Tesla bumps up the price of its Full Self-Driving tech to $10,000

[Polycount]

What just happened? If you're a prospective Tesla buyer who has been holding off on purchasing one of the cars while you wait for their Full Self-Driving tech suite to be finished, we've got some bad news for you. After a recent beta launch, FSD is apparently sophisticated enough to warrant a hefty price increase -- whereas it used to cost $8,000 to include in a vehicle, the add-on will now run you a whopping $10,000.

Even for the wealthier individuals that most Tesla vehicles are targeting, an extra $2,000 might be a tough pill to swallow, especially when the technology is still far from finished. It can automatically change lanes, park, and drive itself to you in certain areas (among other things), but it still has plenty of bugs and missing features.

Regardless, Tesla has made up its mind, and it isn't likely to change now. And in all fairness, CEO Elon Musk did reveal that this change was coming ahead of time on Twitter (as he tends to do for many major announcements) -- last week, in fact.

Price change is pushed to Thursday next week. Applies only to US for now. One week clock will start in other countries as beta is released. FSD monthly rental will also be available sometime next year.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 22, 2020

On the bright side, Tesla is hoping to make its Full Self-Driving tech suite "widely" available to most US customers by the end of the year, so that could be something for vigilant drivers to get excited for.

The price increase only applies to US residents for now, but it'll expand to other countries one week after the beta becomes available in each. Additionally, if a $10,000 one-off payment is difficult for you to find room in your for, Tesla hopes to launch an "FSD monthly rental" service sometime in 2021, which will undoubtedly come with a lower price tag.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/87376-tesla-bumps-up-price-full-self-driving-tech.html

 

[Nobina]

I would prefer a car without any "assistance" for a lesser price.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

Ridiculous.

But what really bothers me is the way Tesla can enable and disable the features at will - which means, just as we've seen, it's possible to buy a car that "had" autopilot, only for them to remove it and demand more money to re-enable it.

Not to mention these cars can be software limited at ANY TIME by the government mandates. Tesla's newest "Plaid" mode exceeds 200 MPH and they could easily cut that to be "track mode" only.

 

[DaveBG]

I would prefer a car without any "assistance" for a lesser price.

At some point you wont be able to. It will be illegal to drive manually any car.

Ridiculous.

But what really bothers me is the way Tesla can enable and disable the features at will - which means, just as we've seen, it's possible to buy a car that "had" autopilot, only for them to remove it and demand more money to re-enable it.

Not to mention these cars can be software limited at ANY TIME by the government mandates. Tesla's newest "Plaid" mode exceeds 200 MPH and they could easily cut that to be "track mode" only.

You can always dig out the sim card or use a signal jammer and it will not update anymore. It will be just like the old cars. The same as the day you bought it.

 

[brucek]

Is there also a separate hardware price for adding on the extra cameras, sensors, etc? I had thought that was what this was, but "rental" wouldn't make sense for the hardware part.

$10K feels steep to me for a feature that, legally speaking, you are not allowed to rely upon. As long as the rule is I have to be fully alert and supervising with my hands on the wheel, I'm not sure what "full self driving" is really buying me except for a temptation towards a ticket or accident.

 

[p51d007]

I'm glad I'm in my 60's...I STILL drive a manual transmission, because I ENJOY IT!
And, I live in a city, with a lot of stop & go. I hate all this automatic garbage, not to
mention all this touch screen nonsense. Buttons & knobs help keep your eyes on
the road, unlike those huge touchscreens.

 

[Nobina]

At some point you wont be able to. It will be illegal to drive manually any car

It won't if people have any sanity left.

 

[brucek]

It won't if people have any sanity left.

Sanity is relative to your life experiences. If you're like me where manual driving has existed all my life, and fatal automobile accidents are an academic footnote but not a personal emotional connection, then of course it seems hard to imagine.

But it won't be too many generations before many people willingly choose the car without the baggage of driver controls (I.e., configured as a living room), and the one that is much cheaper to insure, or the one they don't even have to own because it's available in seconds on demand with all maintenance handled by the provider. As that becomes more common by choice, there'll be less resistance to those who have lost loved ones to impaired drivers who feel that freedom is not worth it. Market forces will tip until it's just not economical to make the traditional cars we have now, few want one anyway, and then they'll finally be outlawed for safety.

The last refuge will probably be in specialty situations like construction vehicles, etc. that can't simply be programmed to go from point A to point B.