Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ Will Jump to $12,000 and the Only Winner Is Tesla
Musk announced the price hike on Twitter and owners have pushed back accordingly.
Tesla's "Full Self-Driving" package will probably never achieve what its name implies. Its lack of sensor redundancy renders it incapable of overcoming misinterpretations of its camera feed, hence, Tesla has admitted to the state of California that FSD Beta will only ever be an SAE Level 2 automated driving assist. Tesla still doesn't plan on changing the suite's name, however, and will soon raise the price on FSD for a second time.
The change was announced in a tweet thread by CEO Elon Musk, who declared Tesla would increase the software's price from $10,000 to $12,000 in the United States on January 17. Musk added in a reply that "FSD price will rise as we get closer to FSD production code release," an event which is already years overdue, and one which experts in the field of vehicular autonomy are skeptical Tesla can achieve with its pared-back sensor suite.
FSD Beta's last price increase came in October 2020 when "beta" software became accessible to the public, whom Tesla warned FSD would be unstable. This followed a promise by Musk that FSD would instead be made available as a subscription by the end of 2020.
The replies on Twitter were understandably tense with several previous FSD purchasers pushing back. Some argued that they never got the tech they were promised when Tesla initially charged far less for the package, and others asked if this price increase would take effect in other markets. Another ongoing complaint is that FSD goes with the car when selling a used Tesla, so if you purchase it for one vehicle, you must then purchase it again for the next.
Musk does say that new versions of FSD Beta are coming with improved features, though we've seen previous updates cause problems and even a voluntary rollback by Tesla. Drivers voiced serious concerns with the package's 10.3 version, so Tesla reverted to 10.2 and issued a quick fix as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration watched closely.
In a tweet reply, Musk claimed FSD Beta 10.9 should be ready sometime in the next week.
Nevertheless, this doesn't seem like a positive for anyone but Tesla as it attempts to beat last year's financials in 2022. A company can't be blamed for targeting higher profits alone, but unless it offers legitimate improvements to warrant the higher price, it's not good business; rather, it's just good for business.
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