Tesla Approaches Cheaper FSD Subscriptions as Milestone Surpasses 1 Billion Miles

In a significant dual announcement, Tesla's CEO Elon Musk hinted at lowering Full Self-Driving (FSD) subscription costs as the program's users crossed a landmark one billion driven miles. These steps highlight Tesla's advancing position in the autonomous driving sector and promise enhanced accessibility to its innovative technology.

Elon Musk's Social Media Engagement Sparks Speculation on Reduced FSD Pricing Amid Tesla's Strategic Enhancements

Musk's apparent nod to a cheaper FSD subscription was noticed by Tesla enthusiasts on social media platform X, with several mentioning that the CEO liked a post from an EV advocate stating that the take rate for FSD subscriptions would likely increase significantly if the service were priced at $99 per month. Musk has yet to remove his like on the Tesla owners' FSD subscription post, per Teslarati.

Tesla launched FSD subscriptions in July 2021, following much anticipation from the electric vehicle community. At the time, Tesla charged $199 monthly for vehicles with only Basic Autopilot and $99 for vehicles with Enhanced Autopilot. The service was only available for Tesla Hardware 3.0 or higher vehicles.

The premium pricing of FSD subscriptions in 2021 elicited strong reactions from Tesla owners, many of whom thought the price was excessive for what FSD Beta offered. This is not necessarily the case today, as Tesla has begun the FSD (Supervised) V12 rollout, which has received significantly better real-world feedback from drivers. FSD (Supervised) V12 may be good enough to justify a paid subscription.

While Tesla quickly points out that FSD (Supervised) does not make its vehicles autonomous, the EV manufacturer and CEO have been doubling down on promoting the advanced driver-assist system to new and existing EV customers. Musk has integrated FSD (Supervised) test rides into Tesla's vehicle delivery process, and the company has launched a free trial program for FSD (Supervised) on qualified vehicles in its existing fleet.

Tesla's FSD program has recently achieved notable milestones. The official Tesla AI account on X recently revealed that FSD users have driven over 1 billion miles. This is a significant step toward Tesla's goal of obtaining regulatory approval for its advanced driver-assistance system. After all, Elon Musk estimated in Master Plan Part Deux that global regulatory approval for self-driving vehicles will require approximately 6 billion miles of data.

Tesla Surpasses 1 Billion Miles on FSD, Outpacing Rivals as It Eyes Global Regulatory Approval

Tesla Full Self-Driving (FSD) users have achieved a significant milestone. According to the electric vehicle manufacturer, Tesla drivers have driven more than 1 billion miles on FSD. That is a total of miles that exceeds the distance between Earth and Saturn.

According to a source, Tesla announced the FSD milestone on its Tesla AI official social media account on X, along with a graph depicting the total miles driven by FSD users over the years. The electric vehicle manufacturer's graph indicates a significant increase in cumulative FSD miles in recent months, which is unsurprising given the release of popular updates such as FSD V12.

Tesla's one-billion-mile milestone is significant, especially compared to the cumulative miles achieved by leading autonomous driving companies today. Waymo, regarded by Tesla detractors as the undisputed leader in self-driving technology, announced in December 2023 that its vehicles had traveled more than 7 million miles in rider-only trips. Last July, Cruise announced its fleet reached 3 million driverless miles.

Tesla has recently pushed FSD (Supervised) V12.3 to consumers, with Elon Musk mandating that delivery centers include a test drive with the advanced driver-assist system as part of the customer vehicle delivery process. The company has also offered a free FSD (Supervised) trial for qualified vehicles. If any of these initiatives are implemented, the cumulative miles for the FSD program will undoubtedly increase.

While Tesla's achievement of 1 billion cumulative miles is impressive, the company likely still has a long way to go before its self-driving system is widely accepted worldwide. In Master Plan Part Deux, Musk estimated that obtaining global regulatory approval for a self-driving system would likely necessitate traveling approximately 6 billion miles. However, with a much larger fleet of vehicles, such a milestone would be well within reach.

“Even once the software is highly refined and far better than the average human driver, there will still be a significant time gap, varying widely by jurisdiction, before true self-driving is approved by regulators. We expect that worldwide regulatory approval will require something on the order of 6 billion miles (10 billion km). Current fleet learning is happening at just over 3 million miles (5 million km) per day,” Musk wrote back in 2016.

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