Elon Musk Meets Chinese Premier, Plans for All Future Cars to Be Electric

The CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, arrived in Beijing for an unannounced visit. He is expected to hold discussions with senior officials regarding the rollout of Full Self-Driving (FSD) software and the permission to transfer data overseas. His meeting with Premier Li Qiang was reported by Chinese state media, which highlighted Tesla’s development in China as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Tesla had reached an agreement with the Chinese authorities in 2018 for a plant in Shanghai, its first outside the US.

Despite this, the company has not made its FSD software available in China, its second-largest market globally. Elon Musk indicated this month that Tesla may soon make FSD accessible to customers in China. This move comes as Chinese automakers such as Xpeng are striving to gain a competitive edge by introducing similar software. Elon Musk is seeking approval to transfer data collected in China abroad to train algorithms for autonomous driving technologies.

Since 2021, Tesla has stored all data collected by its Chinese fleet in Shanghai, as mandated by Chinese regulators. The visit to China was not publicly announced, and the person providing this information did so anonymously as they were not authorized to speak with the media. During his trip, Elon Musk also met with government official Ren Hongbin, who heads the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the organizer of the Beijing auto show. Elon Musk’s visit coincided with this auto show, which began last week and ends on May 4.

Notably, Tesla does not have a booth at the show this year. In addition to its activities in China, Tesla is facing challenges in other markets. The company announced this month that it would lay off 10% of its global workforce. Furthermore, in the US, auto safety regulators are investigating whether Tesla’s recall of more than 2 million vehicles to install new Autopilot safeguards was adequate following a series of crashes.

Despite these challenges, Elon Musk has indicated plans to introduce new, cheaper models using its current EV platforms and production lines, as well as unveiling a new “robotaxi” with self-driving technology on August 8. Overall, Tesla’s visit to China and its future plans reflect its continued efforts to navigate the rapidly evolving global electric vehicle market and technology landscape.