Tesla’s subscription pricing for its Full Self Driving (FSD) software is set to rise as the system’s functionality improves, according to comments made Thursday evening by CEO Elon Musk.
The remarks come as Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) prepares to phase out its long-standing one-time purchase option for FSD and transition fully to a subscription-only model. The service is currently offered at $99 per month, while customers can still buy FSD outright for $8,000 until February 14.
“The $99/month for supervised FSD will rise as FSD’s capabilities improve. The massive value jump is when you can be on your phone or sleeping for the entire ride (unsupervised FSD),” Musk said in a social media post.
Despite repeated promises over the years, Tesla has yet to outline a definitive timetable for the rollout of unsupervised FSD. The software continues to carry a “supervised” designation on Tesla’s website, following a series of lawsuits and heightened regulatory scrutiny over earlier claims regarding its autonomous driving capabilities.
Musk has consistently positioned artificial intelligence, robotics and autonomy as Tesla’s next major growth engines, as the company contends with a prolonged slowdown in vehicle sales within its core automotive business.
Tesla is currently conducting tests of its driverless robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, and has recently begun operating without a human safety monitor in the vehicle.
In a separate post, Musk said production of Tesla’s Cybercab — a two-seat, fully autonomous vehicle — is scheduled to begin in April. However, he has previously cautioned that early manufacturing of both the Cybercab and Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot will be “agonizingly slow.”