Tesla has reduced the price of its controversial “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) software by a third, which has just been deployed more widely for all eligible drivers across the Atlantic.
That’s it, after lowering the price of the Full Self-Driving subscription a few days ago, Tesla has also just reduced its purchase price. It now costs $8,000 in the United States, compared to no less than $12,000 previously. The automaker also reduced the cost in Canada, where FSD software now sells for 11,000 Canadian dollars instead of 16,000 Canadian dollars previously.
The $4,000 price cut comes as Tesla doubles down on its self-driving efforts, despite years of delays, growing regulatory scrutiny and Elon Musk’s bombastic promises about self-driving robotaxis, which don’t were not held. We should also know a little more about this subject next summer, Tesla having announced a conference dedicated to this subject.
Full Self-Driving finally becomes more affordable
The price drop for fully autonomous driving functionality does not happen at any time. “ This appears to be a direct attempt to generate more software-related revenue during a difficult time for the company said Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst at Guidehouse Insights. “ Lowering the upfront cost reduces friction for customers who want to add this feature “.
The price adjustment comes days after Tesla reported disappointing first-quarter delivery numbers and announced plans to lay off about 10% of its salaried staff. Pricing pressure has also intensified as Tesla and other automakers have embarked on significant price reductions for their electric cars.
For current owners who purchased the “Enhanced Autopilot” bundle for $6,000, Tesla now offers an upgrade to FSD for just $2,000, down from $6,000. The company has also removed the Enhanced Autopilot option for new buyers.
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Fully autonomous driving is not yet quite ready
Despite its name, the FSD system does not make Tesla vehicles fully autonomous. The system is considered a level 2 driving aid which still requires human supervision. Tesla even recently started calling it “Supervised Full Self-Driving” to better reflect its current capabilities.
At the end of March, the automaker released a revised version of the FSD system, which Elon Musk called “mind-blowing.” The v12 update leverages neural networks trained on massive amounts of real-world driving data to theoretically improve the software’s performance and decision-making. Hundreds of thousands of lines of code written by Tesla developers were replaced.
To showcase the revamped system, Tesla offered all existing owners a free month trial in April. It is plausible that the price drop is therefore aimed at converting some of these users into paying customers. “ The new price drop, coupled with the free trial period, gives Tesla an opportunity to offer more owners a hands-on experience with the updated system, at a time when interest may be heightened “, noted Abuelsamid.
For now, the software remains a premium option intended to assist human drivers rather than replace them entirely, even though Tesla has seemed determined to release Level 4 or 5 autonomous driving software for several years now. It now remains to be seen what the American giant could present during its Robotaxis conference, which will be held on August 8.