On May 8th, according to China Daily, Tesla proposed to land an "unmanned taxi" in China. In this regard, the Chinese government may first support its testing and demonstration in China, but has not yet fully approved the full implementation of its Full Self Driving (FSD) in China.
The above news came a month before Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on his owned X that the company would release Tesla Robotaxi on August 8th.
This project was put on Musk's agenda as early as 2016 and further refined in 2019. According to Musk, in the first phase, Robotaxi's business model will be similar to ride hailing and shared cars, with the average cost per mile of travel reduced to less than $0.18. Car owners who join the Robotaxi fleet can earn an annual profit of $30000. In 2022, Musk once again stated that Robotaxi is expected to be mass-produced in 2024 and will remove the steering wheel or pedals.
In the first quarter of this year, the company's management announced that Tesla Robotaxi, named "Cybercab," will adopt an unboxed manufacturing method. In addition to operating their own fleet, Tesla owners can also send their cars out to make money, similar to the combination of Airbnb and Uber.
The company plans to integrate ride hailing functions into Tesla applications in the future and is currently developing them. Afterwards, it released a preview screen of automatic car hailing through the Tesla app on X.
Tesla's announcement of the app's automatic ride hailing preview screen
Morgan Stanley maintained its optimistic expectations for Tesla in its research report in April this year, stating that the launch of Robotaxi symbolizes a shift in Tesla's business model towards hardcore AI and robotics technology. They predict that by 2030, Tesla's mobile travel business revenue will reach $17 billion, directly driving the growth of total revenue.
However, not everyone believes that Tesla can achieve the landing of Robotaxi in August. Several experts have stated that although Musk has been committed to achieving this goal for many years, Tesla's FSD system has not yet reached the point of truly achieving autonomous driving.
"From a technical perspective, FSD currently cannot support the development of autonomous driving," Wang Xianbin, Senior Director of GAC Automotive Research Institute, told Interface News.
Of course, there are still other opportunities for the landing of Robotaxi. He believes that there may be two technological routes within Tesla, FSD targeting the mass consumer market, and Robotaxi focusing on limited regional operations and commercial development. Previously, Tesla had also released HW4.0 technology and 4D millimeter wave radar fusion solutions for non visual routes, and there may be updated technological solutions on Robotaxi.
In addition to technology, Tesla Robotaxi and FSD also face data regulatory issues when they are implemented domestically, and the company is also working hard to address these issues.
After Musk's visit to China, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers announced that the cars of six companies, including Tesla, meet four compliance requirements for data security. This means that government agencies, some airports, and other prohibited parking areas will gradually lift restrictions on Tesla vehicles.
It is also reported that Tesla will use the advanced assisted driving map provided by Baidu for the Chinese version of the FSD system, which will solve the map data problem that Tesla has been facing in landing autonomous driving in China.
According to a report by 36Kr, the cooperation reached between the two parties also includes "compliance processing of sensor data". Specifically, with the A-level surveying and mapping qualification of Baidu Maps, the data collected by Tesla vehicle sensors needs to be classified, coordinate deflected, and desensitized on Baidu Compliance Cloud before flowing to the autonomous driving training phase.
In terms of data storage, Tesla built a data center in Shanghai in 2021, achieving localized data storage and introducing third-party organizations to review the company's information security management system, which has been certified as a security management system.
Wang Xianbin mentioned that in the future, Tesla mainly needs to apply for Robotaxi demonstration testing licenses from local governments and meet relevant requirements. "If Tesla's Robotaxi can be implemented in China, it will accelerate the transformation of the domestic autonomous driving industry from demonstration testing to commercial operation. I believe it is beneficial for the development of the industry."
In China, Robotaxi companies are moving faster than Tesla. Several companies such as Xiaoma Zhixing, Wenyuan Zhixing, and Baidu have launched pilot or commercial operations for unmanned driving and manned vehicles.
Multiple cities have designated demonstration zones to promote Robotaxi's verification of technological security and commercial operational feasibility. In March 2023, a specific area in Yizhuang, Beijing became one of the first demonstration areas in China to support "unmanned in car" passenger transportation, clearly supporting qualified enterprises to provide regular Robotaxi paid services to the public within the Beijing policy pilot area.
In addition, Guangzhou requires Robotaxi operators to complete the admission of test vehicles and obtain trial operation permits, and improve the policy norms for the commercial operation of Robotaxi. In July of last year, multiple companies obtained the first batch of road testing licenses for unmanned intelligent connected vehicles issued in Pudong New Area, Shanghai.
"It's great to see companies like Tesla join, which is good for the development of the industry," Peng Jun, co-founder and CEO of Xiaoma Zhixing, told Interface News. "For the developing industry of autonomous driving, we are all working towards the same goal." He judged that the rapid expansion from assisted driving to higher-level autonomous driving applications will lead to a major explosion in the commercialization and application of autonomous driving technology.
Wenyuan Zhixing also told Interface News that if Tesla Robotaxi can truly land in China, it will "boost industry confidence.".