Tesla will also allow current owners to transfer Full Self-Driving to the purchase of a new car, although it previously said the program would not return after it ended for the third time in the past 11 days.
Tesla has been selling its FSD program for years, to the point that many previous owners have gone through many cars without the software being brought to its full working state.
Those owners are able to use Tesla's Supervised FSD system, but no Tesla owner has been able to use the actual self-driving system that allows the car to drive itself without human intervention.
Therefore, there was an endless buzz for many of those owners, wondering why they should buy the same software. againif they get a new car, if the software was not delivered in the previous car.
This is especially difficult given that the purchase price of an FSD is now higher than it was for many of those original owners – although it has gone down in price recently.
And of course, last year Tesla started to allow FSD transfers – but only for two months, and it would never happen again.
At the time it was seen as a way to reduce demand, rather than an example of Tesla “doing the right thing” and allowing owners to keep access to software they paid for but never received.
Then, after the end of that period, Tesla finally returned the transfer of FSD this year, allowing new orders until the end of Q1. And then, again, that “one time gift” was returned. Tesla was then asked if the FSD transfer could be made permanent, and the answer was “No.”
Then, at Tesla's last shareholder meeting, an interviewer asked if we could transfer the FSD for “one more quarter,” rather than forever. Musk responded after a moment's hesitation, saying “okay, another quarter.”
Tesla later said the program would last until August 31, instead of the end of the quarter, but then extended it until September 30, the same as the end of Q3. So, the program ended 11 days ago.
But now the scheme is back, again, after being canceled for the last time already three times.
Details of the program are available on Tesla's website, and we've seen mention of the program on the Tesla app. It technically started yesterday – which means if you got a car between October 1 and October 9, I think you're out of luck.
This program must remain in effect until December 31, the last day of the quarter and year. In case anyone is wondering if this is nothing but another trick to boost end-of-quarter sales (just kidding, no one wondered about that).
Electrek's Take
I've written almost this exact same article before, and I'll say the same things again, because nothing has changed.
As I've said before: we shouldn't be having this conversation every quarter.
Until FSD can follow through on its promise, the transfer should be free for anyone who purchased the software.
Any other company that previously sold software and then refused to deliver it would not be looked upon kindly, especially if that software was thousands of dollars and years late, and if customers were required to repurchase it for every piece of hardware. buy to run it.
Yes, people can use something Tesla phone calls “FSD” right now, and the program is getting better and better.
But it doesn't fully drive the car, it doesn't work without intervention, it can't called throughout the countryand cannot be used as a money making robot. In fact, Tesla has just announced a new robotaxi product, leaving some to think that previous cars will not get autonomous power – but at that event, Musk reiterated that current Teslas will eventually get “unsupervised” FSD power. And that ability will come in about a year, as he has been saying for almost ten years now.
It's time to stop the cable holders. If the problem is difficult, and more difficult than you thought, that's one thing. But making people buy additional licenses for software you've already sold and not delivered is unacceptable.
The right thing would be to make the transfer permanent until the level 5 autonomy is granted. Even the “effective stability” of a continuous offer like this is about the need to stop. Tesla is like a rug store that is always going out of business.
But if Tesla won't do the right thing, maybe the law will finally force them to follow through on the promises they made. There are currently several lawsuits related to the false advertising of Tesla's FSD that could have major consequences for how Tesla markets the software and what rights its owners may have. Stay tuned for the results of those.
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