Tesla is increasing the price of its “Full Self Driving” package for its entire lineup of electric vehicles. This is the second hike in less than six months. From $8,000, the price of the entire package has now gone up to $12,000, and will rise further, indicated Elon Musk.
Elon Musk sent out a few Tweets to indicate Tesla is jacking up the upfront payment for Full Self Driving by $2,000 on January 17, 2022. The price for the package is currently $10,000. The initial offer price for the feature, which is still in beta, was $9,000. Tesla had knocked off $1,000 in 2020. However, the price went up in October 2021 and will go up once again in January this year.
Tesla has scrapped its Public Relations Department. Hence, there’s no official channel or representative of the electric car-maker to corroborate the hike and the date on which the price for which Full Self Driving, will be hiked. Elon Musk’s Tweets are the only source of any news about the escalation.
Musk even confirmed through a Tweet that the price increase is limited to the United States of America. He added that the price will continue to increase as the feature nears a stable release. Simply put, despite Full Self Driving still being in beta, Tesla expects owners of its electric vehicles to pay a steep subscription fee.
It is interesting to note that Tesla is currently recalling 500,000 Model 3 and Model S electric cars over engineering issues. It has recently been pulled up by the NHTSA. Its Full Self Driving feature hasn’t yet received any formal production version release date. Moreover, even if the feature becomes production-ready, laws mandate a driver must be present in the driver’s seat and remain attentive at all times.