Tesla CEO Elon Musk went on a bit of a Twitter spree this afternoon, providing a number of updates on the progress of Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta, the infamous button, as well as the release of the FSD subscription option.
Full Self-Driving Beta and “the button”
Originally hoping to release “the button” to a large number of Tesla owners sometime in March, then delaying it until at least April, Musk has provided another update on the timing of when it will appear. Musk now says a May release is more likely, although that is “aspirational.”
He added that a release later than June would be “surprising.”
The good news is that V9.0 of the FSD beta software appears to still be on track for a release to the current beta testers soon.
“Button timing of May is aspirational. Depends on how well limited beta of V9.0 goes, but I would be surprised if wide beta (aka button) is later than June.”
Musk said the reason for the delay is their attempt to get the probability of no injury above 99.999999% while using the self-driving software in the city. This is something which has already been achieved with the current highway version of Autopilot.
Major improvements are being made to the vision stack every week. Beta button hopefully next month.
This is a “march of 9’s” trying to get probability of no injury above 99.999999% of miles for city driving. Production Autopilot is already above that for highway driving.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 14, 2021
Unfortunately there is still no word on whether this next release will include any Tesla owners in Canada.
FSD Subscription
The idea of a FSD subscription is alluring to many owners who don’t want to fork out $10K+ to pay outright for the suite of features. Even though there is a delay to the release of “the button”, Musk says the subscription option will still launch next month, even going so far as to call it a “sure thing.”
Button timing of May is aspirational. Depends on how well limited beta of V9.0 goes, but I would be surprised if wide beta (aka button) is later than June. FSD subscription next month is a sure thing.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 14, 2021
This comment aligns with his previous one made earlier this year when he said it would be released in Q2 “for sure.”
Pricing details of the FSD subscription have not been released. Many are expecting it to cost above $200 per month, given that Musk has said numerous times it makes more financial sense to buy it outright.
