Update: Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Xpeng's official X account interacted on this article.

Xpeng CEO said he experienced FSD V12.3.6 and hopes to borrow a vehicle with the latest V12.4.1 software.

He Xiaopeng, chairman and CEO of Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV), is visiting the US and and has tested Tesla's (NASDAQ: TSLA) FSD (Full Self-Driving), as the software is set to be brought to China this year.

"I'm visiting the US for a longer period of time this time and dropping by to test the latest version of FSD and Waymo version," the Xpeng CEO wrote on Weibo today.

"I have the Tesla FSD V12.3.6 version and if you have the 12.4.1 internal beta you can lend it to me, thanks," he added.

He also sought comments from followers, asking them what they'd mainly like to know in a comparison between FSD and Xpeng's XNGP (Xpeng navigation guided pilot).

Mr. He's Weibo location shows that he is currently in San Francisco.

After this CnEVPost article was shared on X by @SawyerMerritt, Tesla CEO Elon Musk commented, "The Chinese automakers are by far the most competitive."

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 20, 2024

Xpeng then asked Musk on X if there's any chance they could borrow a Tesla with FSD V12.4.1 in the near future?

"By the way, we'd LOVE to offer you a test drive of our XNGP ADAS when you're in China. Look forward to it," Xpeng said.

— XPENG (@XPengMotors) June 20, 2024

Musk made an unannounced visit to China in late April, when Bloomberg reported that he aimed to seek approval for the FSD driver assistance software.

Tesla cleared a key hurdle to launching advanced assisted driving feature in China by partnering with Baidu on mapping and navigation features, Bloomberg said in an April 29 report, citing people familiar with the matter.

Mr. He said on Weibo later the same day that he welcomes Tesla FSD to China.

Tesla has great autonomous driving technology and brand, Mr. He said at the time, adding that only the entry of more good products and technologies can make the whole market and customers have better experiences and make the market accelerate its benign development.

Progress over the past two months suggests that FSD appears to be getting closer to entering China.

On May 30, Reuters reported that Tesla was preparing to register its FSD software with the Chinese authorities in order to launch the feature this year as planned.

After Tesla successfully registers the software with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, it will be able to have its employees conduct internal testing of FSD on China's public roads, and then make it available to Chinese users as an upgrade in the coming months, according to the report.

On June 14, local media outlet SH Observer cited a Shanghai official as saying that Shanghai's Nanhui New Town was facilitating 10 Tesla vehicles to carry out a pilot of FSD.

In China, all Tesla vehicles come with free Basic Autopilot (BAP) software. In addition, Tesla also offers Enhanced Autopilot (EAP) and FSD software options for RMB 32,000 ($4,410) and RMB 64,000 respectively.

With no algorithm training for Chinese road conditions, the EAP and FSD perform basically on par with the free BAP, though additional features including summoning are offered.

FSD is seen as one of the most capable sets of software in the smart driving space, and Tesla's route is being adopted by Chinese automakers.

Tesla's FSD V12 has delivered good results, making the end-to-end large model technology it uses an emerging industry consensus, and more car companies in China are starting to experiment with the route, a story in local media outlet LatePost noted yesterday.

Xpeng said in May that it had realized the use of end-to-end technology, with urban NGP (Navigation Guided Pilot) already covering more than 300 cities.

Nio recently reorganized its smart driving team to focus more on end-to-end technology that are seen as better solutions, according to the LatePost report yesterday.

($1 = RMB 7.2601)

Nio reportedly reshuffles smart driving team to focus more on end-to-end tech