Tesla brings ‘Full Self-Driving’ to China after years of delays as local EV rivals race ahead

After years of delay, Tesla announced on Thursday that its “Full Self-Driving” capability is now available in electric vehicles sold in China, as China’s domestic EV brands have long since started using self-driving technology.

The announcement in X, which is also managed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, listed China as one of the ten markets where the company’s FSD (Supervised) system is now available. Although short on details, the post marks the first time the automaker has confirmed the availability of the technology in China.

The announcement comes a week after Musk, along with a delegation of American officials, joined US President Donald Trump in his summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.

Prior to Thursday’s announcement, the availability of its FSD technology in China was fraught with ambiguity.

Unlike American consumers, Tesla’s customers in China only had access to the Autopilot and Advanced Autopilot systems – precursors to the FSD system – while only select users had access to limited versions as the automaker awaited regulatory approval.

According to the Chinese company’s website, “intelligent assisted driving” is available on the Model 3 sedan for a one-time fee of 64,000 Chinese yuan ($9,409).

While Musk revealed the company’s plans to bring the FSD system – which was first introduced in the US in 2020 – to China from 2024, these plans did not materialize as expected.

In July 2024, Musk said on a second-quarter earnings call that he expects regulatory approval from Chinese authorities before the end of that year. Musk’s timeline was further delayed to September 2024, after he revealed that the technology was “pending regulatory approval.”

As recently as April this year, the company said it was still awaiting regulatory approval for the FSD plan, CFO Vaibhav Taneja said on Tesla’s first-quarter call.

Speculation about the approval of Tesla’s self-driving technology in China, however, has grown in recent days, with Bloomberg reporting on Wednesday that the company has launched a concerted effort to hire roles related to autonomous driving technology, such as autopilot test engineers, in the country.

As Tesla awaits regulatory approval over the years, Chinese rivals including Xiaomi and Xpeng have expanded their own self-driving technology.

Chinese robotics companies such as Pony.ai and BaiduApollo Go has also moved forward with the development of its autonomous driving technology.

In April, Tesla China sold the fourth highest number of electric vehicles in the country, behind BYD, and other automotive conglomerates. Geely again Cheryaccording to the monthly wholesale statistics of the China Passenger Car Association.

A representative for Tesla China declined to comment, and China’s embassy in Singapore did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.

– CNBC’s Anniek Bao and Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report.