Tesla is set to increase the price of its Full Self-Driving feature by $1,000 USD (about $1,320 CAD as of writing), beginning on November 1, 2019. The news was sent out by company CEO Elon Musk on Twitter last night.
“Now that Tesla V10.0 with Smart Summon is out, Full Self-Driving price will increase by $1000 on Nov 1,” said Musk.
Now that Tesla V10.0 with Smart Summon is out, Full Self-Driving price will increase by $1000 on Nov 1
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 12, 2019
Full Self-Driving (FSD) currently is a $7,900 CAD option in Canada; after the increase it should go up to about $9,220 CAD or so, based on exchange rates. The feature currently allows for “automatic driving from highway on-ramp to off-ramp including interchanges and overtaking slower cars,” along with “Autopark” and “Summon”. In the future, Tesla says FSD will be able to “recognize and respond to traffic lights and stop signs,” and allow for “automatic driving on city streets.”
Tesla released Smart Summon in Canada yesterday, for Tesla owners running the company’s V10 software update. Smart Summon allows a Tesla to drive to its owner in a parking lot, controlled via the Tesla mobile app.
When a reply to Musk asked, “How will your goal of making the most affordable electric car for the masses be achieved if over the long run the cost will continue increasing as FSD keeps improving?”, the Tesla CEO responded:
“When the car is FSD without supervision, ie robotaxi, you’ll be able to earn far more than monthly lease/loan cost by allowing others to use it. Managing a small fleet of robotaxis will be a career for many & much better than driving a single car.”
Another response asked, “Please consider giving all us early adopters who paid more for our cars basic autopilot/adaptive cruise without having to pay another $3K! Why should someone who bought a Tesla in 2019 get this included, while someone who bought in 2018 at a higher price have to pay $3K more?”
Musk shot back to say, “Tesla cannot continue to lose money. To achieve our goal of environmental sustainability, Tesla must be financially sustainable or we will cease to exist.”
