Owners with No AP - Thoughts/Plans/Speculation on What Happens Next

[DIYDanCars]

I have no intention to ever buy AP or FSD. As a car enthusiast I love driving. I understand a case can be made if I lived in Chicago or LA where traffic jams are the norm, but here in little ol Lansing Michigan, we rarely have traffic jams. With that being said, i'll pocket the money I save and use it to get the Performance model Y in red that I want.

 

[Gillie]

I do not have AP or FSD, but am planning to purchase both before the end of the month. I think I may purchase the AP prior to April 22, in case there is some kind of announcement on the 22nd that people who already have AP will get some kind of discount on FSD before the end of the month (however likely or unlikely that is to happen). Any thoughts on that approach?

 

[rdunniii]

My car came with AP. EAP and FSD were extra. Still have no interest in EAP or FSD. There is nothing in any announcement which states real FSD is ready. It makes it clear it will be delivered through progressive software updates but still gives no timelines. When the real FSD is available I will consider it based upon what it provides and what Tesla wants for it.

 

[Knightshade]

My car came with AP. EAP and FSD were extra.

AP and EAP are mutually exclusive, and EAP hasn't been available to add to cars since AP was introduced.

AP was also extra until this past week (when it became "included" in exchange for a $2000 price increase on the car)

 

[Leafdriver333]

Tesla may give AP for free to people who took delivery this year because they are gambling that with whatever announcement they are making next week, people will want the FSD.
But AP + FSD=$10k.
People are not likely to spend that kind of money. Therefore, Tesla may provide the stepping stone with free AP so that more people will spend $7000 for FSD.

 

[Gillie]

[QUOTE="Tesla may provide the stepping stone with free AP so that more people will spend $7000 for FSD.[/QUOTE]

Hmm... good point. That seems more likely than what I was thinking.

 

[sreams]

99% of the times I prefer driving just with simple TACC because AP usually will do something stupid that’ll freak me out or jerk the car or slam the breaks under an overpass or do weird moves around curves that all cause me concern.

Any slamming on the brakes would be a function of TACC, not autosteer.

 

[Jack007]

Ordered my LR AWD in Canada without AP end of February (still waiting...) after the price drop for 67100 (paint and white interior). The same car now with the included AP is 69800. So that’s an extra $2700 CDN plus taxes for the AP.
Still contemplating switching the order to the new price or waiting for a free trial and deciding then if it’s worth it.

Hey welcome to Tesla Canada. I've put 100K on my model S with AP1. I have driven AB to the coast several times. AP is absolutely worth 2 or 3 or 4 grand. I paid $99,000 with tax and unlock of the 60 to 75 a year after purchase. I am still amazed at autopilot and wish I could trade the car in to get HW3, but there is no financial way that would ever make sense. Long trips not exhausted holding the wheel, forced to take breaks to charge, I am more refreshed when I get there than if driving a gasser. I would get the FSD as well because of the automatic lane changes, what's 10K when you are spending 70K, to me AP MAKES the car. Good luck in your choice! AND HAVE FUN!

 

[Scott7]

Tesla may give AP for free to people who took delivery this year because they are gambling that with whatever announcement they are making next week, people will want the FSD.
But AP + FSD=$10k.
People are not likely to spend that kind of money. Therefore, Tesla may provide the stepping stone with free AP so that more people will spend $7000 for FSD.

If they did anything like this they’d give a combo discount for AP+FSD for $7k. They won’t just give one away. There’s no benefit to Tesla to do it that way.

 

[KG2V]

You bought the best bargain. It has the maximum range of any Tesla other than perhaps the S 100 but the 3 has a better battery. Range degradation with age will hardly ever be a bother. The AWD range is at least 14% less and the extra performance borders on being unsafe. The LR RWD is reported to drive very well. More important than AWD is a winter tire set. The FSD is coming very soon. Autonomous after regulatory approval. The car does everything now except stop lights and signs and that is next.

Yeah, but I sometimes drive in the snow belt. Yeah, I'm going to buy snow tires (In fact, one of my current debates - do I get the Sottozero tires, or do I get Hakkapillita 8 or even 9s? (9s have studs)
In past cars, I had the WR-G all weather tires, and they were GREAT

 

[brobinson]

I would encourage people that feel that $2k is too much for basic AP to see what comparable offerings cost from the competition.

If you want similar features (with limited auto-steer) on a BMW 330i, you have to add a $1700 'professional driver assist' and $1600 'live cockpit pro' option.

To add the feature to a C class Mercedes (and to get other basic safety features already included in your Model 3), you have to add a $2250 driver assistance package, $2600 multimedia package, and a $1600 premium package.

Paying $2k for TACC and autosteer feels pretty good to me.

 

[derekmw]

I would encourage people that feel that $2k is too much for basic AP to see what comparable offerings cost from the competition.

If you want similar features (with limited auto-steer) on a BMW 330i, you have to add a $1700 'professional driver assist' and $1600 'live cockpit pro' option.

To add the feature to a C class Mercedes (and to get other basic safety features already included in your Model 3), you have to add a $2250 driver assistance package, $2600 multimedia package, and a $1600 premium package.

Paying $2k for TACC and autosteer feels pretty good to me.

You're assuming people think those other manufacturer prices are good but that Tesla isn't. I think those who didn't get it are individuals who wouldn't pay that kind of money for it on any car they bought if the price was in that range.

The only difference with Tesla is that it's all there already...so they can at any point decide to lower the price to increase profits down the road if needed to entice the ones who were still on the fence. That's a cool trick Tesla has and also gives hope for those who are waiting it out for a discounted price later on.

 

[brobinson]

You're assuming people think those other manufacturer prices are good but that Tesla isn't. I think those who didn't get it are individuals who wouldn't pay that kind of money for it on any car they bought if the price was in that range.

The only difference with Tesla is that it's all there already...so they can at any point decide to lower the price to increase profits down the road if needed to entice the ones who were still on the fence. That's a cool trick Tesla has and also gives hope for those who are waiting it out for a discounted price later on.

I think the point is that there are many claims that TACC is a 'free' feature on other cars in its class, which just isn't true. The consumer is paying for it in the form of options that may be common enough to seem standard, but they most certainly are not.

 

[Perry]

I think it has more to do with getting as many beta testers as possible. The end game for taking on Uber and Lyft is autonomous car data.

Why could you not collect data even without AP/FSD enabled? The hardware is all there. All you'd have to do is run auto pilot in simulation mode and observe the delta between what AP would have done compared to what the human driver does. Send that info to headquarters as continuous stream or critical point snap shots.

 

[Knightshade]

Why could you not collect data even without AP/FSD enabled? The hardware is all there. All you'd have to do is run auto pilot in simulation mode and observe the delta between what AP would have done compared to what the human driver does. Send that info to headquarters as continuous stream or critical point snap shots.

They probably can do that, but it's much less useful data.

Situation 1: AP/NoA is on- Tesla can learn if what they're doing is good enough, and they're going to see "disengagements" as situations where no, it's not- and they can compare easily those situations.

Situation 2: AP/NoA isn't on the car- Tesla can learn what the simulation of AP/NoA would have done- but it's going to near 100% of the time not be EXACTLY what the driver does-even going straight it's likely not going to be EXACTLY the same.... so you have a TON more data to filter to try and figure out what's "important" and what isn't.


2 isn't impossible, but it's tremendously more work and time compared to 1.

 

[turtlesz]

Tesla may give AP for free to people who took delivery this year because they are gambling that with whatever announcement they are making next week, people will want the FSD.
But AP + FSD=$10k.
People are not likely to spend that kind of money. Therefore, Tesla may provide the stepping stone with free AP so that more people will spend $7000 for FSD.

I don't understand why they would give AP free to those who bought in 2019? 2018 buyers paid more even after the tax credit and supported Tesla with more money. I understand those who are in the return window can get adjustments on price changes but beyond that Tesla should not be doing so. Giving freebies will just make future buyers hold off on options knowing they will get it for free down the road, stupid business move.

 

[focher]

I would not underestimate the likelihood that Tesla is doing a lot of data analysis on the car's computer, then using that analysis to determine whether to download the data from the car. That's even more possible if you have a car with the hardware, but the features aren't enabled to use it. That's just spare processing power that can be used.

 

[Perry]

I don't understand why they would give AP free to those who bought in 2019? 2018 buyers paid more even after the tax credit and supported Tesla with more money. I understand those who are in the return window can get adjustments on price changes but beyond that Tesla should not be doing so. Giving freebies will just make future buyers hold off on options knowing they will get it for free down the road, stupid business move.

I agree it makes no sense not to give AP free to everyone. Those who bought in 2018 paid even more than the prices are today including the 2K bundle. So AP should just be free for everyone especially that it's such a stripped down version of EAP and only has a few basic features now common in most new cars.

 

[derekmw]

I got the 2019.8.6.1 update and it offered me my second autopilot trial. I'll take it for free but not paying $2k, sorry Tesla.

 

[Arizona Willie]

Tesla may give AP for free to people who took delivery this year because they are gambling that with whatever announcement they are making next week, people will want the FSD.
But AP + FSD=$10k.
People are not likely to spend that kind of money. Therefore, Tesla may provide the stepping stone with free AP so that more people will spend $7000 for FSD.

Not gonna happen.

I emailed Tesla support because I paid the same amount in February for my mid-range without AP as they are now charging for mid-range WITH AP.

I mentioned I had already paid the extra $2500 and they said they would NOT RETROACTIVELY GIVE PEOPLE EXTRA FEATURES.

I hope that person was wrong, but I'm not holding my breath.

It just seem inherently wrong that people buy the car ( with no negotiation at the set price ) and then lower the price thereby increasing my depreciation, and then they raise the price $2500 and add in free AP but won't give earlier purchasers who paid the same amount free AP.