Tesla ends Autopilot, moves steering into FSD with $99/month option

Tesla has discontinued its Autopilot branding and is moving lane-keeping and steering into its Full Self-Driving (FSD) product, with the company shifting to a subscription-based payment model in response to recent regulatory pressure in California. California regulators told Tesla it had 60 days to resolve allegedly deceptive marketing or face a sales suspension; some observers expected a simple renaming of Autopilot, but Tesla chose to place steering behind FSD.

The company said new buyers who want a Tesla that will steer itself while they pay attention to the road will need to purchase FSD. For now, buyers can pay a one-time $8,000 fee until the middle of February, but starting on February 14 that option will no longer be available and the sole choice will be a $99/month FSD subscription.

The article said the $99 price may not last: Musk revealed on his social media platform that “the $99/month for supervised FSD will rise as FSD’s capabilities improve,” and that the “massive value jump” will come with unsupervised FSD when users could be on their phone or sleeping.

The move fits a wider industry push for recurring revenue—General Motors has dropped Apple CarPlay and Android Automotive and BMW has experimented with subscriptions—and the article noted that falling profit margins, declining sales, and the loss of emissions credits make regular cash infusions attractive for automakers.

Key Topics

Business, Tesla, Full Self-driving, Autopilot, California, Elon Musk