Tesla, the U.S. electric vehicle maker led by Elon Musk, has removed its previously free Autopilot driver-assistance system from standard features on key new models sold in North America, according to foreign media reports.
Electrek, TechCrunch and other U.S. technology media outlets reported on January 23 (local time) that Tesla recently excluded Autopilot from the base standard specifications of Model 3 and Model Y vehicles sold in North America. Autopilot is a driver-assistance system that Tesla had included as standard equipment on all vehicles since April 2019, consisting of cruise control that adjusts driving speed to match the vehicle ahead and auto-steering that keeps the vehicle centered in its lane.
Tesla's online website currently lists only "Traffic Aware Cruise Control" as a standard feature on new vehicles. This change comes roughly one week after Musk announced that starting February 14, the company would discontinue one-time purchases of its supervised autonomous driving software FSD (Full Self-Driving) and offer it only through a monthly subscription model. As a result, Tesla owners who want lane-keeping functionality must subscribe to the FSD service for $99 per month. Musk stated in a post on X (formerly Twitter) the day before that subscription fees "will rise" as the FSD software continues to improve.
Tesla has faced multiple regulatory investigations and consumer lawsuits over allegations that it exaggerated Autopilot as a feature similar to autonomous driving. In December last year, California authorities ruled that Tesla must correct its misleading Autopilot marketing within 60 days or face a 30-day suspension of its manufacturing and sales license. U.S. media noted that amid these regulatory sanctions, Tesla is phasing out Autopilot entirely while using the move as a strategy to push consumers toward FSD subscriptions.
Meanwhile, Tesla launched a robotaxi service in Austin, Texas the previous day without safety supervisors in the driver's seat. Tesla's Model Y vehicles used as robotaxis are equipped with an advanced version of FSD. Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla's head of artificial intelligence, stated in a post on X that some of the company's robotaxi vehicles would operate without supervision.