For years, Tesla has been stuck idling on the sidelines as Chinese automakers like Xpeng and Nio race ahead with their own advanced driver assist systems for the world’s largest auto market. From WSJ news, Tesla has won Beijing’s approval to roll out its Full Self-Driving (FSD) in China, marking a major milestone for the company, approval follows a meeting between Elon Musk and top Chinese officials including Premier Li Qiang.
New partnership with Baidu could finally put Tesla’s self-driving ambitions for China in the passing lane, deal will allow Tesla to deploy its autonomous driving features like Autopilot and Full Self-Driving on Chinese roads by utilizing Baidu’s mapping and navigation services for precise lane-level guidance.
Tesla’s met all four of China’s strict national data security standards for automakers.
Those crucial compliance victories, as validated by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), help address the nagging data privacy concerns that Chinese regulators have long held over Tesla’s operations. Roadblocks that have prevented the company from introducing its most advanced assisted driving features so far.
With both the mapping partnership and data regulatory boxes checked, it’s now just a matter of time before the green flag waves for Tesla’s autonomous systems FSD to hit Chinese streets in a serious way.
Of course, even with this breakthrough, Tesla will be playing catch-up to domestic EV players like XPeng that have had a multi-year head start on deploying their own self-driving and driver assistance solutions.
If its Tesla FSD live up to the hype, this Baidu tie-up could be just what Tesla needs to accelerate its autonomous efforts and make up for lost time in its vital Chinese market, self-driving race is officially on.
Related: Grace Tao, Tesla Global VP, on Autonomous Driving and the Future of New Energy Vehicles