Tesla and Baidu sign key agreement to boost development of autonomous driving

Chinese internet search giant Baidu has reached a deal with Tesla to give the car company access to its mapping license, in an essential step for the American company's rollout of autonomous driving in China.

This agreement allows Tesla to access the Baidu license for data collection on Chinese public roads, in addition to integrating its lane-level navigation system into the company's vehicles, the economic news portal 'Yicai' reported this Monday. .

Obtaining these permits represents a significant step forward for Tesla, as it removes a key regulatory hurdle to introducing advanced driver assistance features to the Chinese market.

This will allow Tesla to deploy its autonomous driving services based on navigation and lane-level mapping provided by Baidu, one of the 20 suppliers qualified with the key module for self-driving functions in China.

This agreement coincides with the rapid growth of the smart vehicle market in China and the publication this Monday by an industry association of a list of 76 connected car models that meet data security requirements in the Asian giant.

Tesla, along with other manufacturers such as BYD, Li Auto, Lotus, Hozon New Energy Automobile and Nio, are part of the list, according to the 'Xinhua' news agency.

Measures taken by Tesla to reassure Chinese authorities, such as setting up a data center in the city of Shanghai to process data from Chinese consumers in accordance with local laws, demonstrate its willingness to adapt to the country's regulations.

Musk's trip to China has sparked a sharp rally in Tesla shares on Wall Street. The group's titles soared 15%, to $192. However, so far this year they have left 22%.

This news comes at the same time as the surprise visit to Beijing by Tesla CEO and co-founder Elon Musk to discuss enabling autonomous driving mode in the company's cars in China, according to different sources.

Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang highlighted this Sunday after meeting with Musk that Tesla's development in the Asian giant is an "example of the successful economic and trade cooperation between China and the United States."

Musk, who is in Beijing to attend the 18th Auto Show in the Chinese capital, noted that Tesla's factory in the megalopolis of Shanghai is the company's best-performing factory worldwide, "thanks to hard work and wisdom." of the Chinese team," various state media reported in the last few hours.

The plant, opened in 2019, produced more than 710,000 vehicles in 2022 alone, many of which are part of the 1.7 million cars sold by Tesla in China since it entered the country's market a decade ago. "It's good to see the progress of electric vehicles in China. All cars will be electric in the future," Musk said in a video posted on social media by a user affiliated with state media.

The Beijing Motor Show, which runs from April 25 to May 4, has seen the presentation of 278 new models of new energy cars, reflecting China's growing interest in this type of vehicle.

In this context, Tesla faces growing competition from local electric vehicle manufacturers such as BYD, Xpeng and Nio, or from the Chinese technology giant Xiaomi, which has just entered the sector with its SU7.

To maintain its dominant position in the Chinese market, Tesla has announced a price reduction of up to 6% on some of its models. In addition, the company wants to build a new factory in Shanghai to produce 'Megapack', high-capacity batteries for energy storage, with a production capacity of about 10,000 units per year.