Tesla, an American electric car company, and Tencent, China’s largest technology company, are partnering to release a vehicle equipped with WeChat functions.<\/p>\n
Reuters reported on the 11th that Tesla and Tencent Cloud announced a partnership that day to integrate WeChat into the Model 3 and Model Y in China. WeChat is the most frequently used mobile messenger in China, used for everything from daily communication to payments, reservations, and taxi calling.<\/p>\n
Accordingly, Chinese Tesla drivers will be able to easily share their locations and use AI recommendation services through WeChat in their vehicles. They can instantly share their shared location in WeChat chats and receive recommendations for nearby restaurants, parking lots, and charging stations. They will also be able to make payments using WeChat Pay in their vehicles.<\/p>\n
The WeChat integration feature will be applied to approximately 1 million vehicles produced at the Shanghai Gigafactory via an over-the-air software update and will be automatically installed in future vehicles. Tesla and Tencent have maintained a close relationship. According to IT media outlet Electrek, Tencent acquired a 5% stake in Tesla in 2017.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, this software integration is expected to create synergies. This shift in policy is also noteworthy for Tesla, which has maintained a closed software policy globally. This decision appears to have been made considering the importance of the Chinese market amidst recent sluggish sales.<\/p>\n
China is the world’s largest electric vehicle market, with a diverse range of companies competing, including Tesla, its joint venture Shanghai GM Wuling (SGMW), BYD, Xiaomi, and Xpeng.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"