Tesla gets China clearance after Musk’s ‘whistlestop’

BEIJING (AFP) — Tesla received a key security clearance from China during Elon Musk’s whistlestop visit to the world’s biggest electric car market, which wrapped up on Monday.

The tech billionaire arrived on Sunday for his second trip to China in less than a year, meeting top officials including Premier Li Qiang as he worked to boost his electric car company’s fortunes in the face of intense competition from local challengers such as BYD.

On the same day, Tesla’s locally produced models were listed among the EVs that meet China’s data security requirements for smart cars, clearing a key regulatory hurdle.

Musk boarded his private jet at Beijing Capital Airport just before 1 p.m. (0500 GMT), and a Chinese flight tracking app said it was bound for Anchorage, Alaska.

Despite the growing market share of domestic automakers, Teslas remain among the best-selling EVs in China.

The firm has been working to boost sales through its “Full Self Driving” (FSD) features, which need to be compliant with strict data and privacy laws.

It appeared to inch closer to that approval by teaming up with Chinese tech titan Baidu for maps and navigation, Bloomberg reported Monday.

These advanced assisted driving features do not make its cars fully autonomous, and Tesla says its autopilot and FSD capabilities are meant to be used under driver supervision.

It sells FSD to Tesla owners for $8,000 in the United States, or for a $99 monthly subscription.

Tesla did not immediately respond to AFP queries about FSD in China and the reported partnership with Baidu.

Earlier this month, in response to a question on his social media platform X, Musk said FSD availability in China “may be possible very soon.”

That report came a day after the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y were compliant with data security laws.

CAAM, which tested vehicles with a national computer security regulator, said in a statement that the approved models satisfied rules on the collection and processing of personal data, including the recordings of faces outside the car.

China has led the electric car revolution.

“Based on today’s policy settings, almost 1 in 3 cars on the roads in China by 2030 is set to be electric,” the International Energy Agency said last week in its annual Global EV Outlook.

Musk and Tesla’s China efforts reflect the importance of this hugely lucrative market for foreign automakers.

Two Japanese car giants last week said they would team up with Chinese tech firms to enhance their artificial intelligence capabilities.

Toyota said it would join hands with gaming giant Tencent on AI to try and capitalize on Chinese consumers’ growing appetite for advanced smart features in the cars it sells in China.