Tesla’s FSD plans and pricing have received much criticism over the years. From its sub par execution to its constant changes in price to its lack of available features, it seems everyone has something to complain about within the option.
Currently every Tesla built comes with basic Autopilot included. The industry leading adaptive cruise control system keeps you in your lane, will slow down and speed up for traffic, and monitor your surroundings. The feature is a must have with the common Tesla owner stating the majority of their miles have been driven while at the hands of Autopilot.
Full Self-Driving (FSD) is an addition to the Autopilot system. With this feature purchased, according to Tesla, one day your car will fully drive itself. Through Tesla’s constant improvements to the system through software updates, that may well one day be possible. Today however the features offered are limited. On top of the basic Autopilot features, it adds Autopark, Nav on Autopilot, and Summon.
- Autopark: Just like it sounds, your Tesla will have the option to park for you. Nothing revolutionary as many other vehicles offer this today.
- Nav on Autopilot: Arguably the first step to a self-driving future, Nav on Autopilot allows your vehicle to change lanes on highways, passing slow cars and even take exits all on its own.
- Summon: Don’t want to walk through a parking lot in the rain? Summon allows you to call your car over. It’ll back out of a parking space and navigate the lot to go find you. All with no one in the car!
Most recently, Tesla added a feature which enables stop sign and traffic light recognition. Nav on Autopilot for city streets will be the next step in evolving our vehicle landscape.
Apart from the naysayers, the largest complaint would have to be its price. At $7,000 Tesla’s FSD option certainly isn’t a bargain. The company defends its pricing and continues to increase it as we receive more and more features. Tesla’s end goal is to create a ride sharing network comprised of Robo-Taxis. They state that with your car in the self-driving program, you could earn ~$30,000 annually by doing nothing.
While that could very well come to fruition, owners today can’t justify the cost for minimal features, especially when basic Autopilot is already so good. Many have gone to suggest a subscription service instead. Cutting the cost drastically, owners would be on a monthly pay as you go plan. On a contract-less plan owners would be able to enable the features to make long road trips easier and pause payments once back to their daily schedule. The theoretical option seems to be a win win for everyone involved.
The idea might not be so far fetched as the popular Tesla hacker known as Green has shared insight.
there's code for pay as you go subscription plan, has been for quite a while. Waiting for that eventual time when it will make sense I am sure 😉
— green (@greentheonly) April 28, 2020
He states that this is by no means confirmation as things tend to come and go from the source code rapidly. However, the code mentioned is said to have been there for a while now. Green suggests it could be future-proofing of sorts with an eventual release.
Currently your FSD purchase can be made before or after taking delivery of the vehicle. However, the price is increased if you opt for the latter. The pre-purchase price has also been increasing with $2,000 added just in 2019. Elon Musk has stated the price will once again increase this July. Who knows, it could also be a good time to introduce a subscription plan as well.
