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]

 

[ratsbew]

Interesting results. I've always been a "yes" because I think it will be cool to wake up to FSD one morning out of the blue. I'm surprised that most people are saying "no".

I guess it's easy enough to make the upgrade through My Tesla once the features are out though.

 

[sitter_k]

I don't think ap2 cars will ever self drive. I mean enter destination and sit in the driver's seat and watch the car make turns and all.

Ap2 wasn't an evolution of ap1 it was a quick substitute after mobileye and Tesla parted ways.

 

[chronopc]

Interesting results. I've always been a "yes" because I think it will be cool to wake up to FSD one morning out of the blue. I'm surprised that most people are saying "no".

I guess it's easy enough to make the upgrade through My Tesla once the features are out though.

It would be cool to wake up to the FSD being active, but it's a gamble on whether that will happen anytime soon. I wouldn't be surprised if it took them 5-10 years. I would rather pay an extra $1k to activate the feature at a later time than spend $3k now and be impatiently waiting for them to turn it on.

 

[jason1466]

5-10 years to stop at stop signs and red lights, and to make surface street turns? I expect these are what us FSD folks expect to wake up to within a year or two. We'll see.

 

[shokunin]

What the hell is FSD?????? Why do people use abbreviations/accronyms and assume that everybody knows what the hell they are talking about. If you want to reference AWD, do it correctly 'All Wheel Drive (AWD)', Premium Upgrade Package (PUP), etc..

TSLA TLA

EAP= Enhanced Autopilot
FSD= Full Self Driving

 

[jsrawa]

5-10 years to stop at stop signs and red lights, and to make surface street turns? I expect these are what us FSD folks expect to wake up to within a year or two. We'll see.

To my knowledge they aren't even using all the cameras that the EAP is advertised as using on the Tesla website. They have spent a lot of time starting over to reach AP1 capabilities. That being said I think that when they start to truely tap into and use the other cameras we will see exponential improvement in abilities but who knows when this will be. I'd give it another year, maybe more, before EAP can even do everything it's advertised to do.

 

[diplomat33]

To my knowledge they aren't even using all the cameras that the EAP is advertised as using on the Tesla website. They have spent a lot of time starting over to reach AP1 capabilities. That being said I think that when they start to truely tap into and use the other cameras we will see exponential improvement in abilities but who knows when this will be. I'd give it another year, maybe more, before EAP can even do everything it's advertised to do.

No, EAP is not taking advantage of all the cameras yet. I agree with you that when it does, we will see a much better EAP.

 

[FloridaJohn]

The LA to NY run was cancelled.

Where did you see that info?

 

[lunitiks]

What a strange question... Why is this a poll? How can you even answer "no" to the question?? Isn't "the time of purchase" the time when you're buying it?

harr harr

 

[jsrawa]

What a strange question... Why is this a poll? How can you even answer "no" to the question?? Isn't "the time of purchase" the time when you're buying it?

harr harr

harr harr, you got me

 

[jsrawa]

Where did you see that info?

I think Elon said that he "may have egg on his face" in regards to the run happening this year during the ER conference call.

 

[BerTX]

I am pretty pessimistic about FSD being a reality until it is required on all cars and required to be used at all times. All cars will be networked and communicate with each other.

I won't be around to see it. So no, I would not pay for it. I'd just take a taxi, since owning a car will make no sense.

 

[woof]

I think Elon said that he "may have egg on his face" in regards to the run happening this year during the ER conference call.

This is exactly what was said:

"It is certainly possible that I will have egg on my face on that front, but if it’s not at the end of the year it will be very close,"

Elon Musk said Tesla may delay its cross-country road trip in a self-driving car

So they MAY delay the demo, or they may not. That's a far cry from "The LA to NY run was cancelled." ala @McRat

 

[AngelArm1110]

I'm buying the car for me to drive, not it

 

[Robert831]

Buying it up front is just giving Tesla an interest free loan to do the R&D with no guarantee when (if ever) it will arrive and how useful it will be.

I just spoke to a "customer experience specialist" at the factory. According to him, the fully autonomous mode software is already working! They just can't release it to the public for legal reasons that are currently being worked out.

 

[oktane]

No, tesla autopilot is a complete scam and utter failure. Save your money until AP is working to your comfort level. Do not believe the hype.

 

[Robert831]

No, tesla autopilot is a complete scam and utter failure. Save your money until AP is working to your comfort level. Do not believe the hype.

By the time they sell me the car, fully autonomous mode might already be released and working. So, it's difficult to definitively say yes or no regarding purchasing it with the car. On the other hand, it might be terrifying to actually use it. It would probably be wise to let other people experiment with their lives first.

 

[BluestarE3]

I'm not getting FSD or EAP at the outset (I don't even use cruise control on "regular" cars). The ability to add these features later makes it an easy choice. As others have pointed out, the penalty for not getting FSD at the outset is offset by not having to prepay for a feature that may take years to come to fruition. As I get older and my driving skills diminish, hopefully this feature will be available and refined enough by then for me to add it to my car -- when I really need it. Also, I envision of cost of EAP and FSD dropping over time after development costs have been recouped and competition from other manufacturers reset the price points for autonomous features in the marketplace.

 

[mal_tsla]

Full self driving is a corporate Kickstarter.

 

[Zaphod]

I just spoke to a "customer experience specialist" at the factory. According to him, the fully autonomous mode software is already working! They just can't release it to the public for legal reasons that are currently being worked out.

Seeing as current AP2 isn't even using hardly any cameras, I would not put much faith into what some random person at Tesla said. While it may technically work as they demonstrated in the early videos, I think there is far more than just legal reasons it is not out.