Tesla Will ‘Substantially’ Raise the Price of Its Self-Driving Option

You might want to act quickly if you’re determined to get a Tesla vehicle with self-driving capability.

By Jon Fingas Apr 15, 2019
Sjoerd | Getty Images via engadget

This story originally appeared on Engadget

You might want to act quickly if you’re determined to get a Tesla vehicle with self-driving capability. Elon Musk has warned that the price of the Full Self-Driving package will “increase substantially over time,” starting with a hike on May 1st. He didn’t give a ballpark of his own, but said it would be “something like” the $3,000 suggested by one Twitter follower. It currently costs $5,000 to add the (eventual) full autonomy when ordering a car, and $7,000 if you want it later.

The increase comes on the heels of Tesla making Autopilot standard and won’t exactly thrill buyers who can’t buy before May. However, there is a reason for the move: Tesla is showing off its next-gen driverless technology, which comes in tandem with a new computer, at an investor meeting on April 22nd. The company appears to have a better sense of the price of autonomy now that it’s closer to becoming a practical reality, and it’s passing that cost along to newer customers.

There is good news: Tesla still intends to upgrade existing Full Self-Driving buyers to the newer hardware, and Musk expects the upgrades to happen in “a few months.” You won’t be hosed if you buy a car now — you might just have to get the feature later than people buying cars with the latest hardware installed at the factory.

You might want to act quickly if you’re determined to get a Tesla vehicle with self-driving capability. Elon Musk has warned that the price of the Full Self-Driving package will “increase substantially over time,” starting with a hike on May 1st. He didn’t give a ballpark of his own, but said it would be “something like” the $3,000 suggested by one Twitter follower. It currently costs $5,000 to add the (eventual) full autonomy when ordering a car, and $7,000 if you want it later.

The increase comes on the heels of Tesla making Autopilot standard and won’t exactly thrill buyers who can’t buy before May. However, there is a reason for the move: Tesla is showing off its next-gen driverless technology, which comes in tandem with a new computer, at an investor meeting on April 22nd. The company appears to have a better sense of the price of autonomy now that it’s closer to becoming a practical reality, and it’s passing that cost along to newer customers.

There is good news: Tesla still intends to upgrade existing Full Self-Driving buyers to the newer hardware, and Musk expects the upgrades to happen in “a few months.” You won’t be hosed if you buy a car now — you might just have to get the feature later than people buying cars with the latest hardware installed at the factory.

The rest of this article is locked.

Join Entrepreneur+ today for access.

Subscribe Now

Already have an account? Sign In

Jon Fingas is an associate editor at Engadget.

Related Content