Tesla Plans To Abandon Autopilot & ADAS Features On Entry-level EVs In The US

SAUDI ARABIA: In a move that has not been taken well by car owners, Tesla is planning to abandon its lane-keeping assist features on entry-level models like the Model Y and Model 3 EVs. To avail these features, Autosteer as per the brand name, car owners will have to buy the company’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) suite. This purchase is not going to be a one-time fee either, it will be a subscription model that is expected to cost USD 99 per month or SAR 371.

To be perfectly honest, there is currently a one-time Full Self-Driving suite purchase option too, but it is going to cost a whopping USD 8,000 or over SAR 30,000, and the purchase option is available till February 14 only, so beyond that everyone will be forced to go for the subscription only. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla tweeted, “I should also mention that the $99/month for supervised FSD will rise as FSD’s capabilities improve. The massive value jump is when you can be on your phone or sleeping for the entire ride (unsupervised FSD).” 

So, the hint that your expense beyond buying a car will keep increasing is not going to be something that a lot of people take lightly, but then again, subscriptions were never supposed to work, yet they are the bread and butter of tech companies today. So, only the future will tell what is expected to be acceptable or not.

In one of the only good news for Tesla owners, the brand has not yet removed the cruise control feature from your car. Your car will be able to maintain set speed on highways and still be aware of traffic around the car while on cruise control.

FAQs

Q1) What is the new change announced by Tesla?

A) The latest change announced by Tesla is that it will discontinue ADAS features on entry-level models like the Model 3 and Model Y. To avail these features, car owners will have to pay a monthly subscription fee moving forward.

Q2) Will Tesla subscription prices keep increasing?

A) While this has not been explicitly mentioned, however, the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk has hinted that subscription prices may see an increase as Tesla improves its ADAS features even more.

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