Tesla's full self-driving to become subscription-only after Feb 14: Elon Musk

In a move putting a lid on Tesla's gracious offering of full self-driving (FSD) software for free, Elon Musk announced on Wednesday that the driverless system will only be offered on a monthly subscription basis starting February 14

The move drifts Tesla away from the option for customers to purchase the FSD system outright for a one-time fee for lifetime access.

Currently, FSD (Supervised) is available to US Tesla owners for $8,000 or $99 per month subscription. 

Under Tesla's new business model for FSD, the one-time purchase option will no longer exist, meaning access to the software will be based on ongoing subscription payments.

Despite its name, FSD is not fully autonomous. It is rather classified as a driver-assistance feature. Tesla emphasises that drivers must remain attentive and ready to intervene at any moment, keeping their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.

This comes as the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has investigated around 2.88 million Tesla vehicles equipped with FSD due to over 50 reports of traffic-safety violations and crashes involving the system.

In response to regulations, Tesla added “Supervised” to the FSD name for passenger vehicles, while using an unsupervised version in certain factory settings.

It must be noted that Tesla's Autopilot assists with acceleration, braking, and lane-keeping on highways, while FSD expands these features for city driving, including lane changes and adherence to traffic signals.