Tesla Delivers First Autonomous Model Y As China’s Xiaomi Hits 240,000 Orders

It’s been an eventful few weeks for Tesla.

First, it said it might delay the launch of its highly anticipated robotaxis from the initially planned June 22, amid requests from Texas lawmakers to do so.

At the same time, Elon Musk said the delay might come as the company was “super paranoid about safety.” However, Musk also mentioned that the “First Tesla that drives itself from factory end of line all the way to a customer house is June 28.”

Despite numerous hurdles and roadblocks, Tesla unleashed its robotaxis on the streets of Austin, Texas, where its headquarters are located. However, it came as a limited launch that saw the self-driving vehicles available to social media influencers through special invitations only.

While it gathered impressive praise in the first few hours, Musk’s Tesla robotaxis also exhibited errors in operation—nothing major and only a few instances, but it was enough to garner negative reviews. Yet, its overall score saw it as a hit move.

Now, the company has not only fulfilled another one of its promises but completed it ahead of schedule.

Tesla delivered its first autonomous vehicle that drove itself from Gigafactory Texas to its new owner's home, which was around 30 minutes away.

“World's first autonomous delivery of a car!” said Tesla, through a post published on X that also included a video of the journey the Model Y vehicle undertook, which consisted of “crossing parking lots, highways & the city to reach its new owner” without anyone in the car.

Perhaps the only dark patch for Tesla was that Omead Afshar, an executive and longtime Elon Musk confidant, left the company, according to three people familiar with the matter who didn’t have details regarding the reason or circumstances under which Afshar left.

Afshar, who was part of the CEO's office, had been overseeing sales and manufacturing in Europe and North America since last year, where demand has been dropping.


All this comes as the pressure mounted on Tesla from rivals such as Waymo (which expanded across Atlanta and New York), Amazon’s Zoox, and a partnership spanning Hellobike, Ant Group & CATL Unite, while automakers from China continue as its biggest challengers.

It’s not just BYD that’s giving Tesla a run for its money; smartphone-and-maker-turned-automobile-manufacturer Xiaomi has captivated the electric vehicle (EV) and autonomous vehicle (AV) market with its sleek, strong, and stoic car designs.

This automaker recently made its first SUV, Xiaomi YU7, available for sale, and hit the lottery with orders—receiving around 240,000 orders in the first 18 hours.

These included customers paying large sums for ready-to-deliver cars or smaller deposits for vehicles still to be manufactured.


Xiaomi’s new YU7 comes in three versions—Standard, Pro, and Max.

The cost of the Standard version (ultra-long-range RWD) is RMB 253,500 ($35,343), the Pro version (ultra-long-range AWD) is RMB 279,900 ($39,024), and the Max version (ultra-long-range high-performance AWD) is RMB 329,900 ($45,995).

It comes with a 3:1 wheelbase-to-body ratio, a 2.1:1 wheel-to-height ratio, and a 1.25:1 width-to-height ratio—carefully balanced proportions that make Xiaomi’s YU7 a high-performance SUV.


The vehicle comes in a total of nine vibrant finishes, out of which four colors have already been revealed—Basalt Gray, Lava Orange, Titanium Silver, and Emerald Green. Now, Xiaomi has added five new options—Pearl White, Ocean Blue, Dusk Purple, Shadow Teal, and Dawn Pink. 

For its interiors, Xiaomi YU7 offers four color options—the existing Pine Gray, Coral Orange, and Twilight Blue, with the introduction of Ash Gray & Iris Purple Dual-Tone.


In addition to a range of brilliant and practical features, the Xiaomi YU7 sports 36 compartments throughout the cabin, 687-liter trunk space (1,758 liters when the rear seats are down), a smart-dimming EC panoramic sunroof with SFP100 and PA++++ level UV shielding, sound insulation that includes more than 200 noise-control enhancements and over 120 acoustic materials to block noise from every angle, and more.


Do you think Tesla’s market share, both in China and globally, will shrink further with the introduction of Xiaomi’s new SUV model, amid mounting pressure from BYD?

Let us know in the comments below!