Tesla slashes Full Self-Driving price after Elon Musk said it would only get more expensive

The price for Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) software package was supposed to get more expensive over time — but instead, it’s getting cheaper.

Tesla has discounted the $12,000 feature — that has been marketed as eventually enabling fully autonomous capabilities despite just being a Level 2 driver-assist system — to $8,000. The price cut comes ahead of Tesla’s earnings on April 23rd, in which Elon Musk is sure to face questions about the adjustment. For years, Musk has insisted that the software package would only grow in value, possibly to a price over $100,000.

In reality, the cost of FSD peaked in 2022 when it was raised to $15,000 and later fell to $12,000. Earlier this month, Tesla also reduced the price of the subscription version of FSD from $199 to $99 per month. With the new pricing, it would take almost six years and nine months of subscribing to reach the current pay-in-full price.

The automaker is also eliminating the ability to purchase Enhanced Autopilot, which is the company’s $6,000 advanced driver-assist system. As Teslarati notes, customers who have Enhanced Autopilot can now upgrade to FSD for just $2,000.

Musk’s campaign to make autonomous vehicles central to Tesla’s business will become clearer later this year, with his recent announcement that the company will reveal a long-teased robotaxi vehicle on August 8th. He reportedly canceled plans to produce a more affordable $25,000 “Model 2” vehicle in favor of going all in on robotaxis. And Musk is also pushing Full Self-Driving demos on new customers so they can experience the no-longer-in-beta “supervised” version of Full Self-Driving.