One more step towards the autonomous car. The Giant of Electric Vehicles in Tesla began offering advanced autonomous driving functions for their cars in China, including automatic driving in the streets of the cities, the company said on Tuesday, February 25.
This announcement occurs after several years of attempts from the American manufacturer to overcome regulatory obstacles that avoid this update in the Chinese automotive market, the largest in the world.
Tesla explained that it would gradually implement a software update that includes “automatic driving assisted by autopilot in the streets of the cities” and a function in the rearview mirror that detects whether drivers are attentive or not.
These characteristics are similar to those of the FSD system (for “full autonomous” or “totally autonomous driving) that the manufacturer offers in the United States.
Cars with these characteristics, in fact, are not completely autonomous and are intended to be used under the control of a driver.
The update “has been published for certain automobile models and will gradually extend to other appropriate car models,” said the company in this press release published in the Chinese social network Wechat.
Complete the Chinese manufacturer byd
China is an important market for Tesla, which has two factories there and tries to compete with local manufacturers of electric vehicles, whose growth is strong.
The main rival of Tesla in China, the Chinese manufacturer Byd, had announced a few days ago the next deployment of advanced autonomous driving technology in almost all its vehicles.
Tesla tries to obtain the approval of regulators in China for their FSD system, which must comply with local data on data and privacy.
The Chief of Tesla, Elon Musk, has made several trips to China in recent years to obtain the data security approvals necessary for models on Chinese soil.
The commercial manager plays an important role in the administration of US President Donald Trump, who has imposed additional customs duties to Chinese products and promised to limit Chinese investments in the United States in the technologies and strategic infrastructure sectors.
Elon Musk is still a relatively popular personality in China, where many perceive it as a successful and influential entrepreneur.
He has almost 2.3 million subscribers in the Chinese social network Weibo and his mother, Maye Musk, appeared in ads for several Chinese brands.
Technology companies and Chinese car manufacturers have invested billions of euros in autonomous driving to catch up with US leaders in the sector.
Autonomous Taxis in the main Chinese cities
If Chinese consumers cannot buy totally autonomous vehicles, China has already approved several autonomous taxi services in some large cities.
In Wuhan (center), more than 500 driving taxis carry passengers in large areas of the city. They are part of the Apollo Go project of the Chinese giant of Baidu Tech.
The BYD autonomous driving system “EYE” in particular allows remote parking and autonomous navigation on the highway, presents previously reserved for high -level vehicles.
This month, the Chinese manufacturer announced that it immediately made this system available even in entry level cars, including the seagull, a model sold from 69,800 yuanos (9,180 euros).
Source: BFM TV
