Tesla rival says Elon Musk still has one major edge

Tesla (TSLA) has taken a lot of criticism for its self-driving ambitions.

Regulators have cast doubt on the company’s safety assertions. Critics say Full Self-Driving is still an overhyping of what the system can perform. And competitors in China have been working hard to develop their own superior driver-assistance platforms.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk just received something rare from one of the world's hardest electric vehicle markets: public commendation from a competitor.

Li Auto (LI) chief Zhan Kun stated that Tesla’s Full Self-Driving, or FSD, system is the best in the smart-driving sector, CnEVPost reported. Zhan, who leads foundation models at Li Auto, said no other system has reached Tesla’s first-tier position.

That's critical because China is now one of the most important testing grounds for next-generation electric car software.

Tesla isn’t just battling with legacy automakers there. It is competing with firms such as Li Auto, Xpeng (XPEV), BYD, and Huawei-linked brands that are moving quickly on artificial intelligence, in-car software, and driver-assistance systems.

Li Auto executive says Tesla FSD stands alone

The comments came during Li Auto’s Livis Day software and embodied intelligence event in Beijing on June 15.

Several industry peers who had returned from Silicon Valley told him and Li Auto CEO Li Xiang that Tesla’s FSD is still the benchmark, he claimed.

Zhan then flew to Silicon Valley in May and spent two weeks evaluating Tesla’s FSD V14.3, the article said. He claimed the technological depth of Tesla’s system was real, and the push to catch up was obvious.

“There is no system other than Tesla’s FSD that can rank among the first tier,” Zhan said, according to CnEVPost.

Related: Tesla adds to winning streak in critical area

That’s a major concession from a Chinese electric vehicle boss.

China’s auto manufacturers have become some of the most aggressive software rivals in the global auto business. As pricing pressure mounts throughout the larger EV industry, many are looking to enhanced driver-assistance capabilities as a key selling factor.

Tesla FSD praise in a nutshell

• Li Auto executive Zhan Kun said Tesla’s FSD stands alone in the top tier, CnEVPost reported.
• Zhan said he spent two weeks in Silicon Valley testing Tesla’s FSD V14.3.
• Li Auto plans to align its Mach VLA system with Tesla’s FSD V14 in the fourth quarter.
• Xpeng has also publicly benchmarked its smart-driving system against Tesla.
• Tesla’s FSD Supervised still requires driver attention.

Tesla's FSD Supervised system is now accessible in a number of locations, including China. The system still requires a driver to be attentive, something both Tesla and authorities keep reminding people.

Tesla’s China rivals are racing to catch FSD

Li Auto isn’t a Tesla cheerleader on the sidelines.

It’s trying to catch up.

At the same event, Zhan stated Li Auto’s proprietary vision-language-action model, called Mach VLA, will get an upgrade in the third quarter for all models with AD Max hardware. He added that the full-scenario driving capability of Mach VLA would be at least as good as Tesla’s FSD V14 by the fourth quarter, CnEVPost notes.

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That puts a timeline on Li Auto’s objectives.

The corporation is essentially telling investors and customers that Tesla is the standard, but not an impossible one.

The Li L9 Livis is now equipped with Mach VLA 2.1. In terms of hardware, the vehicle is equipped with Li Auto’s self-developed Mach M100 chip, which has a single-chip computing power of 1,280 TOPS and a dual-chip collaboration of 2,560 TOPS, according to CnEVPost.

That technical effort reflects how swiftly China’s EV rivalry is evolving.

A few years ago the talk about EVs was all about range, charging speed, and affordability. Those things still count.

But automakers are increasingly competing on software, assisted driving, and how much intelligence they can pack into the automobile.

picture alliance &sol Getty Images

Tesla gets software boost as EV competition tightens

Tesla is earning praise at a critical juncture.

The corporation has relied on the premise that its automobiles are more than cars, and that they are software platforms that may evolve over time. That argument underpins Musk’s long-standing rationale for Tesla’s valuation.

That story is heavily dependent on FSD.

Tesla has changed its FSD offering to a monthly subscription model in the U.S. Musk stated the business would only supply the software on a monthly basis beginning Feb. 14, 2026, Reuters reported in January. The consumer version, called FSD Supervised, still needs a driver to supervise and intervene, Reuters noted.

This brings both opportunity and risk.

Getting more drivers to subscribe to FSD might boost recurring revenue and lock-in customers even more. If regulators or safety concerns hinder adoption, the software story is tougher to defend.

China provides another dimension.

It’s the world’s biggest EV market and one of the toughest. Domestic brands are becoming faster, cheaper, and more software-centric. Tesla no longer has the market to itself, and it does not have the same novelty edge it previously enjoyed.

But Zhan’s comments show that Tesla still has something its rivals respect.

It does not necessarily imply that Li Auto or Xpeng will stay behind. Both firms are investing heavily in their systems, and Chinese automakers have demonstrated they can close the technology gap quickly.

But for now, one of Tesla’s most cutthroat competitive areas is providing Musk a rare confirmation.

Li Auto’s message is straightforward: Tesla’s FSD lead is genuine, and rivals need to accept the gap before they can close it.

Related: U.S. Senators say Tesla FSD data presents 'urgent safety problem'