- Tesla is making Full-Self Driving subscription only.
- It will cost $99 per month, which is more than rivals.
- The one-time purchase option goes away next month.
Tesla has become the latest automaker to embrace subscriptions for autonomous driving technology. In a social media post, CEO Elon Musk said the company will stop selling Full Self-Driving (Supervised) after Feb 14 and make it available exclusively as a subscription.
Musk didn’t elaborate, but Tesla’s website shows an FSD subscription will cost $99.00 per month. That’s notably more expensive than Rivian’s Autonomy+, which costs $49.99 per month or $2,500 as part of a one-time purchase. It provides Universal Hands-Free driving on more than 3.5 million miles (5,632,704 km) of roads in the United States and Canada.
More: Tesla’s Autopilot Under Fire Again After Motorcyclist Killed In Crash
FSD is also more expensive than Ford’s Blue Cruise, which costs $49.99 per month, $495 annually, or $2,495 as a one-time purchase.
GM, on the other hand, gives new vehicles three years of Super Cruise before they start charging. After that point, it costs $39.99 per month or $399.00 annually.
Pricing comparisons aside, Tesla had been charging $8,000 for Full Self-Driving. That’s the equivalent of almost 81 months, which is nearly seven years. As a result, the subscription model could benefit customers depending on how long they keep their vehicle.
We’ll likely learn more next month, but Tesla already offers subscriptions for customers who didn’t originally purchase the semi-autonomous driving system. It can be purchased through the Tesla app or the vehicle’s infotainment system.
Unfortunately for customers, FSD subscriptions aren’t refundable. As a result, if you’re less than impressed, you can only cancel and use the feature for the remainder of the billing period.
