Tesla Changes Autopilot Feature Availability

Update July 19, 2021: 

After Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded to a question on Twitter in late December 2020 confirming a subscription-based Full Self-Driving option would be coming “early next year,” Tesla released its subscription model in July at $199 per month for vehicles with basic Autopilot, or at a reduced rate of $99 per month for vehicles with Enhanced Autopilot.

Autopilot Hardware 3.0 is required for the Full Self-Driving subscription.

This post has been updated multiple times as Tesla makes changes to its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving options—all previous update notes have been moved to the bottom of the article for better readability.

Original Story—published March 1, 2019

Tesla dropped a bit of a bombshell yesterday, announcing the introduction of the Standard Range Model 3, a number of price and feature changes, and the transition to online sales only along with the closure of its retail stores.

Autopilot features have changed as a result of the announcement. Enhanced Autopilot is no longer available as an option, instead replaced with two options: Autopilot and Full Self Driving Capability.

The prices and available features have been adjusted as well. Enhanced Autopilot offered Adaptive Cruise Control, Autosteer, Summon, Autopark, and Navigate on Autopilot for a price of $6,000). The new Autopilot option only includes Adaptive Cruise Control and Autosteer, and is priced at $3,000 for the Model Y. It is standard on Model S, Model 3, and Model X.

Drivers who want Summon, Autopark, and Navigate on Autopilot will need to opt for the new Full Self Driving Capability option for an additional $6,000. That cost also includes the planned, but not yet released, stop sign and traffic light recognition, automatic driving on city streets. Keep in mind that local and federal regulations may delay the availability of these last two features.

Only the new Full Self Driving Capability option offers feature parity with the previously released version of Enhanced Autopilot, with the exception of the upcoming stop sign and traffic light recognition. The following table breaks down what features are available for each version of the software. Please note that the three functions with an asterisk are not yet available.

Pricing accurate as of July 2021

Essentially, Tesla repackaged the two most desirable Autopilot features, Adaptive Cruise Control and Autosteer, to create an entry-level version of the software for $3,000, and is now included on every Tesla vehicle. This allowed them to add extra value to the Full Self Driving Capability option by including Summon, Autopark, and Navigate on Autopilot features. Previously, customers opting for the off-menu Full Self Driving option were paying for access to software capabilities that didn’t exist yet. Now, those customers get a combination of both currently available features and ones promised for the future.

These price and feature availability changes affect all cars that were delivered without Autopilot or Full Self Driving. For example, a Model 3 delivered before April 11 without Autopilot would require $11,000 to get the full suite of features: $3,000 for base Autopilot and $8,000 for Full Self Driving. Full Self Driving is required to get the same suite of features Enhanced Autopilot brings to the table.

Of course, Tesla can’t remove functionality from a car that was already sold. Cars delivered with Autopilot 1 or Enhanced Autopilot before February 27, 2019 will continue to retain Autosteer, Autopark, Summon and Adaptive Cruise Control. Additionally, vehicles equipped with Enhanced Autopilot will continue to have Navigate on Autopilot.

Teslas with Autopilot 1 do not have the hardware necessary for Full Self Driving functionality. As such, they don’t have the option to upgrade.

This is good news for consumers who want Autopilot predominantly for the Adaptive Cruise Control and Autosteer functions – as it’s now offered at a big discount. On the other hand, Autopark and Summon were previously staple Autopilot features, available since day one of the software. Consumers after those functions who don’t care for the Full Self Driving functions should seek vehicles equipped with Autopilot v1, or Enhanced Autopilot on the used market.

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Update February 8, 2021: 

Tesla recently announced a price increase for its Full Self-Driving option and CEO Elon Musk confirmed an “early 2021” timeline for a subscription option for FSD. On October 26, 2020, Full Self-Driving saw a price increase of $2,000, bringing the price tag to $10,000 for new and previously delivered vehicles. Responding to a question on Twitter in late December, Musk confirmed the company will release a Full Self-Driving subscription option “early next year.”

Update July 1, 2020: 

Tesla recently increased the price of the Full Self Driving option for new cars and cars that have already been delivered to $8,000, an increase of $1,000. Tesla has also tweaked the feature list for Full Self Driving, removing by renaming Stop Sign and Traffic Light Recognition and Automatic Driving on City Streets to Stop Sign and Traffic Light Control and Autosteer on City Streets respectively. It also removed Full Self Driving from the feature list. The chart has been updated and is accurate as of July 1, 2020.

Update November 11, 2019:

Tesla recently increased the price of the Full Self Driving option for new cars and cars that have already been delivered to $7,000, an increase of $1,000.

Update October 2, 2019:

Tesla recently rolled out Smart Summon to customers with Enhanced Autopilot and Full Self Driving. This new feature enables your Tesla to come to you in a parking lot.

Cars with Autopilot 1 do not have the hardware necessary to support Smart Summon, and therefore keep the functionality of basic Summon. The chart below has been updated to reflect this.

At some point over the last few months, Tesla quietly made Autopilot standard on the Model Y. Full Self Driving pricing for the Model Y matches the rest of the lineup.

Update May 22, 2019:

Tesla reduced the post-delivery price of Full Self Driving from $8,000 to $6,000. It now matches the $6,000 pre-delivery price of the feature – though Tesla has indicated the price could rise in the future.

Autopilot pricing remains the same for the Model Y as before: Autopilot “Lite” is $3,000 before delivery and $4,000 after delivery. Full Self Driving is $5,000 before delivery and $7,000 after delivery.

The chart and article text has been updated below to match updated pricing for Model S, Model 3, and Model X.

Update May 15, 2019: 

Tesla has raised the price of Full Self Driving to $6,000 before delivery and $8,000 after delivery. This applies to Model S, Model 3, and Model X. Autopilot “Lite” is still standard on all three cars.

Both Autopilot packages are still optional on Model Y at the last prices: Autopilot is $3,000 before delivery and $4,000 after delivery. Full Self Driving is $5,000 before delivery and $7,000 after delivery.

The chart below and text of the article has been updated to match these changes.

Update April 11, 2019: 

Autopilot is now standard on Model 3, Model S, and Model X. Full Self Driving remains as a $5,000 option before delivery, and $7,000 after delivery.

Autopilot is still optional on Model Y at the prices included in the chart below.