The FSD autonomous driving package for Tesla will only be available through a subscription.

Elon Musk, the head of Tesla, has surprised everyone by announcing that, starting next February 14, the company’s full self-driving system FSD will no longer be sold as an optional package as it has been until now, and will instead be available exclusively under a monthly subscription model. In the United States, the price of this package is currently 8,000 dollars if purchased as an additional option when configuring the vehicle, while the monthly subscription price is 99 dollars.

As you probably already know, Tesla’s FSD system offers advanced driver assistance, accelerating, braking, and keeping the vehicle in its lane on motorways. It is also capable of changing lanes automatically and recognising traffic signs in urban environments. Today, this system requires the driver’s supervision at all times, and the driver is solely responsible in the event of an accident. However, everything points to Tesla taking a major step forward shortly, at least in the United States, no longer requiring the driver’s supervision at all times. In this way, the driver could, for example, look at their phone or watch a film, and would simply need to be able to take back control within a short period of time when the vehicle requests it.

Beyond the United States, the FSD package is also on sale in other countries, such as Australia, Canada, China, Mexico, and New Zealand. Tesla has not detailed the specific reasons for this shift to a subscription-only model.

Coming soon to Europe too

Tesla continues working to obtain regulatory approval for FSD in Europe, which European authorities are expected to grant over the course of this new year, 2026. The American manufacturer already offers practical demonstrations of the system in several European countries. In Germany, for example, the tests are carried out with a company employee at the wheel, who acts solely as a safety operator.

“Cameras don’t get tired or distracted. Full Self-Driving (Supervised) helps you drive better by taking care of the most common and error-prone tasks. Our vehicles have exterior cameras that provide 360-degree visibility, along with safety features powered by the same technology as our FSD software, which helps reduce the severity of accidents or avoid them altogether.”