Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Cars
  3. News

Tesla’s top rival launches self-driving with full crash coverage at a fraction of the cost

BYD's God's Eye tech is coming for Tesla with a much smaller bill

Add as a preferred source on Google
BYD 2026 Seagull.
CnEVPost / BYD

BYD just delivered another blow to Tesla. The company’s new self-driving package just dropped with a price tag that basically embarrasses Tesla’s driver-assistance service. The Chinese EV giant announced a new service package dubbed God’s Eye, with chairman Wang Chuanfu claiming BYD’s first goal is to achieve “zero traffic accidents.”

In a recent press conference, he announced that BYD will fully cover compensation and repairs for accidents that happen while drivers are using its City Navigation function, without affecting the user’s insurance premiums the following year.

BYD is confident in its self-driving tech

BYD’s new coverage applies to its God’s Eye A/B systems. So new owners get coverage right from delivery, while existing owners will gain access after updating to the new God’s Eye 5.0 over the air. The policy seems to cover at-fault accidents, including repairs to the owner’s vehicle, third-party property damage, and personal injury, as long as the system is used according to regulations.

Recommended Videos

There is also no extra “intelligent driving insurance” purchase, no payout cap, and no hit to next-year commercial insurance premiums. BYD is confident in the tech, showcasing its bold trust with this commitment. Assisted driving still requires drivers to pay attention, and BYD is not magically removing responsibility from the human behind the wheel.

Pricing is where things get real spicy

The real headline here is the cost. BYD is letting users upgrade to God’s Eye B for 12,000 Yuan, which is about $1,770. In China, Tesla’s comparable assisted-driving package has been rebranded as Tesla Assisted Driving and is priced at 64,000 Yuan, or about $9,400, with no subscription option. This basically makes BYD’s upgrade roughly one-fifth of Tesla’s China-market price.

For context, Tesla’s US pricing has changed a lot too. The company currently lists FSD (Supervised) at $99 per month, requiring drivers to stay attentive. And now, Tesla has moved FSD to a subscription-only model for new buyers. Before that, US buyers could purchase FSD outright for $8,000, after Tesla cut the price down from $12,000 in 2024.

So no matter how you dress it, BYD is undercutting Tesla by a huge margin. It is making smart driving cheaper and more accessible. The added commitment just goes to show how it’s willing to build trust as well.

Vikhyaat Vivek
Vikhyaat Vivek is a tech journalist and reviewer with seven years of experience covering consumer hardware, with a focus on…
Waymo’s robotaxis keep finding new things to drive into, and construction zones are the latest
Thirteen construction zone incidents, one fleet recall, and a passenger who thought the end was near.
A Hyundai Ioniq 5 is equipped as a robotaxi.

Waymo has recalled its entire fleet of nearly 4,000 robotaxis to prevent them from driving on highways after identifying at least 13 instances where its vehicles drove straight into highway sections closed for construction. 

This is the company's sixth recall in under a year, and follows separate incidents involving flooded roads, telephone poles, chains and gates, towed trucks, and school buses.

Read more
BYD’s Great Tang eSUV offers 10-minute charging and a 590-mile range starting at $40,000
Spectacular specs, record preorders, and not a single one headed to America.
Car, Transportation, Vehicle

BYD just launched the Great Tang, a full-size electric SUV that offers the range of a regular gasoline-powered car and takes only slightly longer to refuel (read: recharge). 

The company's flagship eSUV starts at around $35,500 and gives most American electric SUVs a serious run for their money.

Read more
BMW is taking orders for the i3 way ahead of schedule, and it’s got a happy problem to blame
Too much demand, too good a car to make people wait until fall.
Bumper, Transportation, Vehicle

BMW planned to open order books for the new i3 sedan this fall, but now, the automaker is opening them this week instead. The reason is the kind of happy problem every automaker wishes they had.

As it turns out, too many people want to buy the car, and the automaker decided it would be rude to make them wait.

Read more