Autonomous Race: How Chinese Electric Vehicles Outpace Tesla in the Domestic Market
Kyiv • UNN
Tesla has faced problems in China due to restrictions on data transfer for AI. Competitors such as BYD and Huawei are actively developing driver assistance technologies.
Tesla is facing serious barriers in China: it cannot export data to train its artificial intelligence, and its competitors - such as BYD and Huawei - are rapidly reducing prices, increasing production and introducing advanced driver assistance technologies, often already in the basic configuration. This is reported by UNN with reference to Reuters.
Details
Tesla faces obstacles in China that slow the development of its autonomous systems. Due to government restrictions, the company cannot use data collected by Chinese cars to train the AI that controls the Full Self-Driving (FSD) system. Despite negotiations with Chinese officials, Tesla has not yet received permission to transfer this data to the United States.
Meanwhile, Tesla's competitors receive support from Beijing in the form of subsidies and political assistance for the development of driver assistance technologies. According to analysts, the market for intelligent electric vehicles in China has long been developing in conditions of fierce competition, which forced companies to reduce profits for the sake of large-scale implementation of new technologies, which ultimately reduced production costs.
On the streets of Shenzhen, autonomous systems are already demonstrating impressive results.
I didn't touch the steering wheel while driving through the crowded areas of the city." He was referring to the new BYD models equipped with the "God's Eye" system
Huawei is also demonstrating its achievements in autonomous technologies, cooperating with manufacturers such as Chery, SAIC and Changan. Reuters journalists tested the Aito M9, a premium SUV with a Huawei system that independently performed complex maneuvers in urban environments. The car even successfully parked near Huawei's headquarters.
Despite this, the Chinese authorities are tightening control over the marketing of autonomous driving technologies after a fatal accident involving a Xiaomi car. Huawei, Zeekr and Xpeng are preparing for the certification of level 3 driving systems, which allow the driver to be distracted while the car independently controls the movement.
Tesla is lagging behind: its FSD version does not yet allow the driver to take their hands off the steering wheel. The company plans to launch a robotaxi in Austin, but there are almost no details.
Chinese companies are moving forward faster - and cheaper. According to analysts, "the cheapest Tesla with FSD in China is the Model 3 for $41,500, while BYD cars with a similar God's Eye system start at $30,000 and often have it already in the base." Systems based on the Nvidia chip and numerous sensors cost BYD $2,105 versus $2,360 for Tesla, which does not use lidars.
Components for autonomous driving in China are much cheaper than in the US or Europe. A2MAC1 engineer Olena Zhelondz explains this by the effect of scale and competition, which reduced suppliers' margins.
Although BYD's gross profit of 22% may decrease due to the free distribution of God's Eye, Evercore analyst Chris McNally believes that the company will benefit from increased sales.
BYD has a clear and constant market advantage over Tesla in collecting road data to improve its system
BYD already sells more than Tesla - 4.2 million cars last year - and uses its scale to reduce costs. In November, one of the company's executives directly called on suppliers to reduce prices by 10%, calling the next year a "knockout round."