Is FSD really worth the $10k?

[Tam]

....robotaxi revenue don't make economic sense...

Uber doesn't sell cars so why does it run the ride-hailing network?

Same with Tesla, it does not need to sell cars once Tesla runs its profitable ride-hailing network but it's a bonus to sell cars.

By the way, mathematically, Tesla did not make a profit in selling cars in 2020 but the $1.6 billion in regulatory credits subsidized for its loss and turned it into the bottom line profit:

Tesla’s dirty little secret: Its net profit doesn’t come from selling cars

Eleven states require automakers sell a certain percentage of zero-emissions vehicles by 2025. If they can’t, the automakers have to buy regulatory credits from another automaker that meets t…

www.mercurynews.com

Tesla does not deny the unpredictable income source from regulatory credits:

"Tesla top executives concede the company can’t count on that source of cash continuing.

“This is always an area that’s extremely difficult for us to forecast,” said Tesla’s Chief Financial Officer Zachary Kirkhorn. “In the long term, regulatory credit sales will not be a material part of the business, and we don’t plan the business around that. It’s possible that for a handful of additional quarters, it remains strong. It’s also possible that it’s not.”"

 

[Flymom0817]

It was worth it when i used in bay area for 1hr commuting. I paid $6000 on M3 in 2019. Now i moved to Las Vegas. Not useful.. so i upgraded to MY without it. And it is too much mow for what it actually used for.

 

[WindPower]

Take the $10k and roll it into ethereum. There’s a better chance you’ll have good value a year from now than you’ll have real self driving.

 

[Mike_TV]

i have no intentions on sending my car out to transport strangers around like an uber with a 50k car (maybe buy a model 2(?) for that). so even if fsd was "feature complete", it wouldnt be worth $10k for me.

What about sending the car out to pick up your dinner, groceries or dry cleaning? Doesn't have to be transporting strangers.

 

[20TM3]

After serious consideration I removed FSD from my MYP order. I suppose if it was still $7k as it was on my M3 I would have kept it even though i still feel 7k is too much. I feel if Elon wants most if not all Tesla buyers to add the feature he should keep it priced around $3k.

 

[dyau]

What about sending the car out to pick up your dinner, groceries or dry cleaning? Doesn't have to be transporting strangers.

sounds like a dream. haha. but alot more needs to be developed than just fsd. definitely not something that will happen within the lifetime of my next car (unless teslas have lifespans of oldsmobiles).

 

[angus[Y]oung]

By the way, mathematically, Tesla did not make a profit in selling cars in 2020 but the $1.6 billion in regulatory credits subsidized for its loss and turned it into the bottom line profit:

Tesla does not deny the unpredictable income source from regulatory credits:

@Tam I can't profess to be an expert in the details but remember reading an article a while back that addressed this issue. The author pointed out that right now Tesla is spending heavily in building more production capacity (Giga Shanghai, Giga Berlin, Giga Austin) while they still have these credits. If those credits were to disappear, the author figured that Tesla could remain profitable by scaling back investment in growth. So basically they are spending heavily now while they have that extra income. I can't profess to have any sort of expertise or in-depth knowledge, but this argument, at least in passing, made sense to me.

 

[Tam]

@Tam I can't profess to be an expert in the details but remember reading an article a while back that addressed this issue. The author pointed out that right now Tesla is spending heavily in building more production capacity (Giga Shanghai, Giga Berlin, Giga Austin) while they still have these credits. If those credits were to disappear, the author figured that Tesla could remain profitable by scaling back investment in growth. So basically they are spending heavily now while they have that extra income. I can't profess to have any sort of expertise or in-depth knowledge, but this argument, at least in passing, made sense to me.

Agreed.

Tesla is a growth company so we should expect a loss like Amazon that suffered loss for 14 years or 58 consecutive quarters.

So, it's a nice bonus that the expected loss became profits.