Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, has announced a 25% price hike for the company's top-of-the-line driver assistance system, known as Full Self-Driving.
On September 5, Musk announced the price rise to $US21,760 from $US12,000 in a tweet. For FSD, Tesla now charges consumers an upfront fee of $12,000 or a subscription fee of $199 per month.
Tesla
A standard driving assistance package dubbed Autopilot, which includes functions like Traffic-Aware Cruise Control and Autosteer, is included with all brand-new Tesla vehicles.
These automatically maintain a Tesla vehicle centered in its lane and moving at the pace of oncoming traffic by using cameras, other sensors, hardware, and software.
One of the features of Tesla's most expensive driver assistance package, FSD, is what the firm refers to as Traffic and Stop Sign Control and Navigate on Autopilot.
The goal of these more sophisticated capabilities is to enable Tesla cars to automatically recognize and slow down for traffic signs and signals, travel from an on-ramp to an off-ramp on a highway while using turn signals, and change lanes and exits.
While using Autopilot or FSD, Tesla advises users to pay close attention and be ready to take control of their vehicles' steering and brakes at any time. Tesla automobiles are not autonomous thanks to its technology.
One Tesla function called Smart Summon enables users to summon their car from across a parking lot and have it gently travel to where they are standing without anyone being in the driver's seat.
Even while Enhanced Autopilot, or EAP, a less expensive option, offers some FSD functions as well, only Tesla customers who purchase or subscribe to the premium option are eligible to seek access to FSD Beta, an unfinished version of the company's software.
To gain and keep access to the FSD Beta system, users are required to maintain a good Safety Score with Tesla.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the California Department of Motor Vehicles have both criticized Tesla's strategy and are conducting regulatory investigations.
Musk also tweeted on Sunday that the business is moving forward and releasing the most recent version of FSD Beta to a select group of users.
He had stated on Twitter that the rollout would be especially cautious because of the several significant code modifications. releasing on August 20 to about 1000 Tesla owners, followed by releases of 10.69.1 and 10.69.2 for the remainder of the FSD Beta the following week to address consumer feedback.
Owners with access to FSD Beta can use their vehicles to communicate feedback to the firm when the technology malfunctions or exhibits glitches. 100,000 drivers have reportedly already installed FSD Beta, according to Tesla.
Tesla intends to further popularize FSD Beta.
On August 4, Musk announced that FSD Beta will be made available to everyone who requests it by the end of this year at the Tesla 2022 annual shareholder meeting. Here is an excerpt from the meeting's transcript provided by Thomson Financial:
“We’re still tracking very much to have widespread deployment of FSD Beta this year in North America. So I should say basically, FSD will be available to anyone who requests it by the end of this year.”
Among those who are receiving the limited-release update this weekend are widely followed social media influencers who sell Tesla merchandise and run ad-supported videos on YouTube channels where they review Tesla’s latest releases and more.