Hah, who said I don't realize Autopilot is better than the competitors.. the other posters? I definitely agree that the AutoPilot is the best on the market. Thought I made that clear, my reference to a more polished system is to a future AutoPilot, that isn't in a "commercial", "public" beta but rather in a commercial released status. Whether we want to advocate for the current system or not, it is a fact that it is a commercial beta and I was just advocating for a free beta period.
Anyhow, the beauty of a free market is that Tesla truly can test the waters on everyone's tolerance for paying for AutoPilot. The poll above does a good job to validate their position. I'm impressed. At least in these forums, which given represent a pretty loyal customer base, myself included, their seems to be a resounding voice for "Yes, charge us for this feature".
I would say the people have spoken
Just to add that the other automakers with "autopilot" type features charge an arm and a leg. I did some research regarding their costs in the past. Originally from:
Tesla's autopilot - "unsupervised wannabe" - Volvo says...
Here's the post:
So I finally got around to reading the article. Found this quote in the original Verge article:
"Unsaid here is that in its current "beta" incarnation
(which customers have to pay thousands of dollars to enable) Tesla's Autopilot can suddenly turn itself off if it gets into trouble, and the driver must take over immediately or bad things can happen."
Figured I'd do some research about this (as I had looked into this prior to buying my Model S 70D, but prices have likely changed). When I bought our 70D with AP, I compared to 5 series BMW, MB E series, and Audi A6. We were replacing a BMW 5 series. Volvo wasn't in the running, but I'll include since the FUD is from them. To make things more comparable I've tried to include parking software, which we didn't, when we looked last year.
Mercedes (E series): Driver Assistance package: 2800. For parking assist: 970, but you need Premium package @ 4180 =
7950 total (2800 without parking assistance).
BMW (5 series): Driver Assist Plus 1700. Driv Assist Pkg 1800 (you click on the Plus, it automatically includes the Pkg for an extra 1800). TACC 1200. (No parking assist) =
4700 total (no auto parking).
Audi (A6): Driver Assist 2550. No parking assist (however includes parking system sensors) =
2550 (no auto parking).
Volvo: Driver Assist included. Parking assist: 1000. Vision package (blind spot visualization?) 1950 =
1000 or 2950.
(I was somewhat confused by the separate Vision package and comment about blind spot, so I included as potential price)
Tesla: Autopilot suite =
2500 or 3000. Future updates included.
I was basing my research last year on a summary article (mid to early last year) which rated MB, Audi and Volvo as having the best driver assistance package (rated "A", BMW was only a "B" in that article, which I cannot find anymore). Article preceded Tesla's Autopilot.
Just wanted to get prices out there so people realize that Tesla's Autopilot is actually very affordable in comparison to the competition.