Chinese electric-vehicle makers led by BYD beat Tesla in the competition to produce affordable electric vehicles. Now, many of those same fierce competitors are pulling into the passing lane in the global race to produce self-driving cars.
BYD shook up China’s smart-EV industry earlier this year by offering its “God’s Eye” driver-assistance package for free, undercutting the technology Tesla sells for nearly $9,000 in China. “With God’s Eye, Tesla’s strategy starts to fall apart,” said Shenzhen-based BYD investor Taylor Ogan, an American who has owned several Teslas and driven BYD cars with God’s Eye, which he called more capable than Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” (FSD).
It’s not just BYD. Other Chinese auto and tech companies are offering affordable EVs with FSD-like technology for a relative pittance. China’s Leapmotor and Xpeng, for instance, offer systems capable of highway and urban driving in $20,000 vehicles.
