Tesla Price Increase: How Much More Will The FSD Driver Assistance System Cost Buyers?

Tesla (TSLA) will raise the price of its top-end driver assistance system – Full Self-Driving (FSD) – according to a tweet from CEO Elon Musk.

Musk said in a tweet on Sunday, "After wide release of FSD Beta 10.69.2, price of FSD will rise to $15k in North America on September 5th."

The cost of the FSD will increase $3,000 on Sept. 5, up from its previous $12,000 price tag. Tesla customers can also pay a $199 per month subscription fee for the FSD software.

There was no word from Musk as to the reason for the price hike rather just a wider rollout of the driver assistance feature prompting the increase, which he called a "big step forward." It was also unclear if the cost of the FSD subscription would rise.

Musk did say that those that purchase the FSD upgrade prior to Sept. 5 would be "honored" the lower price of the system, but it would be released after that date.

Tesla's FSD system is its highest-priced driver assistance package which includes features such as "Traffic and "Stop Sign Control" and "Navigate on Autopilot," among other options.

Tesla does advise drivers to keep their hands on the wheel at all times when using FSD or Autopilot in case there is a situation where they need to intervene.

While the vehicle is not fully autonomous with FSD, Musk said back in 2020 that the price will continue to rise as the software gets "closer to full self-driving capability," which could eventually cost more than $100,000.

Tesla's self-driving technology has come under scrutiny by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which said in June it was expanding its investigation into the driver-assistance feature of the electric carmaker.

The NHTSA is also looking into more than 750 reports from drivers that claim their Teslas activated the brakes when driving without warning in what has been called "phantom braking."

Since 2016, the agency has also opened 38 probes into collisions that involved a Tesla that was using a driver assistance system, including Autopilot and FSD, CNBC reported. As many as 19 fatalities were reported in those crashes, the news outlet said.

As of Monday premarket hours, shares of Tesla were trading at $870.92, down $19.08 or 2.14%.