Tesla rival BYD will pay for its own self-parking system damages with no insurance claim

Owners of BYD cars equipped with its so-called Eye of God autonomous driving system in China, can now call the automaker's customer service instead of filing an insurance claim for parking damages resulting from its usage.

BYD is taking responsibility for the actions of its new Level 4 self-parking component, expressing utmost confidence in its performance. Assuming the damages means that the owner won't have to file an insurance claim, and won't see their premiums raised as a result, as is the typical course of action for insurance companies in China.

"We assume full responsibility for the safety and losses of all users of vehicles equipped with God's Eye in intelligent parking scenarios," said the world's largest EV maker. Its new automated parking option is the first to be certified as a Level 4 autonomous driving system, meaning that the passengers can leave it to do its thing, with the respective automaker liable in case of an accident.

Being the biggest electric car manufacturer has its benefits, as BYD offers its Eye of God assisted driving system for free with most of its vehicles, unlike Tesla which charges for its FSD feature.

BYD has assembled the biggest self-driving R&D team in the industry and takes advantage of the largest chunk of cloud data in the realm, since God's Eye is already installed on more than a million of its vehicles and used for free in China. It will soon initiate a grand Eye of God update that will improve on all of its abilities, from highway driving to the aforementioned Level 4 autonomous parking.

Giving away the self-driving system runs contrary to Tesla's strategy, which includes either paying $8,000 for the software, or subscribing for it to the tune of $99/month. BYD needs autonomous driving data, and fast, as it is aiming to catch up to Tesla and others, and a free Eye of God seems to be a good way to amass it and develop its features to higher autonomy levels quickly.