Tesla Offers FSD Free Trails to Customers: Will This Help or Hurt?

The Tesla CEO has long promoted the use of FSD, or Full Self-Driving Driver Assistance system, a potentially significant profit source for the EV maker. The software currently costs $12,000 a month or $199 per month for the subscription model.

How has FSD worked out so far for Tesla? 

Well, not too good.

The uptake of FSD has been relatively low so far. Musk has offered to give out free trials before. As early as December 2020, Tesla offered three months of free FSD to drivers in order to drive up sales revenue. The company has also promised to provide updates for the application every two weeks.

Sides are split on this offering as Tesla aficionados and EV skeptics give their takes all over social media. On the one hand, this move by Musk shows desperation, siting this ploy as one of the latest in a long-running series of end-of-quarter stunts by the CEO in order to boost sales, deliveries, and revenues. Fanatics of the brand believe that FSD is the future of EV technology and is at the center stage of how automobile transit will play out over the coming years. Users of FSD say that it genuinely operates better than what is reported in the media.

However, not all is looking good for the system. Over the years, Tesla has repeatedly fallen short of its promises to deliver fully autonomous driving. FSD still requires active supervision, meaning that one has to be attentive to the wheel at all times in order to safely operate the vehicle. 

To top it all off, Musk’s new requirement of FSD installation and demos can really harm the brand and product in multiple ways. Not only does this practice add additional time to an already lengthy sales process, but if the FSD product reveals any critical issues, it can be severely damaging to the company, given that all new Tesla owners will see the product in action via demo.

This new free-trial offer is opening eyes to the current situation at hand; with Tesla’s decline in sales and rampant competition brewing overseas, things are not looking good for the EV company.