Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted Friday that the electric car maker will increase the US price of its advanced driver assistant software, called “Full Self Driving,” to $12,000 on Jan. 17.
The 20% price hike comes less than two years after Tesla raised Full Self-Driving (FSD) prices from $8,000 in 2020.
“Tesla FSD price rises to $12k on January 17. US only.” Musk tweeted. Also, “the FSD price will increase as we get closer to the release of the FSD production code.”
Tesla has expanded the release of enhanced FSD driver assistance features, such as automatic lane changes and cornering, but the features do not make the vehicles autonomous. As we always point out, the name “Full Self-Driving” is misleading. The same goes for Autopilot. These are not legitimate SAE Level 4 autonomy programs and should not be trusted.
The Verge reports that the new FSD v. 10.3 – which is still in beta – has an “Assertive Mode” that allows the system to roll through stop signs and perform other sketchy driving maneuvers. This is a version that was originally released in October, but was rolled back two days later due to, among other things, performance when turning left at traffic lights.
Regarding the “Assertive” mode, Tesla notes that “in this profile, your Model X has a shorter headway, changes lanes more often, doesn’t leave passing lanes, and may make rolling stops.”
Rolling stops are illegal, camping in the left lane is also illegal in many states, and tailgating is always a bad idea.
Contains material from Reuters