Tesla has introduced subscription plans for Enhanced Autopilot (EAP) in China. The development comes amidst growing speculation that the electric vehicle pioneer is gearing up to unveil its Full Self-Driving (FSD) capabilities in the Chinese market.
The new subscription options for EAP in China are priced at 699 yuan (~$98) per month or 1,399 yuan (~$197) for a three-month plan, according to multiple sources reporting on Friday. This move follows Tesla’s earlier offering of free EAP trials in February as a sales incentive, heightening rumors of an impending FSD launch.
Tesla currently provides EAP in China for a one-time purchase of 32,000 yuan (~$4,509), as shown on the company’s order configurator.
NEWS: Tesla has launched Enhanced Autopilot subscriptions in China.
• 699 yuan/month ($99 USD)
• 1,399 yuan for 3 months ($66 USD/month) pic.twitter.com/Js2NYbI79F— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) April 27, 2024
Enhanced Autopilot in China currently includes features such as auto-steering, auto lane change, and navigate on Autopilot, with future enhancements expected to include smart summons and automatic parking.
The shift towards FSD was evident in Tesla’s recent price drop for the software in North America, where EAP has been integrated into the FSD package. Additionally, reports suggest that Tesla may unveil a robotaxi platform in August, further fueling speculation about an FSD launch in China.
During Tesla’s Q1 2024 earnings call earlier this week, CEO Elon Musk discussed plans to introduce FSD in various countries, including China:
“The thing about the end-to-end neural net-based autonomy is that just like a human, it actually works pretty well without modification in almost any market. So, we plan on, with the approval of the regulators, releasing it as a supervised autonomy system in any market that, where we can get regulatory approval for that, which we think includes China.”
CFO Vaibhav Taneja added insights on Tesla’s approach to launching FSD in other markets like China, noting the need to adhere to specific road rules:
“There are some road rules that they need to follow. Like in China, you shouldn’t cross over a solid line to do a lane change. In the U.S., it’s a recommendation, I think. In China, you get fined heavily if you do that. We have to do some more actions, but it’s mostly smaller actions. It’s not like the entire change of stack or something like that.”
