Tesla has officially raised the price of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) package to $15,000, as CEO Elon Musk promised.
Is it worth $15,000?
For years now, Musk has stated that Tesla would keep gradually increasing the price of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) package as functionality improves leading to the actual final form of the product, which is, as its name suggests, the capacity to fully drive autonomously.
However, the feature hasn’t lived up to its name so far. It has been in beta for two years now, and it is still far from self-driving.
Technically, the system is able to both activate and attempt to drive in most areas, including across intersections, but the responsibility remains with the driver, who needs to be paying attention at all times and be ready to take control.
Many see the willingness to take responsibility for the system as the most important step companies developing self-driving systems can take toward achieving this goal.
Tesla has made it clear that it is not there yet and participating in the FSD Beta comes with a bunch of warnings that make it clear the responsibility is still with the driver.
But Tesla sees every new FSD update as a step closer to the goal, and it believes that some of those updates even warrant price increases for the package.
Last month, Musk warned that with the wider rollout of FSD Beta 10.69, Tesla would increase the price of the package from $12,000 to $15,000.
Today, Tesla updated its online configurator to reflect the change:
For the extra $3,000, the FSD package doesn’t have more features, but the “coming soon” “Autosteer on city streets,” which is currently in invite-only beta, is a little better with the latest update.
Is Tesla FSD Beta worth $15,000?
Of course, the quick answer is no. It’s absolutely wild that right now if you already have Enhanced Autopilot, the extra $9,000 for FSD gives you virtually nothing but the chance to maybe get access to FSD Beta, which itself is not a prize either.
But that’s not really what you are buying. Since Musk has made it clear that he believes true self-driving is worth a lot more than $15,000, he says that the price will keep going up leading to self-driving.
Therefore, buying FSD right now at $15,000 is more of a bet that Tesla will deliver true self-driving and that you are getting it at a discount over the final price right now.
However, that’s a bet because the path from what FSD Beta is right now to a self-driving system safe enough that Tesla would take responsibility for it is not clear.
It’s a bet that I made pre-FSD Beta day with a lot less information and fewer missed deadlines then. I also made the bet with $6,000, which is what FSD cost back then. I don’t know if I would make that bet now for $15,000.
Would you? Let us know in the comments section below.
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