Poll: 81% of Prospective Model 3 Owners Say They Won’t Pay Upfront For Full Self-Driving

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]It seems most prospective Model 3 owners aren’t willing to shell out cash upfront for a $3,000 “full self-driving capability” option that is likely years away from becoming available to engage.

In a poll posted by jsraw 81.3% (347) of respondents said they will not pay for the feature at purchase. Adding the option later will cost an additional $1,000. Of respondents, 18.7% said they will pay for FSD upfront.

According to Tesla’s website, FSD “doubles the number of active cameras from four to eight, enabling full self-driving in almost all circumstances, at what we believe will be a probability of safety at least twice as good as the average human driver. The system is designed to be able to conduct short and long distance trips with no action required by the person in the driver’s seat. For Superchargers that have automatic charge connection enabled, you will not even need to plug in your vehicle.”

Elon Musk has said that level 5 autonomous driving is possible with second generation Autopilot and the FSD option, meaning the car is fully autonomous in any and all conditions. During his TED talk in April, Musk said the company plans to conduct by the end of 2017 a coast-to-coast demo drive from California to New York without the driver touching the wheel.

Obviously, there will be regulatory hurdles ahead and Musk has said it will likely be two years before owners will be able to engage FSD capability.

See a few comments on the poll below, or go to the thread here.

Swift

EinSV

jason1466

Waiting4M3

Enginerd[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

 

[R.S]

Would be perfectly legal if they person hadn't purchased FSD yet. The only thing illegal would be you having bought it, them deciding they want more money, and disabling it until you pay more to reactivate it. But just because you bought the car doesn't entitle anyone to a specific price for FSD in the future.

But Tesla claims that you can upgrade it for 4k after delivery. So isn't the option of upgradability at a certain price also something you pay for, when you buy the car?

 

[Chewy3]

But Tesla claims that you can upgrade it for 4k after delivery. So isn't the option of upgradability at a certain price also something you pay for, when you buy the car?

That is current advertised price, not an option contract (legally obligated to honor that price for set amount of time)

Think of it like the wheels. You can either pay $4500 for Model S for 21" rims when you order it. Or pay $6000 from Tesla Store after delivery. The Tesla store can change the price of those 21" wheels at any time right?

 

[Garlan Garner]

I will only buy what I can take with me out of the door.

 

[lunitiks]

I will only buy what I can take with me out of the door.

Not fat. Just big boned

 

[gregincal]

But Tesla claims that you can upgrade it for 4k after delivery. So isn't the option of upgradability at a certain price also something you pay for, when you buy the car?

Except for the part of the purchase contract where you agree that they can change that at any time.

 

[siggyfreud]

That is current advertised price, not an option contract (legally obligated to honor that price for set amount of time)

Think of it like the wheels. You can either pay $4500 for Model S for 21" rims when you order it. Or pay $6000 from Tesla Store after delivery. The Tesla store can change the price of those 21" wheels at any time right?

Precisely.

 

[Rob R]

Enhanced Autopilot does not even work as described yet! I doubt I will even live to see FSD and likely neither will my probably 2019 Model 3 be on the road.

More likely is Tesla will finally perfect EAP in 2021 or so, then add a few more features to give it close to Level 4 limited self driving, and call that Full, maybe around 2023/4. If they do, I will buy it then, when I've seen what it can do.

Real self driving, maybe 2035, maybe 2050. They need a neural net that understands the world, and understands it far better than a human driver. That is hard!

 

[mk6tes]

I purchased FSD to anticipate Tesla will start rolling out some of FSD features this year soon after they do cross country FSD.

 

[seattlite2004]

I purchased FSD to anticipate Tesla will start rolling out some of FSD features this year soon after they do cross country FSD.

@mk6tes People who paid Tesla $3,000 for full self-driving might be out of luck

 

[jgs]

Real self driving, maybe 2035, maybe 2050. They need a neural net that understands the world, and understands it far better than a human driver. That is hard!

Well, or we need to change the world and the rules of the road to accommodate our dimwitted robotic servitors. Probably gonna be a little of each.

 

[drawfour]

They need a neural net that understands the world, and understands it far better than a human driver. That is hard!

A couple weeks ago, I was at an airport with my wife and two kids, coming home after a visit to Disneyland. We were waiting for a friend to pick us up, and I was thinking to myself about how nice it would be to have a fully autonomous mode where the car could just come pick us up where we were standing. Like it could get the notification of our plane landing, started driving to the airport, and I'd press a button when I had my bags and it could come find me.

Then I watched as I saw the huge mess of cars in front of me. Idiot drivers who would leave large gaps between themselves and the cars in front of them, but not enough room for another car to slide in. That causes a backup into the main road traffic (2 lanes for loading, 2 lanes for regular traffic). Furthermore, we were at the beginning of the loading location, which meant that the two lanes for regular traffic split into the 2 lanes for loading. Because of the backup, all of that was impeding the regular 2 lanes.

There were about 3 officers directing traffic. Telling people "you can't wait here, this is for loading/unloading only. MOVE". They were using their whistles and batons to direct cars to specific lanes. I honestly have no idea how any FULLY autonomous vehicle would be able to respond to that situation. It has to be able to not only follow all the road signs, lights, and traffic patterns, but it also has to be able to take commands from a human officer, both verbal and non-verbal.

Sure, the Tesla could decide to go park in the parking garage and tell me where to find it. But officers directing traffic in regular roads is not a super rare occurrence. There are multiple churches around here that use Sheriffs Deputies to direct traffic when letting out on Sundays.

 

[FloridaJohn]

A couple weeks ago, I was at an airport with my wife and two kids, coming home after a visit to Disneyland. We were waiting for a friend to pick us up, and I was thinking to myself about how nice it would be to have a fully autonomous mode where the car could just come pick us up where we were standing. Like it could get the notification of our plane landing, started driving to the airport, and I'd press a button when I had my bags and it could come find me.

Then I watched as I saw the huge mess of cars in front of me. Idiot drivers who would leave large gaps between themselves and the cars in front of them, but not enough room for another car to slide in. That causes a backup into the main road traffic (2 lanes for loading, 2 lanes for regular traffic). Furthermore, we were at the beginning of the loading location, which meant that the two lanes for regular traffic split into the 2 lanes for loading. Because of the backup, all of that was impeding the regular 2 lanes.

There were about 3 officers directing traffic. Telling people "you can't wait here, this is for loading/unloading only. MOVE". They were using their whistles and batons to direct cars to specific lanes. I honestly have no idea how any FULLY autonomous vehicle would be able to respond to that situation. It has to be able to not only follow all the road signs, lights, and traffic patterns, but it also has to be able to take commands from a human officer, both verbal and non-verbal.

Sure, the Tesla could decide to go park in the parking garage and tell me where to find it. But officers directing traffic in regular roads is not a super rare occurrence. There are multiple churches around here that use Sheriffs Deputies to direct traffic when letting out on Sundays.

Or, Autonomous Cars could be allowed in the Taxi lanes, where things are more organized and simpler.

 

[Garlan Garner]

I'm all buttons checked on my Performance Dual Motor / White Interior Model 3 which will include FSD.

Why?

1. Because I can afford it
2. Because I love how Tesla rolls out their "beta" versions. For instance. "Auto-pilot" is currently NOT a function that automatically pilots your car. Its still in beta ( or whatever version its called) , however we can participate and use some great steering/acceleration/braking functions until "Auto-Pilot" exits beta ( or whatever version its called ).

I'm foreseeing that the FSD will produce features in the same way - that will be rolled out over time.

 

[SlicedBr3ad]

@mk6tes People who paid Tesla $3,000 for full self-driving might be out of luck

this just in, arstechnica puts out article with no new information. give ars a big pat on the back then tell them to go sit in a corner by themselves and think how they can stop wasting everyone's time.

 

[drawfour]

Or, Autonomous Cars could be allowed in the Taxi lanes, where things are more organized and simpler.

Sure, that would be reasonable compromise as well, specifically for the airport situation I described. However, it does not help the general problem of obeying an human's verbal and non-verbal instructions on regular roads. Things like construction zones (granted, those usually have big "STOP" signs they hold, but they are almost always on the "wrong" side of the lane), areas with officers directing traffic around a crash site, intersections that normally have lights but they're out because of a wind storm (that might be easier, if each intersection is known to have lights and they are not detected, then treat it as an n-way stop), officers directing traffic during busy times, those big signs with scrolling text that say stuff like "Left 2 Lanes for Mall" during extremely busy traffic times (like Christmas), etc... There's a LOT that humans naturally absorb that is more than just anticipating that idiot is going to change lanes without signalling.

It's one thing for a "fully self driving" car to say "look, in the <1% case that I run into a situation I can't handle, a human in the car is allowed to take over until we get through that situation", but that's not going to help me when I'm summoning my car and there are no passengers.

 

[diplomat33]

I plan to buy FSD when it is time for me to order my Model 3 (late 2018). By then, I fully expect Tesla to be within a couple years to some form of FSD. I don't expect full level 5 autonomy but I think Tesla will release some partial FSD features that I will be able to enjoy during my ownership of the car that will be worth the price.

 

[drawfour]

I won't buy FSD simply because it's still a long way away. L4 is multiple years away, even if Elon is able to do a "coast to coast FSD" demo. That's going to be majority highway driving, and autopilot can already do that fairly well anyway. I'm interested in all the little things that I've described earlier. For me, FSD would be a waste of money to get now - and it's likely that the sensors would need upgrading anyway to get it. I'll look about buying FSD with a new version of whatever car is available at that time -- whether it's another model 3, model Y, or something even sexier.

 

[JeffK]

One concern is that if the compute hardware needs an upgrade, Elon has mentioned that those who bought FSD will get the upgrade for free.
If you don't purchase it now, do you think it's possible they'd charge for the software upgrade, the penalty fee, and the hardware upgrade?

 

[diplomat33]

If you don't purchase it now, do you think it's possible they'd charge for the software upgrade, the penalty fee, and the hardware upgrade?

Most likely, yes. They would at least charge for the hardware upgrade. Why would they give it to you for free if you have not purchased the FSD option?

 

[Canuck]

Elon has mentioned that those who bought FSD will get the upgrade for free.

I never checked the FSD box when I ordered because the terms stated are what govern.

If it's not part of the terms you agreed to when buying FSD, and you buy it on the basis of what Elon "mentioned", you will only have yourself to blame if this turns out not to be true. To find out if it is true, all you need to do is ask for it in writing before you buy FSD. Then you will get your answer because they will never give that to you in writing.

People are being wilfully blind if they think they are getting anything other than what the FSD terms say when you buy it.