After BYD, Zeekr to Also Offer Self Driving for Free in China

While the price war in the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) industry has been around for the last couple of years, a new price war seems to be simmering in the autonomous driving industry. Chinese EV startup Zeekr has said that it will offer its autonomous driving features for free and the announcement comes a few weeks after BYD also made self-driving features free with many cars.

Initially Zeekr will be offering these self-driving features to a pilot group with a wider rollout expected next month. Notably, autonomous driving is increasingly becoming a key component of electric cars and automakers are offering the technology with their cars to make them competitive.

Zeekr To Offer Self-Driving For Free

Speaking with CNBC, Zeekr CEO Andy said, “Right now, in this period of development, I think subscriptions aren’t that meaningful.” He admitted that the company needs to close the gap on autonomous driving with other companies and said, “So we need to bear some cost.”

BYD Partnered with DeepSeek for Self-Driving

Last month, released an assisted driving system in partnership with DeepSeek – the Chinese startup which made waves with its low-cost artificial intelligence (AI) models.

The driving system which is named “DiPilot” would be offered free along with most BYD cars. This would make BYD the only automaker offering assisted self-driving in cars priced below $10,000. Currently, the self-driving features are not that advanced buy BYD is looking to add more features by the end of this year.

DeepSeek anyways created a storm with its low-cost AI model which the company says it developed at a fraction of what Western rivals like OpenAI build their models for. Through the partnership with DeepSeek, BYD might be able to disrupt the EV industry also as no other player offers advanced self-driving features at this price range.

BYD Is the World’s Biggest NEV Seller

Notably, BYD is already the world’s biggest seller of NEVs even as it trails Tesla slightly when it comes to battery electric vehicles (BEVs). Sales of NEVs which include both BEVs and hybrids have been quite strong in China and over half of the cars sold in the country are now from the category.

BYD sold around 4.3 million cars in 2024 of which 58% were hybrids. In 2023, hybrids accounted for less than half of BYD’s total deliveries but the contribution has increased meaningfully over the last year. BYD now dominates the Chinese NEV market and the Berkshire Hathaway-backed company has also been looking at international markets to further fuel its growth.

Notably, in 2011 Tesla CEO Elon Musk laughed at the possibility of BYD becoming a competitor to Tesla. However, the Chinese company has proven critics wrong and offers EV models at quite competitive prices.

Tesla Offers Free FSD Trial in China

Following in the footsteps of Chinese companies, Tesla is offering a free trial of its FSD in China. The name FSD is misleading as while the software is quite advanced, it is not L4 fully autonomous as the name might suggest. The nomenclature has been a point of contention with US regulators who accuse the company of deceptive marketing.

Last year Tesla launched out its “Actually Smart Summon” feature in China. The feature is available in vehicles that have full self-driving (FSD) and enhanced autopilot features and was rolled out through an over-the-air update. The feature allows the car to move from the parking lot to the place where it is “summoned” to.

Notably, Musk believes that bulk of Tesla’s valuation comes from the company’s autonomous driving business. The company currently charges $8,000 for FSD subscription and CEO Elon Musk once said that the price for the service could rise to as high as $100,000 someday. That said, the company has had to cut the price by nearly half to boost adoption. With BYD offering assisted driving service for free, it remains to be seen whether other players also cut prices on their autonomous driving software.

BYD Outsells Tesla

Meanwhile, BYD has long overtaken Tesla as the biggest seller of NEVs and is expected to become the biggest seller of battery electric cars also. Tesla is battling intense competition in China. Notably, there is already a fierce price war in the Chinese EV market as companies have been cutting prices and offering incentives to spur sales. The Chinese auto market is among the most competitive globally, and domestic players like BYD are increasingly taking market share from foreign brands like Volkswagen and Ford.

TSLA’s sales in key European markets like Germany and Norway have plunged this year. While the sales decline towards the beginning of the year is seasonal as the company pushes sales towards the end of the year, and some buyers might have held back their purchases to buy the Model Y refresh, Tesla’s sales numbers have disappointed so far this year.

Musk Has Praised BYD and Chinese EV Ecosystem

In 2023, Tesla CEO Elon Musk praised BYD and termed it “highly competitive.” In 2011, the billionaire had laughed at the possibility of BYD as a competitor to Tesla.

Last year, during Tesla’s Q4 2023 earnings call, Musk said, “Frankly, I think, if there are not trade barriers established, they will pretty much demolish most other companies in the world.”

The billionaire added, “The Chinese car companies are the most competitive car companies in the world. So, I think they will have significant success outside of China depending on what kind of tariffs or trade barriers are established.”

Notably, many countries have imposed tariffs on electric vehicle (EV) imports from China. While the US and Canada have increased the tariff to 100%, the EU too clamped down on EV imports from China which led to a deterioration in trade relations between them.