image Source, getty images
According to media reports, Elon Musk is visiting Beijing to discuss enabling autonomous driving mode on Tesla cars in China.
Mr Musk wants to enable Full Self Driving (FSD) in China and transfer data collected in the country abroad to train its algorithms.
FSD is available in countries including the US but not in China.
The news comes after a US report linked Tesla’s autonomous driving mode to at least 13 crashes, including one fatality.
China is Tesla’s second largest market. Other carmakers such as Xpeng – which is headquartered in Guangzhou – are attempting to compete with Tesla by introducing similar self-driving functions in their cars.
The electric carmaker has taken earlier steps to reassure Chinese authorities about the rollout of FSD in the country, including setting up a data center in Shanghai to process data about Chinese consumers in accordance with local laws.
The visit comes days after the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it was investigating whether safety concerns related to Tesla’s driver assistance systems were successfully addressed.
NHTSA said that despite requirements for drivers to maintain attention on the road and be ready to take control at a moment’s notice when autonomous driving is enabled, the drivers involved in the crashes “were not sufficiently engaged”. The regulatory analysis was conducted before the recall, which Tesla said would fix the problem.
Tesla’s software is supposed to make sure drivers are paying attention and that the feature is only in use in appropriate circumstances, such as driving on highways.
Mr Musk has promised that Teslas will be able to operate as autonomous “robotaxis” for years. In 2015, he said that Tesla would achieve “full autonomy” by 2018. And in 2019, he said the company would operate robotaxis by the following year.
This month, Tesla’s CEO said he would reveal the company’s robotaxi in August.
Critics accuse Mr Musk of constantly promoting the prospects of fully autonomous driving to boost the company’s share price, which has fallen due to falling demand for electric vehicles around the world and challenges including competition from cheaper Chinese manufacturers. Mr Musk denies the allegations.
The carmarker’s profits fell sharply in the first three months of the year to $1.13bn (£910m), compared with $2.51bn in 2023. Its stock has fallen 43% this year.
