As the features of Tesla's Full Self Driving (FSD) option have improved over time, Tesla has also increased the cost of the package.
FSD was priced at $5,000 in April of 2019, and its cost has slowly increased to the current $12,000. The last price increase was in January 2022.
While many drivers find the included Autopilot (the stripped-down version of FSD) feature to be sufficient for their daily highway driving needs, one can’t deny that FSD has the potential to be a life-changing product that places an AI-powered chauffeur behind the wheel of your car.
For those confused by the terminology, Autopilot currently features the ability for the car to maintain its lane (Autosteer) while using Traffic-Aware Cruise Control to maintain a set speed (and slow down or stop for slower traffic/hazards).
While it works better than many lane-keeping assist options from other car manufacturers, it still requires the driver to make lane changes (and take navigational actions like make a turn or obey a traffic light). It is effective primarily on highways and lacks the ability to navigate cities/towns.
For those seeking automated lane changes or city driving, one has to upgrade to the FSD package (and hope they have a sufficient safety score to enter the FSD Beta trial). Until now.
For those interested in more automation and less driver input without breaking the bank, it appears that Tesla will once again offer a mid-tier package called Enhanced Autopilot (EAP) that features some of the abilities of FSD.
Tesla used to offer Enhanced Autopilot and FSD as separate packages, but 2019 Tesla restructured their offerings and included a slimmed down version of EAP free with every vehicle.
At that point, EAP was removed, and the FSD package became the only driver asisst add-on.
Tesla has now brought back the EAP option in Australia for roughly half the price of the FSD package.
Enhanced Autopilot includes everything in basic Autopilot and adds on Navigate on Autopilot (automated lane changes and on ramp/off ramp navigation), as well as Smart Summon and AutoPark.
Noticeably absent from EAP is city/town navigation with navigation skills like obeying traffic lights, turning corners, and navigating traffic circles.
For those who seek an automated highway driving experience that dramatically lessens the driver’s attention-load, EAP might be priced as a more affordable option for Tesla owners.
It should be noted that Autopilot, Enhanced Autopilot, and FSD still require the driver to maintain both hands on the wheel at all times and be ready to take over driving immediately.
Tesla's first electric semi-truck will have a range of 500 miles and begin shipping this year, according to a tweet from Elon Musk, founder and CEO. Musk previously said that the model would be on roads in 2023, as well as Tesla's pickup truck, dubbed the Cybertruck. The projected arrival date for the Cybertruck has not changed.
The Tesla Semi Truck, which was unveiled in November 2017, is designed for long-haul trucking. It can go from 0 to 60 mph in 20 seconds when hauling a full load, which is faster than most diesel trucks.
The Tesla Semi Truck's range of 500 miles on a single charge constitutes more than double the range of the current longest-range electric truck on the market, the Daimler eCascadia, which has a range of 230 miles.
Tesla to release the first Tesla Semis this year
Tesla
The Tesla Semi Truck is also significantly cheaper to operate than a diesel truck, Tesla has said. The company estimates that it will cost $1.26 per mile to operate the Tesla Semi, compared to $1.51 per mile for a diesel truck.
Since the company started taking orders for the truck in 2017 some of the most sizable orders have come from the likes of UPS, Walmart, and PepsiCo. The original deposit required with an order was $5,000, which was increased to $20,000 after the event in November 2017.
Tesla to release the first Tesla Semis this year
Tesla
The company has not said how many trucks it plans to produce but based on past statements from Tesla we can expect the price of regular production versions for the 300-mile (480 km) and 500-mile (800 km) range versions to be $150,000 and $180,000 USD respectively.
Tesla's Semi Truck is part of the company's push to electrify the transportation sector, which is responsible for a significant portion of greenhouse gas emissions. Tesla also makes electric cars and SUVs, and it plans to start producing its electric truck next year. Tesla's ultimate goal is to transition the world to sustainable energy.
Tesla to release the first Tesla Semis this year
Tesla
Tesla Semi Event
Tesla unveiled the Tesla Semi and the Tesla Roadster in late 2017. The entire event is below:
Tesla may be building out a feature for vehicle-to-vehicle communication
Ian Maddox
Tesla recently wrapped up its 2022 annual shareholders meeting, and CEO Elon Musk hinted at a potentially exciting feature coming to the fleet: vehicle-to-vehicle communication.
Towards the end of the shareholders’ meeting, a gentleman in the audience mentioned how aircrafts use a system called Airborne Collision Avoidance System (ACAS). He elaborated on how ACAS relays an aircraft’s telemetry to prevent a collision.
“Sometimes too much telemetry,” Musk adds and laughs, assumingly referencing the Twitter account that tracks his private jet.
“Do you see Teslas communicating with one another and Dojo turning into some kind of air traffic control for Tesla supply chains and Robotaxi?” adds the gentleman.
Musk answered by saying he hasn’t thought about that before, which is interesting. He added that the goal with Dojo is to be the de facto computer for training the neural net with videos.
“Oh. That’s an interesting idea. I haven’t thought about that,” Musk responds. “Right now our goal with Dojo is to be really good at video training. We have probably the fourth or approaching the third, most powerful computing center in the world for AI training. Our first goal with Dojo is to make it competitive and be more effective at neural net training than a whole bunch of GPUs. We might get there… soonish.”
Musk also added that Dojo is built “from the ground up” to train AI using videos, and building such a computer has never been done before.
This question got Musk’s mind going. He paused for a moment and said there may be some difficulties in getting Teslas to communicate with one another - and it won’t be needed with Full Self-Driving.
“There will be some merits for Teslas to communicate [with] each other, but that won’t be needed for Full Self-Driving at all,” Musk responds. “But for a long time the vast majority of cars will be manually driven, so the value of Tesla-to-Tesla communication is not that high, except for, perhaps, communicating traffic issues, accidents, potholes, and road closures. A Tesla ahead of you has seen a road closure and you get that real-time update to your car so you don’t get stuck in the road closure situation. That’s the stuff that we are working on right now.”
Elon Musk's Answer
In January of 2022, Twitter user and Tesla enthusiast @BLKMDL3 tweeted at Musk asking about this type of feature. “Hey @elonmusk, can we get the air suspension in Model S/X to automatically raise quickly if the car detects a dip in the road ahead and then remember the location for next time?” BLKMDL3 writes. “Would be an awesome feature to have!”
Musk responded with, “Yeah.”
Hey @elonmusk, can we get the air suspension in Model S/X to automatically raise quickly if the car detects a dip in the road ahead and then remember the location for next time? Would be an awesome feature to have!
BLKMDL3’s tweet received quite a bit of attention.
Tesla has recently rolled out updates to improve a vehicle’s ability to raise and lower its suspension when arriving at a specific location. This is so the vehicle doesn’t scuff the pavement and cause damage to its underbody.
Since Musk stated that he hasn’t thought about vehicle-to-vehicle communication or how it would be done, we don’t anticipate this feature rolling out anytime soon. However, we can hope that it gets added to the pipeline of upcoming features due to its seemingly positive reception and want for it. This could also increase the safety of Tesla’s vehicles, even though they’re already the safest cars on the road.
It would be nice for vehicles within a 5-10 mile radius to notify one another of a construction zone, or accident, similar to Waze. This would allow the vehicle to reroute to a more efficient route or handle the situation accordingly. Going a step further, it would be exceptionally cool to see snapshots or videos of the upcoming situation by seeing a “hotspot” in maps, similar to how Snapchat shows hotspots, that are recorded via the vehicle’s cameras to more accurately prepare for it. But this may open a can of worms in regards to privacy.
Turning Tesla’s fleet into a mobile social network may go against Musk’s vision. He’s stated before that any user input in the vehicle should be considered an error, so having an interactive feature such as this may not be in Tesla’s deck of cards.
TeslaFi is a service that logs your drives and charging sessions so that you can later refer back to them. We highly recommend checking them out if you use your car for business trips and would like to keep track of reimbursements, if you like to see how much you spend on charging or if you just love statistics. View their about us page and see everything they have to offer!
DIMO is building a web3, user-owned network dedicated to supporting the next generation of mobility infrastructure. As a user, you can start today by accessing the best connected vehicle experience via the DIMO Mobile App. It works for nearly any vehicle and across any OEM; users are in control of their data and their DIMO wallet is a conduit to other apps and services, saving time and money. Learn more
Find out how to become a sponsor and have your site listed here.
Although we share official Tesla release notes, we are not affiliated with Tesla Motors. We are Tesla fans and supporters.
