Blog Tesla’s Full Self Driving Option to Receive $1,000 Price Increase

Tesla’s $6,000 Full Self Driving option will receive a $1,000 price bump next month, Chief Executive Elon Musk said in a tweet.

While Tesla is happy to sell the Full Self Driving feature, owners who elect to purchase the technology can’t use it for full self driving. The full promise of the feature is to come at a later date. 

https://twitter.com/x/status/1182823556830253056

Tesla describes the feature as such:

Full Self-Driving Capability

Navigate on Autopilot (Beta): Actively guides your car from a highway’s on-ramp to off-ramp, including suggesting lane changes, navigating interchanges, automatically engaging the turn signal and taking the correct exitAuto Lane Change: Assists in moving to an adjacent lane on the highway when Autosteer is engagedAutopark: Helps automatically parallel or perpendicular park your car, with a single touchSummon: Moves your car in and out of a tight space using the mobile app or keySmart Summon: Your car will navigate more complex environments and parking spaces, maneuvering around objects as necessary to come find you in a parking lot.Coming later this year:Recognize and respond to traffic lights and stop signsAutomatic driving on city streets

In addition to the complex technology required to achieve autonomy, Tesla will likely have to navigate regulatory approval for the feature. So, there’s a chance an owner could purchase the Full Self Driving option, but not be able to use it in their area. Tesla has a lot to prove, but the actual use of the technology will require some consideration from a society not completely confident in robo-cars.

This price bump for FSD comes after the company recently released a “Smart Summon” feature, which enables owners to use the Tesla app to request their car to drive to them without human control.

Is it a big enough tease to justify an extra $1,000?

 

[Another Bill]

Personally, FSD is a must have. The reality is we got it for a $1000 to $3000 discount.

 

[Magellan55]

Meh. I've had it for over a year, and watched it mature a bit. I'm not holding my breath at my car being able to really drive itself (as in robotaxi level of competence) for maybe 5 more years. Yes as an engineer in high tech I understand geometric progression of capability. I also think it will need a next-gen set of sensors - it still stinks at judging distance of cars behind / in adjacent lanes. Too many situations it can't handle yet, just on the highway where it's supposed to be there already. Self-parking is hit or miss, and it's not very sure of itself on winding rural roads (granted that's beta territory). No way it's anywhere near ready to be unleashed on city streets with pedestrians, bicycles, mopeds, crazy taxi drivers, etc. Maybe HW3.0 will help some.

 

[azred]

Personally, FSD is a must have. The reality is we got it for a $1000 to $3000 discount.

For those people who purchased FSD three years ago, it has hardly been worthwhile except as a donation to Tesla. Many of the EAP and FSD buyers will never see the value of FSD as they move to their next cars.

Of course now days the stripped down AP autopilot makes FSD purchase more worthwhile as useful features removed from EAP — especially auto lane change — were moved to FSD.

 

[Mull031496]

I’m probably gonna get flamed for this but given my experience with AP on my 2019 Model 3, there’s just no way that I see FSD happening anytime soon - and I’m certainly not paying in advance for what’s thus far been vaporware.

Don’t get me wrong, AP is super cool but I don’t trust it and definitely not with my family in the car. On V10, I’m now seeing my car hug LEFT. I was uncomfortable enough with it being centered, but now my car is self positioned LEFT of center? And it’s an upgrade? Sure, you can extol on the virtues of HW3 and it’s potential - and that’s great - but when the basic version of the product makes me feel like I’m always dangerously close to a head-on collision, there’s no way I’m paying extra for more of it.

If anything, my experience with V10, combined with Tesla’s history on failing to deliver on this makes me more comfortable than ever with my decision to hold off buying FSD.

 

[testarossa]

As per George Constanza in Seinfeld "it's a show about nothing."

 

[whitex]

Maybe Elon is trying to sell more to make up for a lot of refund requests next year from people who paid for FSD based on this:

Year is almost up, my guess is any lawyer could win at least a partial refund for not delivering what people paid for if they don't deliver the above by January 2020.

 

[Terr0pter]

I purchased my Model 3AWD, because it is a driver's car.

i tested Auto Pilot for one month, and I was was more scared than relaxed, I guess, you cannot take 50 years and over 2M miles (with no major accident!) driven and make you believe, the car will do everything for you.

i Just totally enjoy driving my Tesla, the best car I have ever owned, the only thing, I cannot understand, after paying full price in 2018, why the ACC, was not included, after paying $76K Cdn.

 

[Rockster]

I've had AP1 since it came out and AP2.5 for eighteen months now and I'm pleased with the progress. I wish it were faster progress, of course, but FSD has been showing continuous improvements and I think they'll eventually get to FSD. Not as fast as Musk thinks but he's a dreamer and a visionary and aggressive timelines are in his DNA (and that's a good thing, I think, for someone leading an organization with bright, driven, people working there).

That said, I think the $1000 price increase is inappropriate at this point because I feel like Tesla is still yet to deliver the value that their current pricing warrants. IOW, they still owe us features for which we've already paid and they shouldn't be raising the price based upon what's recently been added to "FSD."

 

[AdamMacDon]

Hmmm, I dunno how I feel about this once, the price is already quite high for a software that could be called "beta", but as a software dev myself I'd term as more of an alpha, honestly. More than 50% of the promised features are not present and the ones that are tend to have quite a few issues. As it stands, autopilot is great at staying in a straight line on the freeway and that's about it. Even that still has quirks like how it swerves right into a merge lane that appears on your right, unless there are dotted lines painted separating the lanes. Not to mention the phantom braking and herky jerky handling of sharp corners where it accelerates and brakes like a very uncertain new driver. And freeway driving has the LEAST variables of any type of road. City driving is a nightmare, between odd lane layouts, cyclists, pedestrians, confusing light setups, etc. The fact of the matter also includes a human element in driving, which is why many provinces and states BAN or restrict front window tint. Making eye contact with a driver, especially as a pedestrian is very important. While I see this less in the US than other countries, it's been proven to be an important form of communication to keep everyone safe. Obviously no amount of software updates can fix this issue.

Anyhow, as it stands, paying nearly $10,000 Canadian for a software you can barely call beta will be a tough sell for most people.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

 

[Vegaforce]

I’m probably gonna get flamed for this but given my experience with AP on my 2019 Model 3, there’s just no way that I see FSD happening anytime soon - and I’m certainly not paying in advance for what’s thus far been vaporware.

Don’t get me wrong, AP is super cool but I don’t trust it and definitely not with my family in the car. On V10, I’m now seeing my car hug LEFT. I was uncomfortable enough with it being centered, but now my car is self positioned LEFT of center? And it’s an upgrade? Sure, you can extol on the virtues of HW3 and it’s potential - and that’s great - but when the basic version of the product makes me feel like I’m always dangerously close to a head-on collision, there’s no way I’m paying extra for more of it.

If anything, my experience with V10, combined with Tesla’s history on failing to deliver on this makes me more comfortable than ever with my decision to hold off buying FSD.

I am probably going to join you in the pot when people roast us for this, but I could not agree more.

The best description I read somewhere on EAP is like having a 16 year-old drive your car: You can let them drive, but you will be nervous ALL the time, and constantly questioning their decisions. Does that make the trip more comfortable in long trips?

My opinion: For heavy slow moving traffic, it is VERY nice, except for the part where it leaves so much space that allows others to think you are overly generous.
On long trips, it is a cool feature, but very annoying with the decisions it makes. I prefer TACC more.

I do not understand the basis of the claims made by Elon and others on how many less accidents we will get if EAP was enabled.

I personally was going to be in an accident (head on collision) because of EAP while my whole family was with me in the car. I still get shivers whenever I think of the incident.

 

[whitex]

More than 50% of the promised features are not present

LOL. I guess 100% is more than 50% so technically you not wrong. Below is the description of AP2.0 FSD for which people have paid thousands of dollars for. Care to point out which one of those features is delivered today?

And yes, I know that Elon invented a new way to deliver on features by simply redefining what it means. Maybe he can just redefine FSD one more time and include only the features already delivered, then he can call FSD done and fanboys will applaud "Elon delivered yet again!".

 

[whitex]

The best description I read somewhere on EAP is like having a 16 year-old drive your car

I disagree. My wife lets my 15 year old with a learner's permit drive, but she does not use AP on her car (she tried it a few times and said no thanks). Even an inexperienced teenage driver has a sense of self-preservation, AP does not.

AP is ok for lane keeping on a highway, as long as you keep your hands on the wheel and treat is as an advanced form of cruise control (I just drive as I would on a well designed autobahn, where the roads are banked just right so the car almost stays in the lane by itself, but almost nobody would be stupid enough to drive there without hands on the wheel) . All other AP features are either complete hype and vaporware, or just a gimmick/trick to show to your friends if you're willing to risk it.

 

[AdamMacDon]

LOL. I guess 100% is more than 50% do you are correct. Below is the description of AP2.0 FSD for which people have paid thousands of dollars for. Care to point out which one of those features is delivered today?
View attachment 466013

And yes, I know that Elon invented a new way to deliver on features by simply redefining what it means. Maybe he can just redefine FSD one more time and include only the features already delivered, then he can call FSD done and fanboys will applaud "Elon delivered yet again!".

50% feature complete is generally the cut off for when you can move from alpha to beta, I did not say that Tesla's "Full Self Driving" is anywhere near that 50% mark

I find them marketing it as a "beta" disingenuous at best, but honestly "FSD" is more like vaporware that may one day become something. And now it costs another $1k USD to try and drum up some speculative purchases.

 

[Jack6591]

Tesla’s FSD is a front row seat to one of the greatest technological advancements in history. Dangerous, certainly. AI, sensor technology, and robotics rolled into one scientific experiment.

This is absolute hoot. I have zero issues with the price of admission for first hand experience.

Ya’ll be careful, and enjoy the ride.

 

[Gnettinger]

I heard that if you purchase the Full Self Driving that the car computer will also be upgraded (at least in model 3's) to a more powerful and faster version, that being the actual computer hardware. That correct and if so are the current computers already being replaced in the Model 3's that were manufactured earlier than February 2019?

 

[Ludalicious]

LOL. I guess 100% is more than 50% so technically you not wrong. Below is the description of AP2.0 FSD for which people have paid thousands of dollars for. Care to point out which one of those features is delivered today?
View attachment 466013

And yes, I know that Elon invented a new way to deliver on features by simply redefining what it means. Maybe he can just redefine FSD one more time and include only the features already delivered, then he can call FSD done and fanboys will applaud "Elon delivered yet again!".

This section right here. My vehicle picked me up at the entrance in the mall parking lot. No one was in the drivers seat. The trip was very short but it doesn't specify what it exactly means by trip or distance. So technically, driving from a parking spot to entrance falls under the category of trip... LOL... So short being 5ft and long trip would now be 100ft... LOL

 

[whitex]

This section right here. My vehicle picked me up at the entrance in the mall parking lot. No one was in the drivers seat. The trip was very short but it doesn't specify what it exactly means by trip or distance. So technically, driving from a parking spot to entrance falls under the category of trip... LOL... So short being 5ft and long trip would now be 100ft... LOL
View attachment 466025

Ah, except you missed 2 important parts of that sentence:

1. the "short and long distance trips", both need to be supported for the feature to be considered complete. You can't just pick words out of context, like saying that since the requirement starts with " The system is designed...", therefore part of the requirement is satisfied since the system was in fact designed (didn't just evolve by chance)
2. the "no action required" - holding a button on your phone while watching to make sure the car doesn't hit anything is an action which Tesla requires. As soon as they require no action, I foresee a lot of "warranty" collision claims - want a free upgrade to a new Tesla, just summon it across the a canyon or a drawbridge.

 

[jebinc]

I am probably going to join you in the pot when people roast us for this, but I could not agree more.

The best description I read somewhere on EAP is like having a 16 year-old drive your car: You can let them drive, but you will be nervous ALL the time, and constantly questioning their decisions. Does that make the trip more comfortable in long trips?

My opinion: For heavy slow moving traffic, it is VERY nice, except for the part where it leaves so much space that allows others to think you are overly generous.
On long trips, it is a cool feature, but very annoying with the decisions it makes. I prefer TACC more.

I do not understand the basis of the claims made by Elon and others on how many less accidents we will get if EAP was enabled.

I personally was going to be in an accident (head on collision) because of EAP while my whole family was with me in the car. I still get shivers whenever I think of the incident.

Make that three in that there pot..