If you’re interested in getting a Tesla vehicle along with self-driving capabilities, you might want to act quickly. On Twitter, company CEO Elon Musk warned that the price of the Full Self-Driving option will “increase substantially over time,” with the first price hike starting May 1st.
Elon Musk didn’t provide any specifics, but did say that it would be “something like” the $3,000, as suggested by a Twitter follower. Currently, the package costs $5,000 to eventually add autonomy when ordering a Tesla vehicle, and is $7,000 if you want to add the option at a later time.
Tesla recently made Autopilot a standard across its vehicles. Unfortunately, buyers that are not able to purchase a Tesla vehicle before May are out of luck. On the other hand, there is a reason for the company making such move. At an investor meeting on April 22nd, Tesla will show off its next-gen driverless technology, and comes packages with a new computer. Now that the company is close to finishing up its driverless technology, it’s passing the cost along to newer customers.
For those drivers that purchased a Tesla vehicle previously with Full Self-Driving package, the company still intends to upgrade them and will honor commitments. Musk said the upgrade will arrive in “a few months.” If you were to buy a Tesla vehicle now, you won’t be out of luck. You will just have to get the feature a little later than those buying the latest hardware from the factory.