Tesla finally kills Autopilot in a bid to boost FSD subscriptions

Tesla scrapped its Autopilot driver assist feature that used to come standard in new vehicles, as it attempts to steer customers to its newly subscription-only Full Self-Driving (FSD) system.

According to Electrek, the company removed Basic Autopilot as a standard feature from new Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in North America. That means in order to get Tesla’s lane-keeping Autosteer feature, which was previously free when purchasing a new Tesla vehicle, customers will now have to fork over $99-a-month to subscribe to FSD.

Tesla will still sell its vehicles with its Traffic-Aware Cruise Control feature, which sticks to a designated speed limit while maintaining a distance behind cars ahead, as standard. But if customers want Autosteer, they’ll have to subscribe to FSD. Last week, Tesla announced that it would stop selling FSD as an optional package and would instead shift to a monthly or annual subscription.

And as TechCrunch notes, the move comes as Tesla faces a 30-day dealer and manufacturing suspension in California for overstating the capabilities of its driver assist system. A judge ruled in December that Tesla had engaged in deceptive marketing by misleading customers about the capabilities of Autopilot. The California DMV, which brought the complaint, stayed the ruling for 60 days to allow Tesla time to comply by dropping the Autopilot brand name.

Tesla made basic Autopilot standard on all new vehicles in April 2019, bundling it with the purchase price rather than as a separate add-on — while keeping the more advanced FSD as an optional upgrade. This coincided with Tesla’s first “Autonomy Day,” during which Elon Musk began making wild claims about the company’s self-driving future.

For example, he predicted that by the middle of 2020, Tesla’s autonomous system will have improved to the point where drivers will not have to pay attention to the road. (Drivers are still required to pay attention at all times while using FSD.) Musk also said the company would roll out its first robotaxis in 2020, and predicted that Tesla owners would be able to add their cars to a Tesla network. (Tesla didn’t start its robotaxi service until 2025, and even then the vehicles had safety monitors behind the wheel or in the passenger seat. Tesla has started providing trips in fully autonomous vehicles this week, but with chase cars.)