Tesla is once again allowing owners to transfer their Full Self-Driving (FSD) Capability to a new car. This is the third time Tesla has offered this in less than a year, even though Elon Musk originally said it would be a one-time deal.
Ever since Tesla has been selling their FSD Capability option, the company has restricted the software to stay on the car it was purchased for. This restriction often meant Tesla owners who had purchased FSD and wanted to upgrade to a new car were hesitant to do so as they didn’t want to lose the expensive software, which as of today costs $16,000 in Canada and $12,000 in the US, but has been as expensive as C$19,500/US$15,000.
Despite being repeatedly asked over the years by owners to allow FSD transfers to new vehicles, Tesla was steadfast in their position against it, even saying no when the question came up at multiple Shareholder meetings. That was until July last year, when Musk finally agreed to the idea, but only for a limited time, and only as a “one-time amnesty.”
Then came 2024, and as we now know after the Q1 figures were released earlier this week, sales were dropping, so Tesla brought back FSD transfers, again for a limited time, until the end of Q1, March 31, 2024.
Now less than one week into Q2, and FSD transfers are back. According to a message sent to employees on Thursday, a copy of which was obtained by Drive Tesla, the offer is valid in both Canada and the United States. However, unlike the last two times, there is no explicit expiry date, with the message simply saying FSD transfers are available “for a limited time.”
The rest of the conditions appear to be the same as before. The offer applies on new Model 3, Model Y, Model S, and Model X orders, the offer is stackable with other incentives, and a trade-in is not required.
Should FSD Transfers become permanent?
Now that Tesla has offered this for the third time in almost as many quarters, the question becomes will Tesla make this deal permanent? If you ask any Tesla owner, the vast majority if not all, would say yes. In fact, many of those owners would even be willing to pay a fee to allow them to transfer FSD to a new Tesla, and would also be happy with just a permanent one-time transfer.
Apparently many of those owners aren’t just saying that, but acting on it. Tesla must be seeing a fairly noticeable bump in sales that include FSD transfers if they are now bringing it back for a third time.
There is also the consideration that making it permanent would increase the uptake of FSD Capability, as new buyers would know that it is not tied to the vehicle, and can be transferred to a new car in the future.
Would you be more likely to purchase FSD Capability, knowing it can be transferred to a new car? Let us know in the comments below.
