Tesla has added another new incentive in the third quarter of the year. This one is only applicable to the Model X All-Wheel Drive (AWD), and is only available in the United States because it has important implications for the US federal tax credit.
According to an update to the online Design Studio this week, Model X AWD buyers in the US can now get one paid option for free when they purchase FSD. This means you could add the 22″ Turbine Wheels, which cost US$5,500, or the six seat interior at US$6,500 for “free.”
The word “free” was in quotation marks because you still have to add FSD to your order, which currently sits at US$8,000, however there is an important reason why Tesla is doing this.
While some might think this is a way for the company to get more people to buy FSD (subscribing at US$99 per month is a better deal), this incentive is actually related to getting more configurations of the Model X AWD to be eligible for the US$7,500 tax credit.
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Currently the base Model X AWD at US$79,990 with no options qualifies for the tax credit since it is US$10 below the US$80,000 threshold. Adding any option to your configuration pushes you above the threshold and makes it ineligible for the tax credit.
However, the rules for the tax credit also say that a software add-on like FSD does not count towards the base price. So Tesla is giving buyers one free option when adding FSD to continue to make the vehicle eligible for the tax credit.
