Some Tesla owners in China have been told not to park their cars in government offices because of security concerns about in-car cameras, according to a variety of sources.
According to a May 21 Reuters report, sources familiar with the matter said officials at at least two government agencies in Beijing and Shanghai have received verbal instructions from their superiors not to park Tesla cars in their office areas. It is unclear whether all government agencies in Beijing have adopted such restrictions, whether the measure is a formal government ban or a step taken by agency officials, or whether it applies to state agencies nationwide.
This is the second report on the ban on Tesla admissions to Chinese government facilities. Tesla cars were banned from some military bases in China in March this year, citing security concerns about on-board cameras. After the incident, Tesla CEO Elon Musk had responded that his company would be shut down if Tesla cars were used for espionage, whether in China or elsewhere. Musk said, “We have a strong incentive to keep any information confidential.” Tesla also said it will open a data center in China and is developing a data platform for Chinese car owners.
China is the world’s largest auto market and the second largest for electric car makers, accounting for about 30 percent of their sales. Tesla currently produces the electric Model 3 sedan and Model Y sport utility vehicle at its Shanghai plant. Automakers such as Tesla have been equipping more cars with cameras and sensors to capture images of the car’s surroundings. Controlling how these images are used and where they are sent and stored is a new challenge for industry and regulators around the world.
The report said Tesla faces a potential regulatory crackdown from Chinese Communist authorities. Chinese state regulators met with Tesla representatives in February following a series of customer complaints about the safety of Tesla vehicles. Recently, sources had told Reuters that the uncertainty caused by tensions between the U.S. and China had led Tesla to prepare to halt plans to purchase land in Shanghai in order to expand its factory to become a global export hub. However, Tesla said in a subsequent statement that the company’s Shanghai plant “is on track for development.
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