On 25 February, many Tesla owners in China were pleasantly surprised that after an OTA (over-the-air) update, their vehicles are now capable of many functions in Tesla’s FSD (Full Self-Driving) program. However, it came under the name of “Urban Road Autopilot” (城市道路Autopilot), Autopilot being Tesla’s driving assistance function, which has been available in China for some time.
The current update allows drivers to use Autopilot on “controlled roads”, such as directional ramps and expressways, as well as urban roads to help with turning and lane change. It can also select the best route when no navigation route is chosen. However, the official response is that the current rollout will be in phases and is still being grey box tested, and only offers “Level 2” driving assistance, i.e. partial automation. That is why Tesla changed the description on the FSD ordering page from “complete automated driving” to “FSD smart driving assistance”.
On Weibo, China’s Twitter equivalent, the topic “Tesla is reportedly preparing to deploy FSD in China” (#曝特斯拉准备在华部署fsd#) reached number 48 on the Hot Search list with 9.70 million views. Many Tesla owners feel that after buying the subscription they can finally use the function they’ve been waiting for 5-6 years for.
Tesla opened its Shanghai Megapack factory on 11 February, while the updated Model Y started rolling out of the Shanghai Gigafactory this month and will be shipping from 26 February. Many observe that this is a sign that the EV maker is shifting its focus to China after its sales were nearly halved in Europe in January due to CEO Elon Musk’s controversial involvement with the Trump administration and European elections in the United States. Whether the China market can make up for Tesla’s losses in Europe remains to be seen.
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