--- title: "Tesla’s Jacking Up the Cost of Its Unfinished Self-Driving Feature Again" description: "Tesla is jacking up the price of its still unfinished and misleadingly named Full Self-Driving (FSD) software yet again from $12,000 to $15,000." date: "2022-08-22" modified: "2022-08-22" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/teslas-self-driving-cost-increase-again" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Self-Driving Vehicles" - "Tesla" tags: - "elon musk" - "full self-driving" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Tesla’s Jacking Up the Cost of Its Unfinished Self-Driving Feature Again ![Tesla is jacking up the price of its still unfinished and misleadingly named Full Self-Driving (FSD) software yet again from $12,000 to $15,000.]() *\Image: Win McNamee/Getty Images\* ## Price Hike Tesla is jacking up the price of its still unfinished — and misleadingly named — Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature, yet again. According to [a tweet]() by CEO Elon Musk, the company will hike the price of the controversial software add-on from $12,000 to $15,000, a substantial price increase that will make it even more difficult to justify, especially for those just entering the electric vehicle market. The decision shines an even brighter spotlight on the project, which in principle has immense promise but which has struggled to deliver on Musk's [outsize promises]() — and caused the automaker [endless headaches](), [safety issues](), and [brand perception challenges](). ## Aim Bot FSD extends the capabilities of the car company's Autopilot driver assistance package by adding features like "Traffic and Stop Sign Control" and "Navigate on Autopilot," which can take over most driving duties — as long as the driver keeps their hands on the wheel at all times, ready to take over if it screws up. That's crucially important because the software is still far from perfect, as several beta testers have demonstrated in shocking [videos](). Federal regulators like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are also starting to pay attention, with feds [currently investigating]() the company's driver assistance features for being involved in dozens of collisions on public roads. ## Floodgates With a [wider and wider deployment](), Tesla is gearing up to have access to FSD in the hands of pretty much anybody willing to pay for it. "We’re still tracking very much to have widespread deployment of FSD Beta this year in North America," Musk said at the [company's annual shareholder meeting]() earlier this month. "So I should say basically, FSD will be available to anyone who requests it by the end of this year." While regulators are starting to become wary of Tesla's decision to test out its unfinished software on public roads, the company maintains that it's safer than having humans in charge. "Autopilot prevents around 40 crashes a day where human drivers mistakenly press the accelerator at 100 percent instead of the brakes," Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s director of Autopilot software, [tweeted]() over the weekend. **READ MORE:** [Elon Musk says Tesla will hike the price of FSD driver assistance software by 25% in September]() \[*CNBC*\] **More on Full Self-Driving:** [*California Wants Tesla to Stop Calling Half-Finished System "Full Self-Driving"*]() ## 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]()