On Sunday, Aug. 21, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced in a post on Twitter that the company will be increasing the price of its Full-Self Driving or FSD software to $15,000. That is a $3,000 increase from the original price.
The price jump will take effect on Sept. 5 in North America.
FSD Price Increase
According to The Verge, Tesla drivers who already ordered the vehicle before Sept. 5 won't be affected by the price increase. The sudden price hike comes as the automaker begins rolling out FSD beta 10.69 to its customers.
Musk did not reveal whether Tesla will also raise the price of the FSD subscription, which currently costs $199 a month.
After wide release of FSD Beta 10.69.2, price of FSD will rise to $15k in North America on September 5th.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 21, 2022
Current price will be honored for orders made before Sept 5th, but delivered later.
This is not the first time Tesla's FSD has had a price increase. Upon its launch in 2019, the software's cost was around $5,000. In 2021, Tesla started opening the beta to more customers through a new request button before increasing the price to $12,000.
Musk has called Tesla vehicles "appreciating assets," according to Electrek - that means that Musk believes the vehicles will increase in value as Tesla launches more driver-assist features.
Musk later claimed that the value of FSD could reach over $100,000 as the software gets closer to full self-driving capability with approval from the regulators.
Ongoing Investigations
In early August, California's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) accused the automaker of misleading claims about its vehicles' self-driving capabilities.
The DMV said that the terms that Tesla uses, such as FSD and Autopilot, could deceive customers into thinking that the vehicles can operate autonomously, according to LA Times.
In 2021, US Senators Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal asked the Federal Trade Commission or FTC to investigate the way Tesla advertises the Autopilot and FSD software.
The two lawmakers sent a letter to Musk to express their concerns over Tesla's driver-assist system, which the automaker responded to by saying its system can help customers drive safer than the average driver, according to Reuters.
How FSD Works
Tesla vehicles come standard with its driver assistance system called Autopilot, but for an additional cost, customers can purchase FSD, a feature that Musk said will one day deliver full autonomous driving capabilities.
FSD includes the parking feature called Summon and a guidance system that navigates a car from a highway on-ramp to an off-ramp called Navigate on Autopilot.
The Navigate on Autopilot feature also allows the vehicle to make lane changes and interchanges and recognize traffic controls.
However, Tesla has reminded the public that the vehicles that are equipped with FSD are not self-driving. All of these capabilities still require the driver to maintain attention and take control of the vehicle when needed.
According to TechCrunch, Musk said that Tesla had deployed FSD with city navigation capabilities to more than 100,000 vehicle owners as of July.
That is the same number that Musk gave during the company's first-quarter earnings call, suggesting that the adoption of the software has not grown.
The latest version of FSD, 10.13, includes updates like animal detection, unprotected left turns, pedestrian and cyclist velocity error, and speed limit accuracy.
Related Article: Tesla FSD Detects People, Crew in a Drive-Thru as User Passes By, Elon Musk Reacts 'Miracle'
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Sophie Webster
