TESLA started offering a new upgrade to its autopilot feature in China on Tuesday to bring its local offering closer to the full self-driving (FSD) suite available in the United States.

Following the update, the navigate-on-autopilot mode will be able to change lanes automatically on urban roads, detect traffic lights, and make turning decisions, Tesla China announced. Additionally, a map package has been upgraded along with an in-car camera to monitor driver attention. The updates are being rolled out over the air in batches and will gradually expand to more models.

These capabilities will be deployed to customers who have pre-ordered FSD for 64,000 yuan (US$8,830).

The American electric vehicle giant has been working to introduce FSD to the Chinese market since last year. The company’s chief executive Elon Musk visited China last April to promote it. Last September, Tesla announced on X that it would launch FSD capabilities in China and Europe in the first quarter of 2025, subject to local regulatory approvals.

However, given the intense competition in China’s electric vehicle (EV) market and Tesla’s premium pricing for its autopilot software, the FSD feature is unlikely to attract a large number of potential buyers.

Since the beginning of this year, competition among Chinese smart car manufacturers has intensified. Shenzhen-based EV giant BYD announced that it would equip all its models with intelligent driving functions, including entry-level models priced below 100,000 yuan, to give more users access to next-generation technologies. Similarly, Xpeng’s P7+ integrates advanced features like highway navigation assistance and remote summoning, available for free.

Even Tesla’s Enhanced Autopilot (EAP), priced at 32,000 yuan, is considered expensive by many Chinese consumers. As of March 2024, only about 19% of over 2 million Tesla owners in North America have opted for FSD, and this adoption rate has remained stagnant despite the release of the more advanced FSD V12.

According to a report by Chinese finance media outlet 36kr, an auto vlogger named Chen Zhen posted a video logging his unsatisfactory experience of the FSD feature on Tesla’s Cybertruck. Under the “Hurry Mode,” which means top speed, the vehicle turned left into oncoming traffic, failed to park properly within lines, and even collided with guardrails. Chen concluded that Tesla’s FSD performance was mediocre, especially when compared to the advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) offered by Chinese automakers like Xpeng and Huawei.

China’s roads are a chaotic mix of over 300 million electric bicycles, numerous pedestrians, and vehicles, creating a dynamic and unpredictable navigating environment, especially in urban areas. For instance, delivery workers often weave through traffic on e-bikes; some may also drive in the wrong direction, or make sudden lane changes, demanding a high level of real-time decision-making from the driver or autopilot system.

In contrast, U.S. roads are less congested, and driver behaviors are generally more predictable.

Tesla’s FSD relies on a camera-based vision system, eschewing lidar and other sensors used by Chinese competitors. While this approach simplifies hardware, it requires software to accurately interpret complex driving scenarios.

(Li Dan)