Tesla says that it will finally allow owners who bought its Full Self-Driving (FSD) package, valued at up to $15,000, to transfer the software package to a new car, but only if they place an order this quarter.
It’s something that Tesla owners have been asking about for a long time.
The idea is that Tesla has been selling the FSD package since 2016 with the promise that it would eventually achieve self-driving capability without driver supervision – something that Tesla has yet to deliver seven years later.
During those seven years, the FSD software package went from a few thousand dollars to its current $15,000 price point. The capacity of the package has increased over the years, but it’s still far from what Tesla originally promised.
Therefore, it’s a burden for current Tesla owners who paid for the package – without receiving what they were promised – to upgrade to a new Tesla vehicle and pay $15,000 to get the package on a new car – doubly so considering Tesla never delivered the promise on the previous one.
On top of it, we recently noted that Tesla doesn’t value its own FSD package anywhere near $15,000 when it gets a Tesla trade-in with FSD.
In that report, we noted that Tesla offering owners of vehicles with FSD to transfer FSD to a new vehicle would be a good way to compensate for the fact that the automaker has yet to deliver on its FSD package promises.
During a conference call about Tesla’s Q2 2023 financial results today, Elon Musk announced that Tesla would offer just that, transferring the FSD package from a trade-in to a new car, but only for Tesla owners who order a car during the third quarter – before the end of September.
The CEO described the offer as a “one-time offer of amnesty.”
Electrek’s Take
I want to be clear. This is better than nothing and is appreciated for what it is, but I don’t like that Elon made it sound like he was doing Tesla owners a favor.
It’s not a favor. He is pressing a demand lever. This is going to allow owners of older Tesla vehicles with FSD to upgrade this quarter, which is good for Tesla and a good deal for those owners.
However, let’s face it. Tesla has not delivered the features it promised those owners under this package. The owners taking Tesla up on this offer are effectively giving Tesla another shot at delivering FSD.
It should be an open offer to anyone who has bought the FSD package since 2016. This time limit makes it a demand lever for Tesla.
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