China’s eastern Jiangsu province is looking to buy an undisclosed number of Tesla Model Y electric vehicles in the 2024-2025 budget year, marking the first time in years that the company’s cars would be purchased officially by the authorities. The US giant’s cars have been widely barred from government-affiliated venues in its second-largest market over security concerns. The Shanghai-made Model Y rear-wheel drive, priced at RMB 249,900 ($34,368), was listed in a sourcing plan released by the Jiangsu Provincial Government Procurement Center on June 6, along with the Aito M7 and the Avatr 11, both featuring Huawei’s assisted driving technology. Several models from state-owned manufacturer SAIC and Volvo parent Geely are also on the list, including the IM L6 and the Galaxy E8. Some Chinese government office workers have been disallowed from parking their Tesla vehicles inside government compounds, especially those close to military bases, due to security concerns over cameras installed on the vehicles since 2021, Reuters reported. The news comes after Tesla’s locally-built cars were tested and found to be compliant with China’s data security requirements, announced by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) on April 28, the same day chief executive Elon Musk arrived in Beijing for a visit. [TechNode reporting, Reuters, Jiangsu gov announcement, in Chinese]
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