Tesla will finally allow existing owners to transfer Full Self-Driving (FSD) Capability when purchasing a new car. The offer will only be for a limited time however, and comes after the question of transferability came up yet again on the company’s earnings call this afternoon.
Since as far back as 2016 Tesla has been selling FSD Capability with the promise of full autonomy just around the corner. Over the years that promise has yet to be realized, but the price has increased to purchase the software has increased substantially, currently sitting at $19,500 in Canada and $15,000 in the US.
The high price has been a hinderance for existing owners who want to upgrade and purchase a newer Tesla, but don’t want to have to pay that hefty price tag for software they have already purchased. The question of being able to transfer FSD to a new car has come up many times, with CEO Elon Musk saying each time it wasn’t going to be allowed.
It came up again on today’s Q2 2023 earnings call, and much to the surprise of Tesla investors and fans, Musk finally caved and will allow owners to transfer FSD when purchasing a new car. There is one big catch however, it will only apply if the order is placed this quarter, or in other words before the end of September.
“We are excited to announce for Q3 we will be allowing transfer of FSD. This is a one time amnesty, you need to take advantage of it in Q3, or at least place the order in Q3 within reasonable delivery timeframes. I hope this makes people happy, it’s a one time thing, we aren’t doing it again,” Musk said.
While this will make many owners who were waiting to pull the trigger on a new Tesla very happy, there will be many more who will be upset at the offer because of the short timeframe it is valid. This is especially true because there are probably lots of owners who are waiting to upgrade to the new Project Highland Model 3, which as of now has no scheduled release date, but is expected to come out later this year.
The details of the program are also unclear at the moment. If Tesla requires you to trade in your old vehicle, that is another potential obstacle as their trade-in values are known to be very low.
What might have made more sense and made more owners happy is to allow a one-time transfer of FSD with no expiry, or extend the timeframe from just the next two and a half months to something more like 1 or 2 years.
Will you be taking advantage of this offer? Let us know in the comments below.
