- Tesla has changed the name of its software package priced at RMB 64,000 ($8,820) in China to one that does not include the word "FSD".
- It recently suspended the planned one-month free trial of FSD, as the software needs to complete the necessary approvals.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has adjusted the name of its smart driving software in China, dropping the FSD wording from the highest-priced package.
The change was made yesterday, and the name of the software package priced at RMB 64,000 yuan ($8,820) was changed from the previous "FSD Intelligent Assisted Driving" (FSD 智能辅助驾驶) to "Intelligent Assisted Driving" (智能辅助驾驶).
The name of the free basic version of the Assisted Driving software was changed from the previous "Basic Version Assisted Driving" (基础版辅助驾驶) to "Basic Assisted Driving" (基础辅助驾驶).
The name of the "Enhanced Version Automated Assisted Driving" (增强版自动辅助驾驶) software package, which sells for RMB 32,000 yuan, has been adjusted to "Enhanced Assisted Driving" (增强辅助驾驶).
The overall description of these functions has been adjusted from the previous "Autopilot Automated Assisted Driving" (Autopilot自动辅助驾驶) to "Assisted Driving" (辅助驾驶).
Apart from the name change, the functions of these three packages remain unchanged, corresponding to FSD (Full Self-Driving), Enhanced Autopilot (EAP), and Basic Autopilot (BAP) respectively.
Tesla initially named FSD as "Full Self-driving Capability" (完全自动驾驶能力) in China, which literally means having full autonomous driving capability, although this is not true.
On February 25, Tesla began rolling out advanced smart driving features in China similar to FSD in the US, and avoided mentioning FSD in the introduction at the time. This was seen as FSD being officially brought to China.
The name of the feature was subsequently changed from "Full Self-driving Capability" to "FSD Intelligent Assisted Driving".
On March 17, Tesla announced that it would allow eligible vehicles to experience the FSD features for free until April 16.
However, the US electric vehicle (EV) maker later suspended the free trial, saying on Weibo that it was because it still needed to complete the approval of the intelligent assisted driving software.
"All parties are actively pushing forward the relevant process, and once it is ready, it will be pushed out as soon as possible," Tesla customer support said on Weibo.
In the past few years, Tesla has been allowing Chinese customers to purchase the FSD software package for RMB 64,000 yuan. However, since FSD was essentially not available in China, even Tesla salespeople did not recommend that customers purchase the software.
In contrast, most local automakers, including Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) and BYD (HKG: 1211, OTCMKTS: BYDDY), provide their ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) features for free to car owners.
($1 = RMB 7.2579)
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