Elon Musk said that Tesla will provide all owners in North America with a free one-month FSD fully automated driving experience package in the future, provided that the FSD is super smooth and not just safe. The current FSD pricing in North America is $15,000 (currently about RMB 104,000) or $199/99 per month.
He also mentioned that Tesla is prepared to expand to other parts of the world after ensuring that the FSD can first work well on local roads and get regulatory approval in that country. He noted that it is important for the FSD experience to be both safe and smooth.
Although the FSD name is fully automated driving, it actually can not meet the needs of fully autonomous driving, currently still need the driver to stay alert and ready to take over the vehicle. Moreover, Elon Musk has not yet provided a specific time plan for expanding FSD beyond North America.
In fact, Tesla has never announced the percentage of buyers who have ordered the feature, but Electrek has inferred that the share of North American customers is between 15-20%, and perhaps 10 percent globally, based on data previously released by Tesla.
Elon Musk also did not explain why Tesla will launch a one-month free trial for all Tesla cars in North America, but the foreign media believe that there may be two reasons. First, FSD is powered by a deep neural network and is still technically in beta, meaning it requires a lot of data to train and improve. By rolling out FSD to every Tesla vehicle in North America, Tesla could collect a lot of driving data, even if it’s only for a month. At the same time, it’s effectively the promotional equivalent of Tesla letting you taste free ice cream to entice you to buy a scoop for FSD and its features.
Since last November, any owner in North America who wants to apply for the FSD experience will need to pay $15,000 for the FSD package. Outside of North America, Tesla has been limited in making the FSD available to owners due to stricter regulations.
In China, although Tesla has a $64,000 “Full Autopilot Capability” option, owners can actually only use AP and EAP, which includes features such as in-lane auto-steering, auto-braking and highway on/off ramp auto-navigation, but it’s not FSD after all. However, Caixin reported on April 3 that Tesla is about to start large-scale FSD testing in China, but no further details were provided.
