Given the company’s ongoing financial difficulties, Tesla is reducing the subscription fee for its Full Self-Driving (FSD) driver assistance software. The company dropped the price to $99 per month after it had been $199 since at least 2021.
Tesla announced the price adjustment in a post on Stand by to take control of the vehicle. (The company has been criticized for failing to provide proper driver monitoring and other safeguards against over-reliance on the system.)
Previously, Tesla charged owners $199 per month to subscribe to FSD. (The driver assistance system was also available for a one-time fee of $12,000.) FSD was also available as a monthly subscription for $99 for owners who already have an Autopilot, which is less capable than FSD. But now Tesla offers Autopilot as standard on all new car purchases, so there’s no 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. And Tesla has reportedly instructed its service center employees to take all potential buyers on a demo ride with FSD, on direct orders from Elon Musk.
The company also recently started offering 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 his skills, but others describe him as unpredictable and untrustworthy. The company has released numerous software updates to improve its capabilities. The latest version (version 12) is supposed to finally use what Musk calls “end-to-end neural networks”.
Most car manufacturers’ driver assistance systems are intended for limited use on highways, while Tesla is the only one encouraging customers to use FSD on local roads with traffic lights, intersections and vulnerable road users. The system controls acceleration and deceleration, takes turns – including unprotected left turns, which are extremely difficult for automated systems – and recognizes traffic signals and other traffic signs. FSD also requires that drivers pay attention to the road and take control of the vehicle when asked.
Tesla’s driver assistance technology has pushed the boundaries of what is safe for customers on public roads and has drawn scrutiny from federal regulators. Federal regulators are investigating 16 accidents in which owners of Tesla vehicles collided with stationary emergency vehicles using Autopilot, resulting in 15 injuries and one death. Both Autopilot and FSD were recently recalled because the company made software updates that safety experts said were inadequate.
Tesla’s financial difficulties could be the reason for the recent price cuts. The company’s quarterly vehicle deliveries fell for the first time in years, putting more pressure on Tesla to boost revenue from its software services to compensate.