Tesla just halved the cost of its autonomous driving tech in a bid to improve it
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Tesla has reduced the monthly subscription cost of its Full Self-Driving technology in a bid to boost uptake. The system, which can be specified for a one-off fee of $12,000 (or £6,800 in the UK and AU$10,100 in Australia) was also offered on a monthly subscription package in the US, which was originally priced at $199.
The company recently took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce that the price had been slashed in half, with owners able to initiate the technology through a simple software upgrade via the infotainment system.
Full Self-Driving, which is billed as a more advanced version of Tesla’s Autopilot highly automated cruise control, is able to recognize traffic lights, stops signs and other road furniture and adjust its course and speed without driver input.
You can now subscribe to FSD (Supervised) for $99/month in the UShttps://t.co/0IwC9GC0aF Upgrades > Software Upgrades > SubscribeApril 12, 2024
However, the system is far from perfect and there are a number of ongoing investigations and legal cases that are looking into crashes that occurred when the FSD system was activated. In order to combat some of the negative press, Tesla has reworded a lot of the material surrounding the technology, adding “supervised” to the Full Self-Driving moniker.
This is in reference to the fact that drivers must be paying attention at all times when using the technology, further reiterating that ultimate responsibly rests with the person behind the wheel.
Tesla’s recent quarterly financial update revealed that the number of vehicles it delivered was down for the first time in years, signaling that the EV-maker is looking at other ways to increase revenue, including through software subscriptions like FSD.
Analysis: Software is the new hardware
Elon Musk has been very open about his views on high levels of autonomous driving in the future, believing that owners will one day be able to make revenue from their inactive vehicles.
In addition to this, he also confirmed rumors that we will see a Robotaxi unveiled in the summer, further ramming home the fact that Tesla is pushing ever more towards the mobility sector, rather than focusing on its current personal electric vehicle model.
Rumors also circulated last week that Tesla was even ditching plans for a ‘more affordable’ Model 2, which was destined to cost around $25,000 and compete directly with a vast swathe of cheap Chinese EV rivals.
The slashing of Full Self-Driving subscriptions is a good indicator that Musk is desperate to get more owners using the technology, providing its AI “end-to-end neural nets” with the data they need to improve the system and therefore convince both customers and legislators that it is reliable and, perhaps more importantly, safe to use.
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