People shop at a Tesla store in Shanghai, China, February 17, 2024.
Cost Photo | Null Photo | Getty Images
News that electric car giant Tesla is making progress in rolling out advanced driver assistance features in China is not as groundbreaking as investors are making it out to be, according to a top tech investor.
Mark Hawtin, an investment director at GAM Investment Management focused on investing in disruptive growth and tech stocks, told CNBC's “Squawk Box Europe” on Thursday that such expectations are misleading. He said it was an invitation. Especially since Tesla's fully self-driving service doesn't offer full self-driving.
“We should say what they're doing. Everyone is talking about this fully self-driving capability,” Hawtin told CNBC. “What they'll be able to do in China is something they're already doing in the U.S. and the U.K., which is things like driver assistance features.”
Tesla shares soared on Monday, marking their best day since March 2021 after passing a key milestone towards the launch of FSD in China. Tesla announced on Sunday that local Chinese authorities had lifted restrictions on its vehicles after meeting China's data security requirements.
This raised hopes that Tesla's FSD would soon be available in China. Tesla shares have risen 6.7% over the past five trading days, mainly due to talk surrounding the company's roadmap to bring FSD to China, as well as plans to start producing more affordable models in early 2025. This is based on comments from CEO Elon Musk.
But Hawtin said the company's so-called fully self-driving service lacks the qualities that make it an example of true self-driving technology.
“It's by no means self-driving yet,” he told CNBC. He believes a version of Tesla FSD capable of achieving “true autonomy” is still five to 10 years away.
Hawtin said Tesla's reported deal with China's Baidu would be a big win for Baidu over Tesla in the short term, noting that competition is fierce in China, with BYD, Huawei, Xpeng and Li Auto He added that companies such as , Xiaomi and others are all supplying technology that can achieve Level 2 autonomy. .
According to Reuters, Tesla has signed a deal with Baidu that will give Musk's company access to Baidu's mapping services license, a key requirement for providing FSD on public roads in China. That's what it means.
Tesla did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.
Full Self-Driving (FSD) is an upgrade to Tesla's Autopilot driver assistant. Tesla has not yet manufactured or sold a fully self-driving car. The company sells a “Level 2” driver assistance system, sold under the brand name FSD.
According to the SAE standards-setting body, “Level 3” driver assistance (also known as “conditional automation”) requires a system that handles all aspects of driving, but still requires the driver's presence.
Tesla has offered FSD technology in China for years, but the feature set was limited to operations such as automatic lane changes.
GAM does not own any Tesla stock, and Hawtin said he does not personally own any stock.
-CNBC's Lora Kolodny and Evelyn Cheng contributed to this report
