Tesla officially raises price of FSD by as much as 50%

Tesla increases the price of FSD

DirtyTesla/YouTube

Tesla has officially raised the price of its FSD package to $15,000 in the U.S. Elon Musk announced on August 21st that the price of FSD would be increasing on September 5th, after the release of FSD Beta 10.69.2.

Although Tesla has yet to release FSD Beta 10.69.2, the current beta, 10.69.1.1 has started going out to additional testers.

The FSD package increased by $3,000 in the U.S., a 25% increase, while in Canada it has also increased, but by a much larger percentage. FSD in Canada now costs $19,500 CAD, up a whopping 50%.

This is the second price increase of FSD this year. In January Tesla also raised the price of FSD to $12,000, up from $10,000 (historical prices of FSD). FSD has seen significant increases in the last few years. In April 2019 FSD cost only $5,000, but it saw several price increases that year.

Tesla introduced FSD Beta in Canada in March of this year with FSD Beta 10.11.1.

We can expect similar price increases in other regions as Tesla rolls out FSD Beta to Europe later this year.

The price of Enhanced Autopilot, which Tesla recently reintroduced in the U.S. stayed the same at $6,000, however, in Canada it also saw a price hike. EAP now costs $7,800 in Canada.

Not surprising, many Tesla owners are unpleased with the price increase, considering that city-level Autopilot is still not widely available and requires being accepted into Tesla's beta program.

Without being enrolled in the FSD Beta program, FSD only grants access to Traffic lights and Stop Sign Control in addition to the capabilities of Basic Autopilot, and Enhanced Autopilot. All new Teslas include Basic Autopilot, which includes Traffic-Aware Cruise Control (TACC) and lane keeping. Enhanced Autopilot, a $6,000 option, adds several key features such as Navigate on Autopilot, Auto Lane Change, Autopark, Summon, and Smart Summon.

Beta 10.69.1.1 has been going out to more testers and is currently on about 7% of all tester vehicles., with another few percent having a pending install. Elon projects FSD Beta 10.69.2 to release by the end of this week. FSD Beta is still expected to become widely available to everyone that has purchased or subscribed to FSD before the end of the year.

Tesla Is Now Offering Cybertruck Test Drives [List of Locations]

@brandonhd

Tesla has begun to reach out to customers in the United States and is offering demo drives of the Cybertruck on an invite-only basis. @brandonhd on X shared the first invite image, and it looks like it's going out quite quickly to multiple locations that have Cybertrucks on display.

Up until now, display vehicles have been for just that – looking, but no touching. Some Tesla delivery centers and showrooms have also allowed viewers to take a seat inside and open it up, but most are still locked away behind the velvet rope.

It’s exciting to see that Tesla has begun to demo them – and it can only be so long until demo drives open up to everyone.

Advisor-led Demo

This Demo Drive is led by a Tesla Advisor – while you’re driving, the advisor will be in the passenger seat, walking you through the experience. They’ll explain steer-by-wire, off-road controls, and will introduce new-to-Tesla buyers to all the features that are currently available.

Once FSD V12.5 comes to the Cybertruck, we’re sure they’ll be demoing its capabilities FSD capabilities as well.

Locations

The list of locations so far for demo drives appears to be fairly limited, but we will hopefully see demo drives roll out throughout the United States, and eventually Canada too. Here is the current list of city/state locations that have seen demo drive invites.

• Manhasset, New York

• West Covina, California

• Los Angeles, California

• Houston, Texas

• Orlando, Florida

• Westmont, Illinois

• Tucson, Arizona

• Phoenix, Arizona

• Delaware

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Musk Confirms 'Actually Smart Summon' is Coming in a Revision of FSD V12.5

Not a Tesla App

Actually Smart Summon, the successor to Tesla’s Smart Summon feature, has been confirmed to be coming as soon as next month as per Elon Musk. Colloquially known as “ASS”, Actually Smart Summon is supposed to improve on the regular Smart Summon capabilities, which have historically used ultrasonic sensors (USS) to navigate parking lots.

We’re looking forward to Actually Smart Summon, and we’re quite excited about what other features will be unlocked once it finally shows up at our doorstep.

Vision-based Improvements

ASS is supposed to bring Smart Summon to vehicles that don’t have USS – using Tesla Vision. Most recently, Tesla has brought Autopark to vehicles without USS, and Vision-based Autopark has been a huge success. It is faster, more reliable, and smoother than the older USS-based solution. It can also park and maneuver in tighter locations.

Just recently, Tesla returned the Model X’s self-presenting doors, using Tesla Vision. Vision has seen some fantastic improvements, and many people are waiting for ASS to bring forth these improvements to Smart Summon.

Smart Summon Today

Today, Smart Summon is sometimes useful at best, usually a party trick, or downright dangerous at worst. It’s excellent and best used in straight lines, where you have a clear line of sight of the vehicle, and can stop it if doesn’t see an obstacle.

I used Smart Summon today, just before writing this article – my 2022 Model Y (with USS) – did manage to show up just fine – in a straight-line location from where I was parked, after exiting the parking spot fairly cleanly. However, I’ve previously used Smart Summon and have had the vehicle turn towards obstacles, such as cart returns or curbs. Overall, it’s a sometimes-useful feature that has a lot of drawbacks right now.

Smart Summon is also restricted to a certain distance – and it's pretty small. The max distance is shorter than most parking lots, being only about 215 ft (65m). If you’re lucky enough to park close, it's very useful to bring your car right to you.

Actually Smart Summon

ASS will bring FSD V12-like capabilities to Smart Summon – the vehicle will primarily use Vision to drive toward you (or the location you’ve indicated). ASS has been supposed to be coming since about September 2022 and has seen many delays – we’re almost at the 2-year point today.

We’re looking forward to Actually Smart Summon being able to bring the vehicle – safely – right to you. ASS is also one of the key steps towards bringing some other cool features that Elon Musk has previously mentioned – Park Seek and Banish Autopark.

We’re also hopeful that Actually Smart Summon will increase the maximum range a vehicle can be summoned, because the current range is fairly small. Alongside Park Seek and Banish Autopark, we’re closing in on a Robotaxi-based future.

Park Seek and Banish Autopark

When the FSD v12.4 showed up, Elon also mentioned that going forward, vehicles would automatically park themselves when arriving in a parking lot – Park Seek – and that if you got out of the car at the entrance to a business, you could get it to automatically park itself in the parking lot – Banish Autopark. These are two features that are needed for Robotaxi to work – which itself is delayed to October 10^th of this year. We’re looking quite forward to them – as in combination with Actually Smart Summon, Tesla has reached the cusp of vehicle autonomy.

A vehicle that arrives, driverless, at the location you’re at, then drives somewhere, parks itself there, and waits for you – is the definition of a Robotaxi.

While we’re likely to have to wait for Banish Autopark and Park Seek just a bit longer, Actually Smart Summon being around the corner is exciting! Gone will be the days of having to run out to your car when you forgot your umbrella – your car will just come right to you instead.

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