Tesla wants to test the Robotaxi in China

During his trip to the country, Elon Musk got the OK to put the Robotaxi on the road in Shanghai. But when exactly?

By: Francesco Barontini

May 9, 2024 at 4:37am ET

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Tesla seems increasingly focused on the Robotaxi project. Elon Musk, who has always been a great advocate of autonomous driving, has proposed to China that it should start testing the driverless vehicle there, which will use the most complete version of Full Self-Driving.

Local government officials have said that they welcome the proposal by the American company's CEO and are in favour of going ahead with the project.

Authorisation needed for Full Self-Driving

China, which already welcomes a number of self-driving taxi initiatives on its territory, believes that giving Tesla the chance to test drive the Robotaxi on the country's roads may enable further progress in this field.

At the same time, however, the local authorities have not yet given the green light to test the current Full Self-Driving on cars. During Elon Musk's recent visit to Shanghai, however, many issues were discussed, including that of FSD. In this regard, Elon Musk anticipated in X that the next version represents a huge step forward.

Will it start in Shanghai?

Elon Musk has specifically asked for the Robotaxi trial to be launched on the streets of Shanghai. The Chinese megalopolis plays a key role in the company's strategy. There, in fact, is the brand's largest Gigafactory (one of the largest automotive factories in the world) and it is there that the Robotaxi will be built in the future.

During his trip to China, Elon Musk brought home a number of successes. The first concerns the formalisation of the agreement with Baidu for the use of their maps. The second is the final approval on data management, which was found to be compliant with the country's regulations.

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Returning to the Robotaxi issue, neither the Chinese authorities nor Tesla's top management have made it known when the trial might actually start. However, considering that the company announced the Robotaxi will be presented on 8 August, it is thought that road tests could start as early as 2025.