Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, announced that the company’s autonomous driving feature, the Full Self-Driving (FSD) mode, will be available exclusively through a monthly subscription starting on February 14.
Currently, to access FSD in supervised mode, Tesla drivers can either make a one-time payment of US$ 8,000 or pay a US$ 99 monthly subscription in the United States.
Musk did not provide further details on the reason for the change, but analysts suggest it is closely linked to the entrepreneur’s recently approved US$ 1 trillion bonus package.
To secure this extraordinary payout, Musk must first carry out a series of moves to achieve certain targets set for the company. Among them is the goal of reaching 10 million active FSD subscribers.
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<Tesla has not disclosed how many customers currently have an FSD subscription. Older cars with less capable computers will need to be upgraded to take advantage of the feature’s current capabilities, a process Musk acknowledged will be expensive and “painful.”
It is worth noting that although it is marketed as an “autonomous” driving mode, FSD has Level 2 autonomy and can only be used in “supervised” mode, meaning only when the driver is paying attention to the road.
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