Tesla will raise the price on its models that feature the company's fully self-driving system by $1,000 from July, chief executive Elon Musk tweeted yesterday.
"The FSD price will continue to rise as the software gets closer to full self-driving capability with regulatory approval. It that point, the value of FSD is probably somewhere in excess of $100,000," Musk also said in the tweet.
Roadshow reports the current price for the full self-driving package is about $7,000, adding that Tesla last raised the price of models with that package last August. At the time, the price increase was again $1,000.
Even earlier, in July 2019, Musk said, in a string of tweets, that Teslas could become not a little, but a lot more expensive once they were equipped with complete self-driving capabilities.
"All HW2+ cars are upgradable to full self-driving capability with Tesla FSD computer & all production in past few months has FSD computer," Musk said at the time.
"HW2" refers to the Tesla system that enables full self-driving functionality in the cars.
"Production fully switched over ~3 months ago. Functionality won't diverge until Q4, as it's limited by software validation. Will be later for Europe compared to rest of world due to regulatory constraints that were put in place years ago by big ICE companies."
For clarification, the so-called FSD system does not turn a Tesla into an autonomous vehicle. The system works in tandem with the infamous Autopilot system that has been blamed by drivers for several crashes involving Teslas over the last few years. Currently, the FSD system allows for automatic lane changing, parking assistance, a summon feature, and automatic control of traffic light and stop signals.
The next feature to be added to the system is automatic steering.
According to Musk, the Autopilot system will be advanced enough to drive alone from one location to another by the end of this year.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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Comments
Of course, they will need a few years to catch up with Musk and his Tesla motors. But I would bet money they eventually will. Although the USA, Japan, and the EU might not allow the Chinese to destroy their entire auto industry, along with millions of jobs.
Now I see the administration is trying to destroy Huawei by prohibiting many US companies from doing business with them, you have to figure the Chinese will soon hit back, HARD. So get ready for a big mess.
The driver still need to fully pay attention - the same as with autopilot in aviation.
Automatically stopping at stop signs and traffic lights is quite amazing too.
Monthly over-the-air updates provide constant continuous improvement.
The increase in price is worth it for those of us who appreciate how advanced it is and how much it adds to driver and passenger safety. Likely not so for those looking for a final, polished product; that’s still 2-5 years off.