In an effort to boost demand and keep up with the increasing competition, Tesla is offering a free trial of FSD on its cars for an entire month.
All Tesla cars (which support FSD) will get a free one-month trial to test the FSD, confirms Elon Musk. FSD, in Tesla’s parlance, refers to the Full Self-Driving System. In essence, it is an evolved avatar of the regular ADAS we find on many modern cars. However, as the name suggests, Tesla’s FSD is capable of fully autonomous driving, but only in select locations and roads. To ensure that every Tesla owner gets a taste of how this technology actually works, Elon Musk announced via X that Tesla will offer a free trial to the owners whose cars support the latest FSD version 12.3.1.
All US cars that are capable of FSD will be enabled for a one month trial this week
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 26, 2024
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Free FSD Trial For Tesla Cars
While engaging in a conversation with Whole Mars Catalog post on X, Elon Musk wrote, “All US cars that are capable of FSD will be enabled for a one-month trial this week.” This came after TeslaMojo expressed, “The one-month FSD Beta trial should include any existing owners who have never experienced it.” He tagged Elon Musk, Whole Mars Blog and Sawyer Merritt in this post. That is when Elon Musk made this exciting announcement.
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Tesla FSD Tech
Normally, the FSD costs $12,000 to the customers who wish to use it. However, in recent times, we have seen a slowdown in the sales of EVs in general. Tesla has also reeled under the aftermath of the slowing sales. Apart from that, the competition from the rivals, particularly in markets like China (from BYD), has been fierce. Tesla lost the top spot for highest EV sales in the last quarter of last year to BYD for the first time ever. Hence, the Chinese auto giant is clipping on the heels of the American EV marque.
To create demand and boost sales, Tesla is adopting unprecedented means. For instance, last year, we saw multiple price cuts from Tesla, something we had never seen before. Secondly, Tesla, for the first time, started advertising its products. Finally, Elon Musk’s promise to hand out freebies in order to get potential customers, as well as existing customers, excited about the FSD, is yet another sign that Tesla is leaving no stone unturned to expand its market share.
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Learn Electric Cars Says
The fact that Elon Musk is offering such amenities to the public for free is a testament to just how concerning the situation is. The USA and China are witnessing slower-than-expected sales of electric cars. Note that while the overall sales are still rising, they are not increasing as rapidly as industry experts had anticipated. Also, this is true only for the mature markets. In the developing countries, the EV adoption is still at a nascent stage. Hence, the demand and sales are at an all-time high. We shall have to observe how these desperate measures from Tesla affect its sales going forward.