Following several changes, it looks like Tesla is pushing hard to sell its Enhanced Autopilot package lately.
Now we learn that Tesla is offering a discount on the Autopilot package as part of a new trial.
As we reported last week, Tesla increased the price of the Enhanced Autopilot package when bought after delivery from $6,000 to $7,000.
The move appears to have the goal to incentivize buyers to order Tesla’s cars with the feature for $5,000 instead of waiting to order later after delivery.
While Tesla increased the price of the upgrade after delivery, it looks like buyers will have the opportunity to avoid the price increase and even get the feature for cheaper than the original $6,000 price.
Tesla has launched a new round of 30-day Autopilot trials and on its website, the company says that Tesla owners will have the opportunity to buy the package for $5,500 at the end of the trial.
“During your trial, this upgrade is available to purchase at the reduced price of $5,500. One week after your trial ends, the price of Enhanced Autopilot will return to $7,000.”
The automaker first started to roll out Autopilot trials in 2016 to increase the take-rate of the driver assist features.
It was a rare example of an automaker using over-the-air update capability to sell and promote new features.
After 2016, Tesla appeared to have stopped using this strategy, but it brought it back in August with new free over-the-air Autopilot trials to boost usage and sales of the system.
But now this new round of trials is associated with a discount at $5,500
Earlier this year, Tesla also briefly brought the price down to the same level for a few weeks before bringing it back up to $6,000 and to $7,000 last week.
The new round of Autopilot trials also comes as Tesla is releasing new features, like Navigate on Autopilot, that the automaker has long-promised with its Enhanced Autopilot package.
Electrek’s Take
With the new features being released, Enhanced Autopilot is starting to be worth the $5,000.
Like Seth discussed on the last episode of the Electrek Podcast, he has the option to go on an upcoming road trip with his Tesla vehicle with Autopilot, his Model X, or his Tesla Model 3 without Autopilot, which has more range and would result in fewer stops to charge.
He is currently leaning toward the car with Autopilot just because of how convenient it is:
Tesla knows that the Enhanced Autopilot package is starting to be attractive to customers and it is trying to convince the many owners on its fleet who bought cars without ordering it over the last two years.
Considering Tesla includes all the necessary hardware for its Autopilot features in all its vehicles, the automaker has a vested interest in buyers ordering cars with the package.
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