Tesla announced May 21 that FSD (Supervised) — its Level 2 driver-assistance system, meaning the driver must remain attentive and in control at all times — is now available in 10 markets: the US, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, the Netherlands, Lithuania, and China. The China addition drew the most attention, given it's the world's largest auto market. The catch: many Chinese Tesla owners say they still can't find the feature in their cars.
A launch in name, not yet in practice
Tesla offered no phased-rollout explanation alongside its social-media post. Industry observers note that some capabilities now branded under FSD (Supervised) in China previously existed there under the name "Intelligent Assisted Driving," suggesting this may partly be a rebranding rather than a fully new deployment. China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has not commented, and full regulatory approval is reportedly targeting Q3 2026 — a timeline that remains unconfirmed by Tesla officially, per CNBC.
What this means for the US subscription model
For US owners, the more tangible story is the pricing shift already underway at home. Tesla moved to a subscription-only model for FSD (Supervised) in February 2026, eliminating the one-time purchase option entirely — per TechCrunch. The current US rate is $99/month. There is no lump-sum buy-in available anymore.
China, by contrast, still offers a one-time purchase at roughly 64,000 yuan (approximately $9,400). Whether Tesla eventually harmonizes that market to a subscription model is an open question.
Camera-only versus lidar
Tesla's system relies exclusively on cameras — no lidar (a laser-based depth-sensing technology common in competing ADAS systems). Most Chinese automakers, including Xpeng and Huawei-backed brands, combine cameras with lidar for redundancy. Tesla has long argued its vision-only approach scales better, though that debate is ongoing across the industry.
No autonomous version on the horizon
It's worth noting that FSD (Supervised) carries no regulatory approval for unsupervised, fully autonomous operation anywhere in the US. The "Full Self-Driving" name remains a source of ongoing scrutiny from NHTSA. What owners are paying $99/month for is a capable but driver-monitored assist system — not autonomy.
The China announcement reads more as a regulatory milestone in progress than a completed product launch. Tesla is expanding its engineering team in Chinese cities and has stepped up real-world testing there, which may signal a genuine public rollout is close — but no firm date has been given.
