Tesla is eliminating the option to pay a one-time fee for its fully self-driving (supervised) driver assistance software, CEO Elon Musk announced Wednesday. From now on, the only way to access this feature will be through a monthly subscription.
The changes represent a major shift from the way Tesla has sold access to its advanced driver assistance suite for years. It’s also a decision that could affect Tesla’s bottom line, Mr. Musk’s ability to maximize the value of his $1 trillion pay package, and the company’s swirling legal troubles. And it comes as many other global automakers are developing their own advanced driver assistance systems to compete with Tesla.
Tesla has been selling access to its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software suite at various price points for years, but this still doesn’t make the car completely self-driving and requires human supervision. Upfront prices peaked at $15,000 in 2022, but recently the company has been charging customers $8,000.
Tesla began offering access to the software through a $199 monthly subscription in 2021 and lowered that price to just $99 monthly in 2024. But Musk argued that the cost of FSD increases dramatically as Tesla adds features, so he often encouraged customers to pay the upfront price.
However, Musk said in a post on X on Wednesday that Tesla will completely stop selling FSD starting February 14th. He did not say whether Tesla plans to change its subscription pricing structure.
Musk didn’t explain the change, but there are several possible reasons. Musk and other Tesla executives have spoken publicly about lower-than-expected adoption rates. In October 2025, Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja said that only 12% of Tesla customers pay for FSD. The move to a subscription-only model with lower upfront costs could help boost that number, especially in what is expected to be a tough first quarter for Tesla.
Increasing subscriptions would also bring Musk closer to achieving one of the key “product goals” he needs to receive the full amount of his new $1 trillion pay package. The company’s tasks include reaching “10 million active FSD subscriptions” (measured daily for three months) by the end of 2035.
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Moving to a subscription-only model could also be a legal hedge.
For a decade, Mr. Musk and Mr. Tesla promoted the idea that customers bought cars with all the hardware needed to become self-driving, and all the company needed to do was improve the software. But that wasn’t true. Tesla would have to make a number of upgrades to the interior of its cars over the next few years, and Musk himself said that the majority of existing owners (those of the so-called “Hardware 3” cars) would likely need new hardware in their cars.
FSD was sold on this same promise. Customers who purchase the software fully will eventually receive a software update that will make their cars fully autonomous. Tesla has yet to deliver on that promise.
Tesla is currently facing all sorts of legal troubles related to these unfulfilled promises. In December, a judge ruled that the company had engaged in deceptive marketing around FSD (and its inferior system, Autopilot), and ordered the California DMV (which filed the lawsuit) to suspend Tesla’s manufacturing and dealer licenses in the state for 30 days.
The DMV put the order on hold and gave Tesla at least 60 days to either change its product name to comply or ship software that fulfills its promises.
Tesla also faces various class action lawsuits over claims about the future self-driving capabilities of its vehicles. By removing the option to acquire FSD outright, the company could limit its potential liability in the case if it goes to trial.
Tesla’s FSD is still considered the most capable driver assistance software on the US market. But the company’s success hasn’t stopped competitors from trying to develop their own systems. Rivian recently detailed its own efforts to release driver assistance software like FSD, starting with a significant geographic expansion of hands-free driving capabilities. Ford and General Motors have their own hands-free systems. And many rival automakers with which Tesla competes in China have developed their own solutions, with some offering driver assistance features as standard options.
