Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

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

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
[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.

Screen-Shot-2017-08-14-at-3.24.50-PM.png
Swift

Screen-Shot-2017-08-14-at-3.16.15-PM.png
EinSV

Screen-Shot-2017-08-14-at-3.17.02-PM.png
jason1466

Screen-Shot-2017-08-14-at-3.17.59-PM.png
Waiting4M3

Screen-Shot-2017-08-14-at-3.21.06-PM.png
Enginerd[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yes.

I am looking forward to experiencing new FSD features (for example stop sign and stop light recognition) as they are released, which I think will likely begin some time this year.

I don't expect complete "Full Self Driving" at first but that Tesla will start by releasing additional features that will require driver supervision and go from there.
 
I think the question is do you want to sign up to be a test pilot for $3K. When I had to decide for my recent inventory X last day of quarter sale, I chose FSD. Now I can be that guy at parties telling stories about the current state of autonomous driving :). I don't think I will be sleeping during any drives this decade, but I would love to be proven wrong.
 
In my state if I purchase it at the time of sale I believe it will increase my ownership tax due to increased MSRP. In addition if you finance the amount of FSD you're not really looking at that big of a discount or motivation to purchase up front. I'll probably wait but I could change my mind.
 
Last edited:
I will be getting my Model 3 in late 2018. So, it depends on what the state of FSD is at that time. If by then, we get some partial features for FSD that work well and would be useful to me, I might do it. But if FSD is not released at all or if the features are minimal and not working properly, then "no".
 
  • Like
Reactions: lukex4
Don't they usually sell software features at one price during purchase and another greater price if upgraded at a later date? Until they specify how much greater that price will be it makes no sense to buy it initially if you can upgrade at any point for no penalty

-Randy
 
Don't they usually sell software features at one price during purchase and another greater price if upgraded at a later date? Until they specify how much greater that price will be it makes no sense to buy it initially if you can upgrade at any point for no penalty

Right now, we know it costs an extra $1000 to upgrade to FSD later. So unless Tesla changes something, we know how much it will cost to upgrade later.
 
The only reason to buy with FSD is if you believe they will never get it working, and get a buyback settlement that puts you ahead.

Other than that... Don't buy a dog that is 'sleeping' until you are positive it's not really dead.

That makes no sense. Clearly, the other reason and better reason to buy FSD would be if it was working.
 
  • Like
Reactions: FalconFour
That makes no sense. Clearly, the other reason and better reason to buy FSD would be if it was working.

Obviously. Right now, there is no timetable for it's release. The LA to NY run was cancelled. Assuming that some people are beginning to configure their cars, or will be soon, it really makes no sense to order FSD with zero functionality.
 
Obviously. Right now, there is no timetable for it's release. The LA to NY run was cancelled. Assuming that some people are beginning to configure their cars, or will be soon, it really makes no sense to order FSD with zero functionality.

I agree it makes no sense for those people to order it now. But it could make sense for someone who is ordering the car next year if some FSD features are released by then.