Tesla May Become Official Vehicle in China... "First Inclusion in Local Government Procurement List"

"Safety Inspection Passed, Helped with Meeting the Prime Minister"

According to major foreign media reports on the 4th, Tesla's flagship product, the Model Y, has been included for the first time in the Chinese government's official vehicle procurement list.

Major foreign media, citing Chinese outlets such as Pengpai News, reported that the Model Y was included in the list of 56 new energy vehicles announced by the Jiangsu (江蘇) provincial government in early last month.

Party, government, and public institutions within Jiangsu Province can purchase and use vehicles from this list as official vehicles.

The news agency reported that this is the first time Tesla vehicles have been included in the Chinese government's official vehicle list.

In addition to Tesla, the Swedish Volvo XC40, which was sold to China's Geely Automobile, was included, while the remaining 54 models are electric and hybrid vehicles from domestic Chinese brands.

Tesla is the only purely foreign brand included in the procurement list.

An official from Jiangsu Province stated about the Tesla Model Y, "It was selected because it is not an imported car but a domestically produced vehicle manufactured in Shanghai."

Tesla vehicles have been banned in some Chinese government agencies and military bases.

Nevertheless, the path to being adopted as an official Chinese government vehicle is believed to be related to the fact that in April, Chinese authorities gave Tesla the first-ever 'compliant' rating among foreign companies in a data security inspection.

Furthermore, major foreign media reported that Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, visiting China and meeting with Li Qiang, the country's second-in-command and Premier of the State Council, likely helped the process.

Tesla is considered a representative American company actively entering and investing in China despite US-China tensions.

Tesla established its first factory outside the United States, the 'Gigafactory 3,' in Shanghai, which began operations in January 2019.

This factory produced its first complete vehicle in December 2019, reached its one millionth vehicle production milestone in August two years later, and achieved a total production of two million vehicles as of September last year.