Tesla Vehicles Banned From Parking at Some Government Offices in China, Report Says

In a seeming renewal of security concerns from the Chinese government earlier this year, China has officially banned the use of Tesla’s cars at some government compounds.

According to Reuters, staff at specific offices for the Chinese government have been told to avoid parking their Tesla cars inside government compounds, due to security concerns related to the company’s cameras, as shared by two sources familiar with the matter.

Following a military ban of Tesla’s cars earlier this year due to concerns that footage would be shared with other governments, the U.S. company announced that it would only store Chinese data from its cars on Chinese servers. I

n addition, Tesla announced it is building a platform to give owners in China access to data from their cars.

While it isn’t clear how many government agency personnel was affected, officials at government agencies in both Beijing and Shanghai were told verbally not to park their Teslas at work, reports Reuters.

It also is not clear if all Beijing government offices are bound to the restrictions, or if the restriction is a government requirement or simply an idea adopted by agency personnel.

At the center of the concern are Tesla’s cameras, which the company has both outside and inside its cars, in order to help monitor the road and the driver alike – ultimately supporting both the company’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving advanced driver assistance systems (ADASs).