Tesla is reducing subscription fees for its Full Self-Driving (FSD) driver assistance software to reflect the company’s ongoing financial difficulties. The company lowered the price to $99/month from $199 starting in 2021.
Tesla announced the price change in a post on and be ready to take control of the vehicle. (The company has been criticized for failing to provide adequate driver monitoring and other protections against overreliance on the system.)
Tesla previously charged owners a monthly FSD subscription fee of $199. (The driver assistance system is a one-time fee of $12,000.) For owners who already have Autopilot, FSD is also available as a $99 monthly subscription, but Autopilot doesn’t have as many features as FSD. But now Tesla is making Autopilot standard with all new car purchases, eliminating the need for a price difference.
The company also recently started offering a one-month free trial of FSD to attract more customers to use it. Tesla has reportedly asked its service center employees to take all potential buyers for a demonstration ride on the FSD, under direct orders from Elon Musk.
The company also recently started promoting a one-month free trial of FSD to attract more customers to use it
But FSD is not a perfect system. Some Tesla owners praise its functionality, but others consider it unstable and untrustworthy. The company has rolled out a slew of software updates to improve its capabilities, with the latest (v12) said to finally tap into what Musk calls “end-to-end neural networks.”
While most automakers’ driver assistance systems are limited to highway use, Tesla alone encourages its customers to use FSD on local roads with traffic signals, intersections and vulnerable road users. The system controls acceleration and deceleration, turns (including unprotected left turns, which are extremely difficult for automated systems) and recognizes traffic signals and other road signs. FSD also asks drivers to pay attention to the road and take control of their vehicle when asked.
Tesla’s driver-assistance technology has pushed the boundaries of what customers can safely use on public roads and drawn scrutiny from federal regulators. Federal regulators are investigating 16 crashes in which Tesla owners using Autopilot crashed into stationary emergency vehicles, injuring 15 people and killing one. Both Autopilot and FSD were recently recalled, and the company rolled out software updates that security experts said were inadequate.
Tesla’s latest price cut may be due to its financial difficulties. The company’s quarterly vehicle deliveries fell for the first time in years, putting more pressure on Tesla to compensate with higher revenue from software services.