Source: Tesla

On March 17, Tesla announced a free limited-time trial of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature, Tesla’s term for advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS). The trial will run from March 17 to April 16, lasting a full month.

The trial is only available to Chinese Tesla owners whose cars have the Hardware 4.0 and the latest FSD V13.2.6 software version.

Tesla currently lists its Full Self-Driving feature at a price of 64,000 RMB, or 8,850 USD in China.

Tesla’s FSD in China remains classified as Level 2 driver assistance, which means that the driver is required to remain attentive and ready to take over the vehicle at all times.

Tesla’s FSD feature integrates two core functions: city road autopilot and an in-cabin camera monitoring the driver’s attentiveness.

Source: Tesla

The city road autopilot function assists vehicles on controlled and urban roads, guiding them off ramps, through intersections, and recognizing traffic signals for operations such as going straight or turning, thus easing the driver’s workload.

Meanwhile, the in-cabin camera ensures that the driver remains focused on the road while FSD is active, further enhancing driving safety.

However, Tesla China highlighted that the FSD performance may be affected by road conditions, weather, and other factors, requiring drivers to remain ready to intervene to avoid potential risks.

Additionally, Tesla has clarified that if any traffic violations or collisions occur while using the FSD feature, the driver will bear full responsibility.

On January 30, Elon Musk made the bold claim that supervised FSD will be made available to almost all markets, including China in 2025.

Just last month, Tesla had announced the phased deployment of FSD across different Tesla models in China.

The announcement came as a surprise to most that closely follows Tesla as the company has been in a regulatory bind in China.

Musk previously explained that the Chinese government won’t let Tesla transfer training footages outside of China and the U.S. government won’t let them do training in China for national security concerns, effectively creating a quandary.

He also explained that Tesla did however find an alternative solution, that is by training the FSD model in the U.S. using publicly available videos of Chinese streets.