AUTONEWS

Elon Musk rejects partnership with Uber; billionaire wants his own app-based car service

Elon Musk is betting big on the Tesla Robotaxi, which will be based on the Tesla Cybercab model, already officially presented by the American brand.

However, the technology demonstrated by Musk attracted the attention of Uber, the company of the famous paid personal transportation application, which approached the billionaire for a partnership.

As is known, Tesla agreed to purchase 200 units of the Model 3 for the also famous Hertz, the largest car rental company in the USA.

In the case of Uber, Musk himself said in June, during a presentation in Austin, Texas, that the Cybercab could be rented by customers to third parties through Tesla.

In this case, the Cybercab cannot be used by applications such as Uber or Lift, for example, thus preventing other services from having Tesla's Robotaxi in operation.

Although Uber has a partnership with Google, through Waymo, in addition to being very popular in the USA, Musk wants his own app service and will use Cybercab as its main part.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told Bloomberg: “I’ve had conversations with him right now. They want to build it themselves, so to some extent in Austin, we and Waymo will be competing with Tesla when they launch. Life is long, but we would love to partner with them.” The statement shows that Uber will continue to be interested in a partnership, while Tesla will start from scratch, starting in Austin. 

However, the American market is large and the expansion of the service will take a significant amount of time, since it is essentially autonomous driving without a steering wheel or pedals. 

Many American cities and states have not yet authorized services based on this technology, which is bad for Tesla’s ambitions, but only initially. Since the process will be long, Tesla will gain time and experience in the regions where it will operate to refine its technology, based on Full Self-Driving, which is suspected not to be ready for use, hence the refusal.

Tesla rolls out advanced self-driving functions in China...US electric vehicle giant Tesla has started offering advanced self-driving functions for its cars in China, including autopilot on city streets, the company announced on Tuesday.

The announcement comes after years of attempts to overcome regulatory hurdles blocking the update in the world's largest automobile market.

Tesla said in a statement on its WeChat page on Tuesday that it would gradually roll out a software update that includes "automatic Autopilot-assisted driving on city streets", as well as a rearview mirror function that detects whether drivers are paying attention.

The functions described are similar to the "Full Self-Driving" capability it offers in the United States.

Cars with that capability are not fully autonomous, and are meant to be used under driver supervision.

The update "has already been released for some car models, and will be gradually rolled to other suitable car models", Tesla said.

China is a major market for Tesla, where the company has two factories and is trying to compete with fast-growing domestic manufacturers.

Tuesday's statement follows an announcement by Chinese automaker BYD—Tesla's biggest rival in the country—that it would introduce advanced self-driving technology for nearly all its cars.

Tesla has been working to gain approval for FSD in China, which needs to be compliant with strict data and privacy laws.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made several trips to China in recent years in an effort to win crucial data security clearance for the company's locally produced models.

Tesla hype...Musk is a key figure in the administration of US President Donald Trump, who has imposed additional tariffs on products from China and has vowed to curb Chinese investments in technology and critical infrastructure.

But the Tesla CEO remains a popular figure in China, where he is seen as a successful and influential entrepreneur.

Musk has nearly 2.3 million followers on the Chinese social media site Weibo, and his mother Maye Musk has appeared in advertisements for multiple Chinese consumer brands.

China's tech companies and automakers have poured billions of dollars into self-driving technology in an effort to catch industry leaders in the United States.

While consumers are still unable to purchase fully autonomous vehicles, China has already approved multiple self-driving taxi services in major cities.

In the city of Wuhan, more than 500 driverless taxis ferry passengers across large swathes of the city as part of Chinese tech giant Baidu's Apollo Go project.

BYD's "God's Eye" autonomous driving system features remote parking and autonomous highway navigation previously found only on more expensive vehicles.

The Chinese automaker said this month that it would now make the system available even in budget models priced below $10,000.

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