Tesla will stop selling its Full Self-Driving software outright and move entirely to a subscription-based model next month, a strategic shift that turns one of the company's most controversial features into a recurring monthly bill and reframes how customers "own" core functionality in their vehicles.
Chief Executive Elon Musk announced the change Wednesday on X, writing: "Tesla will stop selling FSD after Feb 14. FSD will only be available as a monthly subscription thereafter." The announcement immediately drew mixed reactions from investors, customers and online communities, underscoring the growing tension between Tesla's software ambitions and consumer expectations around ownership.
Under the new structure, Full Self-Driving will no longer be available as a one-time purchase, which most recently cost $8,000 after being reduced from a peak price of $15,000 in 2022. Instead, customers will pay $99 per month or $999 annually, aligning the feature more closely with a software-as-a-service model common in the technology sector.
The move marks a departure from Tesla's long-standing marketing narrative that portrayed FSD as an "appreciating asset" that would gain value as autonomy improved. In a Fortune report, the shift was framed as an acknowledgment that the economics of permanent ownership no longer align with Tesla's update-heavy, centrally controlled software ecosystem.
Tesla has not clarified how the change will affect customers who previously paid for Full Self-Driving, leaving uncertainty around resale value, feature parity and long-term access. Musk has made no additional public comments beyond the initial post, and Tesla has not issued a formal policy statement as of this week.
Full Self-Driving, despite its name, still requires a human driver and constant supervision. Tesla markets the system as capable of navigating city streets, handling highway driving, and performing perpendicular and parallel parking, and claims its vehicles are "seven times safer than a human driver." The feature is currently available in the U.S., Canada, China, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea.
The pricing shift reignited broader concerns about digital ownership in modern vehicles. One X user, responding directly to Musk's post, wrote: "You will never actually own your EV, because it will be useless without the software that you can never remove, replace, or modify. And someone will always be able to remotely shut off your car."
Another user, @esrtweet, posted: "I'm usually numbered among your fans, but you just destroyed any chance that I will ever buy a Tesla." On Reddit, one commenter said: "Elon is doing his very best to convince everyone on the planet not to buy his vehicles. Amazing!"
The backlash highlights a structural risk for automakers leaning heavily into subscriptions. While recurring revenue provides predictable cash flow and tighter control over updates, it also exposes companies to consumer fatigue as more everyday products shift behind monthly paywalls.
