Tesla will raise the price of its “full self-driving” beta software, the automaker’s advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), in North America to $15,000 on September 5, CEO Elon Musk tweeted Sunday.
The celebrity executive said the current price of $12,000 will be honored for orders placed before Sept. 5 but delivered later. Musk also tweeted that Tesla owners can upgrade their existing car to FSD in two minutes. Musk did not say if there would be a planned price increase for the FSD subscription option, which drops to $199 per month.
This isn’t the first time Musk has raised the price of the controversial ADAS, and it likely won’t be the last. In January 2022, Tesla increased the cost of the one-time payment from $10,000 to $12,000. Last month, Musk said FSD is “absurdly cheap” given the high value of the service, the executive expects to actually deliver full autonomous capabilities, not just some automated driving features, by the end of this year.
There are about 100,000 vehicles equipped with FSD, a number that appears to have remained unchanged in the first half of the year. Despite its name, FSD doesn’t actually mean that cars can drive themselves — they require a human driver to stay alert and take control when necessary. That’s the distinction that led the California Department of Motor Vehicles recently accuse Tesla of falsely advertising its FSD and ADAS autopilot.
Musk also tweeted on Sunday that the price hike would happen after that FSD beta version 10.69.2, which Tesla began rolling out on Saturday, has been widely released. The latest version boasts upgrades such as improved unprotected left turns, a 17% improvement in speed error for pedestrians and cyclists, and a new “deep lane guidance” module for smoother lane changes.