Tesla raises price of "Full Self-Driving" software to $12,000
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"Tesla FSD price rising to $12k on Jan 17. Just in the US," tweeted Elon Musk on Saturday. "FSD price will rise as we get closer to FSD production code release."
The premium driver assistance package, marketed as "Full Self-Driving," or FSD, currently costs $10,000 up-front, or $199 per month for most customers. "Monthly subscription price will rise when FSD goes to wide release," Musk added in the tweet thread. Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) began testing FSD in Beta in October 2020, when it was priced at $8,000 for a select group of customers, but increased the price to $10,000 shortly thereafter. Electric vehicle reset as auto giants GM, Ford and Volkswagen charge in.


Flashback from May 2020: "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."
Tesla's (TSLA) Full-Self Driving option includes standard Autopilot functions (automatic emergency braking, forward collision warning, lane keeping and adaptive cruise control), as well as sophisticated features like automatic lane-changing, stop light recognition and "Smart Summon." Most importantly, it does not yet allow cars to drive themselves automatically despite the name. What could go wrong in the electric vehicle revolution? Not enough lithium.


More commentary: Musk recently talked about FSD on the Lex Fridman Podcast, saying it's "looking quite likely" that Tesla (TSLA) will "solve Level 4 FSD" in 2022. "Anyone who's been following the Full-Self Driving beta closely will see that the rate of disengagements has been dropping rapidly. There's engagement B where the driver intervenes to prevent the car from doing something dangerous, potentially. The interventions per million miles have been dropping dramatically... I think it's got to be at least two or three times better, higher safety than a human. Two or three times lower probability of injury than a human before we would actually say, 'okay, it's okay to go.' Itâs not going to be equivalent, it's going to be much better."