Tesla’s Full Self Driving option currently costs $7,000 and Elon said the price will
go up very soon. But I decided not to get it for my Model Y, and in this video I’ll
explain why.
First off, this isn’t a knock on FSD. I have FSD on my Model 3, and it’s great for
the most part, but one of the main reasons I bought FSD for my Model 3 was for you - my
viewers. As a tech YouTuber I wanted to be able to showcase the latest FSD features in
my videos. If I didn’t have a YouTube channel I probably would have just stuck with Enhanced
Autopilot which had most of the features that FSD currently has. I also received the $7500
tax credit when I got my Model 3 so the money I saved from the tax credit basically paid
for FSD which was awesome, but that federal tax credit is gone so I don’t have that
benefit this time around with the Model Y.
First off, Autopilot and FSD prices have changed a lot since I got my Model 3. For example
I paid $5,000 for Enhanced Autopilot then another $2,000 for FSD. Now, basic Autopilot
is included on all Teslas at no additional cost and it enables the car to steer, accelerate
and brake automatically for other vehicles and pedestrians within its lane. The $7,000
FSD option adds some additional features such as automatic driving from highway on-ramp
to off-ramp. automatic lane changes while driving on the highway, Autopark for parallel
and perpendicular spaces, Summon which enables the car to come find you in a parking lot,
assisted stops at traffic controlled intersections, and of course any future updates like Autosteer
on city streets which is scheduled to come later this year. So the fact that the pricing
and offerings have changed so much in the past 2 years it just seems a little unpredictable
to me. Tesla can change it at anytime. Autopilot has ranged from $3,000 to $5,000 then they
changed it up where basic Autopilot was $2,000 at one point and now it's included in the
base price. FSD has gone from $3,000 to $7,000. Tesla says the price will increase over time,
but nobody knows the exact amount that it will increase by. It’s also believed that
FSD will eventually go to a subscription model that will cost more than $100/month. But it’s
also possible that competition in the future could force Tesla to be competitive with their
pricing of FSD even though I do believe Tesla does have a big head start.
As someone who has had FSD for 2 years on my Model 3, to be honest I don’t use most
of the features that often. By far my favorite feature is the automatic lane change which
will automatically initiate the turn signal and change lanes by itself when Navigate on
Autopilot is active, and when Navigate on Autopilot is not active the auto lane change
still works. The only difference is I must initiate the turn signal myself and then the
car will do the lane change automatically. I love that feature because if I didn’t
have that then I would have to disengage Autopilot and do the lane change manually then re-engage
Autopilot every time I want to change lanes which is what drivers with basic Autopilot
have to do so for how much I drive that would be a major inconvenience for me. And honestly
I don’t even use Navigate on Autopilot that much which is the automatic driving from on
ramp to off ramp. It’s mostly good for long trips on the highway, and it requires a destination
to be entered into the navigation system which I don’t always necessarily do. I don’t
think I’ve ever used smart summon in a real life situation. I’ve only used it to impress
people who have never seen it. I think I’ve only used auto park maybe once or twice. I
don’t usually have to park in tight spots very often, and when I do, auto park is very
particular about when it pops up as being an available option from my experience with
it. I recently got the automatic stopping for stop lights and stop signs which is definitely
a step forward in the right direction, but I’m considering turning it off because it’s
easier for me to just stop at red lights manually instead of having to tell the Tesla to proceed
through every stop light and stop sign it approaches. For now auto lane change is really
the only FSD feature I use frequently.
One of the biggest reasons I chose to forgo FSD for my Model Y is because the primary
driver will not be me. The Model Y will be my wife’s car, and guess what? My wife couldn’t
care less about getting the latest FSD updates. She doesn’t care about cones showing up
on the screen. She’s been driving hand me down cars for a long time, and she’s perfectly
fine driving a car without all the bells and whistles. She also doesn’t drive long distances
or on highways very much, and trust me going from a Pontiac to a Tesla with autopilot is
more than enough to satisfy her driving needs. So FSD being worth it or not heavily depends
on the driving habits of the primary driver.
Here’s my take on the risk and how I can play this. Either way, I'm basically placing
a bet on Tesla. If and when FSD gets released and approved it will be worth it whether I
buy FSD now or later. Let me explain. I can buy FSD now for $7,000 and if it gets approved
while I still own the car I got FSD at a discount by buying it early, assuming the price does
continue to increase like Tesla says it will. On the other hand I can skip buying FSD and
instead invest that $7,000 into Tesla stock for example and if it gets approved for use
then my investment will most likely increase in value by that time, hopefully by enough
to buy FSD at its new higher price. I guess the only difference is if I choose to invest
the money now I can always get some if not all of it back along the way. Compared to
if I buy FSD now then there’s no getting that $7,000 back as actual money, but rather
in the form of software updates along the way. And if I choose to not get FSD now and
I'm also not willing to risk my money in stocks, having that $7,000 could help pay off the
car sooner and save me money in interest that way, which is especially important during
strange times like these when that extra money could serve as a much needed addition to my
emergency fund. Also I’m okay with paying a higher price in the future when the actual
real FSD feature is here because it will be worth it to me at that time. Especially if
Tesla follows through with their robotaxi fleet which I will definitely take advantage
of and let my car go out and make money for me.
Another reason I didn’t purchase FSD is because I still think true 100% fully autonomous
driving that doesn’t require any human interaction at all is still at least 5 years away. That’s
just my opinion, and I hope it’s sooner than that, but based on all my driving and
experience with Autopilot, as good as it is I think we still have some ways to go before
not only it gets feature complete and released to owners but for regulatory approval. Back
in 2016 Tesla promised a fully autonomous coast-to-coast drive by the end of 2017 which
never happened so I think 2025 is a fair estimate.
One thing people may not know is that FSD doesn’t stay with the owner. It stays with
the car. I wish there was a way to purchase FSD for an entire Tesla account so it would
cover an owner who has multiple Teslas, but I can understand why Tesla doesn’t do that.
But if I wanted to sell my Tesla Model 3 right now, the FSD would go with it to the new owner.
And if I buy another Tesla I have to buy FSD at its new price. Also one of my followers
on Twitter told me that when he was asking Tesla about the trade in value of his Model
3, Tesla said if FSD is purchased AFTER taking delivery then it doesn’t add to the actual
value of the car on paper. So his trade in value didn’t account for the $7,000 FSD
option because he bought it after taking delivery. I don’t know if that’s true in all cases
or not, but that just kind of rubbed me the wrong way.
So is FSD worth it? Yes it definitely can be worth it. I personally think FSD is worth
it if you meet all of these conditions: If you drive a lot especially on highways, if
you plan to keep the car for a very long time, and if you want to be on the cutting edge
of all the FSD updates as Tesla releases them. If you don’t meet those conditions I think
it’s probably better to hold off on purchasing FSD until it’s fully complete. What do you
think? Would you buy FSD for $7,000 now or risk paying more later? Let me know in the
comments below. Give this video a like if you enjoyed it, and subscribe to my channel
to see more Tesla and tech videos in the future. My name is Andy. Thank you for watching, and
I’ll talk to you in the next one.