Telsa's Full Self-Driving Is Now Exclusively Subscription Based

Tesla is changing how customers can purchase access to its Full Self-Driving software. The automaker is planning to end the option to purchase the tech outright and move exclusively to a monthly subscription model beginning February 14.

Until now, buyers could pay $8,000 upfront for FSD, or subscribe for $99 per month. After the change takes effect, the system will only be available as a subscription. Bloomberg reports Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced the change in strategy on X but did not explain why the company is abandoning the one-time purchase option.

It's possible the automaker doesn't actually get all that many takers for the upfront fee—at $99 monthly, it would take over 6 years to achieve payback compared to the $8,000 upfront fee. Some studies suggest Tesla buyers have the shortest ownership period, opting to sell or return their vehicles after 2.5 years of seat time.

Despite its name, Full Self-Driving does not make Tesla vehicles autonomous. Tesla promotes FSD as an advanced driver-assistance system capable of handling everything from lane changes to parking, though it still requires human supervision. The system has always struggled when conditions are less than ideal, and most people are really bad at paying attention once you let them off the hook.

Tesla has long maintained that its capabilities will improve over time through software updates, but it has also faced scrutiny over how the system is marketed and how drivers use it in real-world conditions.

Tesla has never disclosed how many customers have paid for FSD, either upfront or through subscriptions. Musk has admitted in the past that adoption has been limited, particularly when asked about retrofitting older vehicles during an earnings call last year. Some earlier Teslas lack the computing hardware needed to support newer versions of the software, making it costly and complex to upgrade them to the current spec.

Musk has increasingly pointed to software, autonomous driving, and future projects like robotaxis as central to Tesla’s long-term business strategy.

Full Self-Driving has drawn plenty of negative attention from regulators. California officials are reviewing whether Tesla’s branding and advertising overstate the system’s capabilities, an issue that could potentially lead to penalties or temporary restrictions on sales in the state.

Additionally, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received more than 50 complaints alleging that FSD “induced vehicle behavior that violated traffic safety laws.” The agency is looking at 58 separate cases, including 14 crashes and 23 injuries. Among the reports are multiple incidents of Teslas driving through red lights, making illegal lane changes, or colliding at intersections.

FSD was formally put under investigation when NHTSA began looking at 2.4 million Teslas after four collisions in low-visibility conditions such as fog, glare, and dust. One of those incidents was fatal. A modified version of FSD underpinds Tesla's Robotaxi service, which, unsurprisingly, has also caught the attention of NHTSA for poor driving standards, including several crashes in the service's first month of operation.

Unlike competitors that rely on lidar, radar, and camera fusion, Tesla's FSD uses cameras alone. The decision leaves the system vulnerable to blind spots and environmental factors. Regulators also don’t consider FSD to be a true self-driving system, as it still requires a human driver to remain alert and intervene when needed.

OUR TAKE: It was only a matter of time before this happened. The entire industry is working diligently to gatekeep access to software-defined services behind a paywall. In other words, you're being asked to pay monthly to use hardware you already paid for upfront when you purchased the vehicle. Awesome.

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