, recently announced plans to provide an autonomous driving system called “God’s Eye” to almost all of its vehicles for free.

However, as the U.S.-China war continued due to China’s checks, including U.S. President Donald Trump’s memorandum on “America First Investment Policy” over the weekend, some speculated that the Chinese government would delay Tesla’s approval of the launch of FSD.

Park Chul-wan, a smart car professor at Seojeong University, said, “The economic trade war in which you give up and get what you get is different from the physical war to destroy the opponent altogether. China’s concession card of approving Tesla’s launch of FSD means that behind-the-scenes negotiations between the two countries are actively taking place to find a mutual agreement.”

JENNIFER KIM

US ASIA JOURNAL