Tesla ‘Fully Self-Driving’ Beta Testers Say Not Worth Price

There’s no shortage of drama over Tesla’s not-actually-full-self-driving “full self-driving” program — there are lawsuits, a federal investigation, hunger strikes, and videos of people testing its automatic braking system on children.

Elon Musk announced in August the price of the program would rise to $15,000. Tesla is currently testing the beta mode of its FSD, and over 100,000 cars have been sold with it.

But 11 out of 13 people using the current FSD technology told CNN that it’s not worth the new $15,000 price tag.

“FSD is an evolving technology and $15k is a steep price for many consumers, even the Tesla loyalists,” said Daniel Ives, a Wall Street analyst who follows Tesla, told Entrepreneur via text.

The FSD program is working on features like automatically detecting traffic lights and stop signs. Autosteering in city streets is “upcoming,” per Tesla’s website. It has other driving assistance programs that are less extensive, such as Autopilot and Enhanced Autopilot.

FSD is an expensive hassle, some users say

After Wisam Al-Rawi saw that Tesla had raised the price on full self-driving, he was shocked, he told CNN.

“I would never even pay $10,000 for it,” Al-Rawi said to the outlet. “They overpromised like crazy.”

He said that FSD would knock into curbs, drive on the incorrect side of the road, and randomly brake, infuriating other drivers.

Al-Rawi added that when bought a Tesla, he paid $2,500 for FSD. But, last month, he told CNN, he had it uninstalled — and was disappointed with Musk’s continual promises that cars that can drive themselves are just around the corner.

Still, Al-Rawi told CNN that driver assistance-like features, such as staying in one’s lane, do work well.

Enjoying the beta testing adventure

The two who told CNN that the FSD was worth it said it was exciting to be a part of changing technology.

One Tesla owner, for example, Sunny Gulati, said he shelled out $8,000 for FSD and that watching the car drive brings him “inherent joy,” and that it doesn’t have to function at 100% all of the time for that to happen, he told the outlet.

Another happy tester equivocated a bit more. “You’re still paying for a promise. And what’s that’s worth to you is up to you.”