Elon Musk on Twitter has said Tesla will launch the FSD subscription service in Q2 2021. This might coincide with the wide release of the FSD beta currently only available for customers in Tesla's early access program.
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For a while, Tesla has been teasing the rollout of the company’s subscription service for autopilot full self-driving functionality. However, now in a Twitter response to Whole Mars Catalog Elon Musk has given a definitive timeline for when the service will launch.
According to Musk Tesla will definitely launch the service in Q2 of this year. However, Musk doesn’t believe the subscription service will be a good deal in the long term. At least, he doesn’t believe so when compared to outright buying FSD.
On Tesla’s Q1 2020 earnings call Musk said “buying FSD is an investment in the future. And we are confident that it is an investment that will pay off to the consumer”.
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Tesla’s chief financial officer Zackery Kirkhorn also seems to agree. On the same earnings call Kirkhorn said “financially, rolling the upfront purchase of the FSD option into a loan in the vehicle or a lease will be the least expensive plan on a monthly basis to own.”
Still, it is nice to have a definitive launch date for the service. Especially considering how Tesla has already delayed the launch of the service. Elon Musk in the past had “we will offer Full Self-Driving as a subscription service, but it will be probably towards the end of this year” referring to end of 2020.
As of now Tesla or Musk haven’t shared any clue on how the FSD subscription service will work. However, there are a couple of obvious options. One is a monthly payment as the company already does with its premium connectivity package. Or two Tesla could also offer a service where customers subscribe for a predetermined mile on autopilot.
On top of not knowing how the subscription service will work and how much it will cost, it’s also not clear if customers will be able to lock down the subscription price. As Tesla improves the FSD software and releases more functionality it would make sense the company would raise prices.
The launch of the subscription service could also be a sign when Tesla plans to roll out the new full self-driving capability. Currently, customers in Tesla’s early access program have access to a fundamentally better version of the autopilot software.
On top of the FSD features that can be purchased for $8,000 by anyone, the software that has been rolled out to members of the early access program has the ability to handle intersections, traffic lights, roundabouts and can also do unprotected left turns.
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And given, as Musk put it, the quantum leap in FSD that is the new software, it would make sense Tesla will roll out the new FSD software to the wider public with the release of the FSD subscription.
So what do you think? Are you excited about the FSD subscription service? Will any of you be getting the option? Also, do you think Tesla will make the FSD beta available to the wider public with the subscription service? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments below.
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Tinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and The evolution of the EV space on a daily basis for several years. He covers everything about Tesla from the cars to Elon Musk, the energy business, and autonomy. Follow Tinsae on Twitter at @TinsaeAregay for daily Tesla news.
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