Regardless of how you feel about the tech, the truth has always been that Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature has been ridiculously expensive. The good news now, at least for Tesla owners, is that the automaker recently cut the price by 25 percent, making it significantly less expensive, though it’ll still add thousands to a new vehicle’s bottom line.
FSD now costs $8,000, down from $12,000, and the monthly subscription price is $99 instead of $199. The price for buyers who already had Enhanced Autopilot dropped from $6,000 to $2,000. While notable, the price cuts bring FSD back to around the price it was when it was introduced, but it’s nice that it no longer costs $15,000 as it did in late 2022.
Tesla recently removed the “beta” tag from FSD on its website and added clearer language that it requires continuous driver attention to function safely. Though it has clearly progressed over the years, FSD is still limited to Level 2 autonomy and can’t be used without a driver ready to take control at any time.
The automaker has been under fire in recent years over its drivers’ penchant for abusing the technology, including several high-profile crashes and a few fatal accidents. Calling something “full self-driving” is likely part of the problem, as the name implies that the car can handle itself, but there is also a need to monitor drivers to make sure they aren’t taking advantage of loopholes in the systems, such as faking hand contact with the wheel while reading a book or fiddling with their phones.
[Image: Shutterstock]
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