--- title: "Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Costs as Much Per Month as Leasing an Entire Car" description: "Tesla is now offering its Full Self-Driving subscription, a semi-autnomous driving feature, for a cool $199 a month, a substantial amount of money." date: "2021-07-19" modified: "2021-07-19" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-full-self-driving-subscription" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Self-Driving Vehicles" - "Tesla" tags: - "elon musk" - "Self-driving cars" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Costs as Much Per Month as Leasing an Entire Car ![Tesla is now offering its Full Self-Driving subscription, a semi-autnomous driving feature, for a cool $199 a month, a substantial amount of money.]() *\Image: Tesla\* ## Full Self-Driving Subscription Tesla has officially launched a subscription for its "Full Self-Driving" (FSD) software suite — and it's not cheap. The add-on feature allows Teslas to change lanes, navigate complex traffic intersections, and be summoned from a distance. Previously, the feature could only be enabled for a one-time fee of $10,000. Now, Tesla is offering the same package for a cool $199 per month as well, [*Reuters* reports]() — or $99 for Tesla owners who already bought into the now-discontinued Enhanced Autopilot package. That's a substantial amount of money — about as much as you'd pay on a used car lease, in fact — especially considering the fact that the feature *still* won't allow Teslas to fully drive themselves, as the name suggests. ## Attentive Drivers While Level 5 autonomy — meaning a truly self-driving car — is on Tesla's roadmap, [according to *Electrek*,]() drivers still have to be ready to jump into action at a moment's notice even when the system is engaged. While announcing the new subscription service, Tesla reiterated that the features "do not make the vehicle autonomous," adding they "require a fully attentive driver, who has their hands on the wheel." Tesla vehicles will need to be equipped with the Full Self-Driving computer 3.0 or above. The cost to upgrade the hardware is $1,500. While it's a substantial step up from previous iterations of self-driving software, a future in which we are able to sit back and watch Netflix is still many years out — and it may remain a pricey option as well. **READ MORE:** [Tesla launches subscription service for advanced driver assistance software]() \[*Reuters*\] **More on Tesla:** *[Elon Musk Says the Cybertruck Might Flop But He Doesn’t Care]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()