Full self-driving (FSD) may soon come to China says Tesla CEO

Tesla CEO, Elon Musk indicated that full self-driving (FSD) could be available soon in China. FSD is currently available for a limited number of testers in the U.S. and Canada.

Autopilot and autonomous technologies are gaining popularity among automakers. Car companies are also paying attention to new tech to provide better experiences.

Last December, China’s Ministry of Transport published an autonomous vehicle guideline. The guideline covers various degrees of automation and mandates. It also paves a safety standard for all players looking to enter the self-driving technology market.

China’s industry experts say that a safety guideline for driverless vehicles in public transportation could boost the country’s position in this genre.

Chinese EV makers are pursuing technologies to improve their driving system and focusing heavily on Advanced Driver assistance systems (ADAS). It helps to navigate safely on the road and prevent car incidents.

ADAS is crucial to self-driving tech including pedestrian detection and avoidance. It could change lanes, correct it, and detect traffic sign recognition. It is used for automatic emergency braking and finding a blind spot.

Chinese car maker XPeng aims to expand its ADAS called “City Navigation Guided Pilot” to cover all major cities by 2024. It also provides features such as lane changing and maintaining distance.

SAIC Motor and Geely have partnered with Baidu to fetch self-driving technologies and conduct joint development of the autonomous industry.

Unlike these, Tesla has advanced ADAS, and the EV maker testing FSD since 2019. Its current FSD version 12 was reviewed to be a most human-like driving experience.

“Mr. Musk, I am a Tesla owner in China. I look forward to Tesla FSD entering China as soon as possible.” wrote an X social media user @lelelemeng. Musk replied, “It may be possible very soon”. However, the Tesla CEO didn’t reveal any FSD launch date in China.