Tesla is moving forward with making FSD available in China, but there's no exact information as to when that will happen, local media quoted a company insider as saying.
(A screenshot from the Tesla China website.)
Tesla said it is moving forward with bringing the FSD (Full Self-Driving) feature to China, the first time the electric vehicle (EV) maker has admitted to doing so.
"[Work to bring FSD to China] is indeed moving forward at the moment," local media outlet China Fund News said today, citing a response from the US EV maker.
Rumors of FSD's imminent entry into China have resurfaced as the country has recently seen new policies in the autonomous driving space, the report noted.
Several Chinese government departments have recently issued a joint notice allowing vehicles with mass production conditions that support L3 and L4 autonomous driving to carry out road tests based on pilots in limited areas, and for the first time clarifying the determination of accident liability, the report noted.
Against this backdrop, Tesla FSD's entry into China is seen as entering the countdown phase, the report said.
A few days ago, the latest owner's manual on Tesla's China website added descriptions of the FSD Beta feature, triggering much anticipation about its imminent availability in China.
With FSD enabled, the vehicle can drive along curves in the road, autonomously pass intersections, make turns, navigate through traffic circles, and enter/exit highways.
With FSD, Tesla models can have autopilot capability not only on multi-lane roads with clear lane lines, but can also use full autopilot capability on any type of road, including residential streets and city streets, according to Tesla's user manual.
Notably, the owner's manual on Tesla's Chinese website has now removed any reference to FSD.
Tesla is indeed moving forward with making FSD available in China, but there's no exact information as to when that will happen, the report said, citing a company insider.
Tesla has previously made extensive preparations to bring FSD to China, the report noted.
In 2021, Tesla set up a data center in Shanghai, where all data generated by its China operations, including production data, sales data, service data and charging data, are stored entirely within China to comply with regulatory requirements.
Tesla has also set up an FSD operations team as well as a data labeling team in Shanghai, and has sent engineers from its headquarters to do training, the report said.
Tesla China has also been assisting regulatory authorities in pushing for high-level autonomous driving laws and regulations, according to the report.
Earlier this year, there were several rumors about FSD coming to China or Tesla testing the feature in China, but none of them were confirmed.
On June 9, CITIC Securities analyst Lian Yixi's team said the trend for Tesla FSD to enter China was becoming clearer, which is expected to accelerate the process of making local EVs smarter.
However, that's still facing two major issues from becoming a reality -- data collection qualifications and supercomputing centers, according to the team.
Analysts list 2 major issues Tesla must address before bringing FSD to China
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