So still debating whether I wanted to add FSD so I thought I’d give Tesla a call and see what the process was.

TLDR: Process to add FSD driving for model 3 seems to have not been trained to employees and was a complete clusterF.

First I called my local service center and they I no idea what I was talking about. She kept calling it cruise control and told me that I already had it. And then she put me on hold to ask her colleagues, and she came back to tell me that FSD doesn’t exist yet due to Federal regulations, so its not a feature I can add to my Tesla yet. Probably a new employee so I just politely ended the phone call.

Next call was to my ISA who redirected me to the main tesla hotline. Main Tesla hotline told me I should be able to do it directly in my tesla account, but they logged into my account and saw my account didnt have that option. ( Not sure if its my account specifically or all model 3’s in general, so if anyone has it in their account, lemme know!) So they redirected my phone call to the roadside assistance to call Account services. I told them that I wanted to add FSD but before I had a chance to explain the situation, they immediately redirected my call to the main Tesla helpline.

Decided to call roadside assistance back and choose option 1 (services help - super charging, auto pilot etc). Asked the guy about how to ask FSD, he put me on hold cause he didn’t know how. Came back and told me I already had it. Thinking I had somehow mistakenly gotten FSD for free, I asked him why it wasn’t showing up under my options. Turns out he meant I already had EAP.

Once we cleared that misunderstanding up, he had to put me on hold again to ask someone about it. Came back and told me that I need to call my local service center and they can add it and take payment. So here I am, almost 4 hrs later, full circle back at step 1....
Also asked him how much it would cost to add. (I know its 4000 but just wanted to see if they could waive the 1000 upcharge since I just took delivery). As he was looking through the system, he said he couldn’t find it anywhere in the Tesla database.

So at this point I do have a service center visit scheduled, for other minor issues, but no idea what to expect in regards to FSD.


Anyone else have a successful experience adding FSD after delivery?

 

I'm curious about this too, since I'm considering adding EAP to my car before/during/right after delivery. Hoping to be able to skip the $1000 upcharge.

 

I feel, until FSD is actually available, they should not be charging an additional $1,000 to add it. Charging an additional fee for a service that isn't even usable yet is a rip off.

 

There is no reason to add FSD after delivery until it’s available. Before is a judgement call on saving $1,000. Beyond that why spend $4,000 after delivery “today”.

 

Isn't the general idea that FSD is much cheaper today then it will be? If FSD was available tomorrow I'd imagine they'd charge the 5k for it just like EAP.

 

$3,000 with the car or $4,000 after to upgrade. The $3,000 angle obviously also affords the ability to include it with financing.

 

The reason I want to add it now is because I think that when they do release FSD, it will cost more than 4000 dollars. Not sure if itll be a combination of hardware or software upgrades, but I do believe the price is only going to go up from here.

 

Yeah, I still wouldn't do it. You passed up the easy 1k and want to drop 4k on something that might work in the next 2 years and might be extra. That really doesn't sound like a rational financial decision process.

 

Aside from the good financial points mentioned above...is anyone actually going to trust FSD enough to use it? I didn't trust EAP enough to make that purchase, but FSD will be in its own galaxy of untrustworthiness in my mind. Are you really going to let your $60k car attempt to drive itself? Are you willing to watch from the back seat?

I'm sure when FSD initially rolls out it will be flawless on the interstate, but there are far too many variables to driving a vehicle in other places, and programming can only account for so many of them.

I don't doubt that one day FSD will be completely viable, but I don't think Tesla is anywhere close to putting that kind of AI into their cars yet.

Disclaimer: My opinion is just based on what I've read and seen; I have no knowledge of autopilot's level of programming.

 

Aside from the good financial points mentioned above...is anyone actually going to trust FSD enough to use it? I didn't trust EAP enough to make that purchase, but FSD will be in its own galaxy of untrustworthiness in my mind. Are you really going to let your $60k car attempt to drive itself? Are you willing to watch from the back seat?

I'm sure when FSD initially rolls out it will be flawless on the interstate, but there are far too many variables to driving a vehicle in other places, and programming can only account for so many of them.

I don't doubt that one day FSD will be completely viable, but I don't think Tesla is anywhere close to putting that kind of AI into their cars yet.

Disclaimer: My opinion is just based on what I've read and seen; I have no knowledge of autopilot's level of programming.

Based on the claims they've made with Autopilot I don't think I'll trust them anytime soon. They're angling to be a market leader which is great but I don't want to be the guy to be buying it day1. Look at the AP site, it can't do half of that stuff but you wouldn't know that by reading the site. Even with the claim that AP is 40% safer. I do trust it would react to most situations way quicker then I would but it'd also be more prone to drive completely off the road then I am.

 

Until the cars are equipped with transponders and a robust TCAS-like (Traffic Collision Avoidance System for commercial aircraft) method, I will be very leery of the FSD. My guess is, if I'm not sold on it, the general public and legislature will be even more skeptical.

I am not a financial adviser, but if I had 4k burning a hole in my pocket and wanted the FSD down the line and felt very confident in the tech coming to market in the near future, I might put 2k into TSLA and the other 2k into NVDA or something similar. If it all comes to pass the way you expect, then I should see enough gains to convert that stock into FSD for my car. If it doesn't, then I can sell and recover a good portion of the original 4k.

That's just me, please don't look at this as advice.

 

I placed my order for AWD Model 3 the end of May. With the announcement of FSD features coming in August version 9 of software, and the recent post delivery price increase (from 4000 to 5000) I'm thinking I want to add FSD but I am afraid to "Edit Design" because I don't want my order to be delayed and I don't want to pay 1500 instead of 1000 for the white. I already added autopilot. I assume I can add FSD for the 3K at delivery or just prior to delivery as it is just software. Correct?

 

I think you should call Tesla. Adding at delivery probably isn't going to work because all the paperwork is filled out. You might be able to add it when your delivery specialist contacts you, but even that might be too late.

 

I would not bother, I highly doubt it will be out.

 

So still debating whether I wanted to add FSD so I thought I'd give Tesla a call and see what the process was.

TLDR: Process to add FSD driving for model 3 seems to have not been trained to employees and was a complete clusterF.

First I called my local service center and they I no idea what I was talking about. She kept calling it cruise control and told me that I already had it. And then she put me on hold to ask her colleagues, and she came back to tell me that FSD doesn't exist yet due to Federal regulations, so its not a feature I can add to my Tesla yet. Probably a new employee so I just politely ended the phone call.

Next call was to my ISA who redirected me to the main tesla hotline. Main Tesla hotline told me I should be able to do it directly in my tesla account, but they logged into my account and saw my account didnt have that option. ( Not sure if its my account specifically or all model 3's in general, so if anyone has it in their account, lemme know!) So they redirected my phone call to the roadside assistance to call Account services. I told them that I wanted to add FSD but before I had a chance to explain the situation, they immediately redirected my call to the main Tesla helpline.

Decided to call roadside assistance back and choose option 1 (services help - super charging, auto pilot etc). Asked the guy about how to ask FSD, he put me on hold cause he didn't know how. Came back and told me I already had it. Thinking I had somehow mistakenly gotten FSD for free, I asked him why it wasn't showing up under my options. Turns out he meant I already had EAP.

Once we cleared that misunderstanding up, he had to put me on hold again to ask someone about it. Came back and told me that I need to call my local service center and they can add it and take payment. So here I am, almost 4 hrs later, full circle back at step 1....
Also asked him how much it would cost to add. (I know its 4000 but just wanted to see if they could waive the 1000 upcharge since I just took delivery). As he was looking through the system, he said he couldn't find it anywhere in the Tesla database.

So at this point I do have a service center visit scheduled, for other minor issues, but no idea what to expect in regards to FSD.

Anyone else have a successful experience adding FSD after delivery?

I just checked my Tesla online account and did see the option to purchase FSD. I took delivery of my model 3 about 3 weeks ago. When you sign into your account, go to the Main Vehicle page and at the bottom left-hand there is a link that says "Shop" and "Autopilot Upgrades". Clicking that takes you to a page to select that you want to purchase it. I would assume from there you would make the payment and then when FSD is available to everyone you would get a notification for the upgrade, like other over-the-air updates.

 

And what price does it show you? The original $4k upgrade price or the $5k price that is now shown for new orders?

 

I'm reading that those who have already ordered may still get the $4,000 upgrade price, so might ask about that?

 

Mine still shows 4k.

I told me wife last night that there was some talk going on online that the FSD after purchase is going to be 5k. She instantly came back with.. "I told you that you should have just ordered it"

 

I also saw the Autopilot option under "Shop" this morning, with FSD costing $4000, but now don't see the Autopilot option anymore. Someone is tinkering with the site...

 

Pros of buying FSD now:
Cheaper
Price can be financed.

Pros of waiting to buy FSD:
You don't waste money if the car is totaled or sold before you even get the chance to use it.
Use of FSD is completely dependent on the lawmakers first passing laws governing autonomous driving and liability issues. Who knows when?
IF/WHEN FSD does become a reality and you decide to use it for Tesla Ride Share, the cost of FSD would theoretically be a business expense and deductible at that time. Possibly also may be a payment plan through Tesla to deduct from your FSD payment from rideshare fares so basically no money out of pocket to you. Also possible that Tesla may have some promotion that if you decide to join Tesla Ride Share that you get discounted or free FSD activation?

As per Elon's example, if someone hacked Tesla and commanded all of the FSD cars to drive to New Hampshire, your car would still be in the driveway because you never paid for FSD.

 

I placed my order for AWD Model 3 the end of May. With the announcement of FSD features coming in August version 9 of software

FSD is not coming in august. but some future version of V9.x likely will be what FSD is first released under. for reference, v8.0 was released in September 2016, and we are still running v8.x nearly 2 years later.

but for when it can be done without the extra fee, the config page does say 'after' delivery. mine being the latest with the $5k vs yours should be $4k for having ordered earlier - that I would hope remains the case for the life of your car, but if you don't add FSD before/at delivery, you may want to have them confirm (in writing) your upgrade cost if done later.

 

If you sell the car it will recuperate some cost of the FSD option, since the buyer would otherwise have to pay $4-5k to add it. You may even recover the entire $3k.

 

That's assuming the second hand buyer values FSD of course.

 

I had planned on adding FSD sometime down the road, depending on how it’s development progressed. However, I ended up adding it during configuration last week. Not sure if it was the smart thing to do or not. Time will tell. The reason I decided to add it now rather than later are:
1) Elon hinted at FSD features being rolled out in August. So, it sounds like FSD will not be an all or none proposition, but more along the line of EAP, with various features being added along the way.
2) The after purchase price increased from $4,000 to $5,000. So, $3,000 now, or $5,000 (or more) later.
3) Elon’s guarantee that if additional hardware is required for FSD, the early adopters will be covered.

 

Elon hinted that software version 9.x would likely be released in August, and FSD would first be released under 9.x.
That does in no way hint that FSD would be released in August.

 

Well, he said that the long-awaited Tesla Version 9 software will be coming out in August. And he said that "With V9, we will begin to enable full self-driving features". So, still sounds like a good hint to me. True, the FSD features may come later than August. The key statement for me was "begin to enable full self-driving features". It sounds like they will be gradually integrating these FSD features, just like EAP. It's not going to be an all or none deal.

 

I agree, it will be a gradual buildup to what was shown in the FSD video they shared, but don't think we will be seeing any FSD features at the beginning of 9.x

 

Come on MelindaV, order FSD! You know you want to! It's not too late, just a phone call. . Our Model 3s will then be twins

 

Pros of buying FSD now:
Cheaper
Price can be financed.

Pros of waiting to buy FSD:
You don't waste money if the car is totaled or sold before you even get the chance to use it.
Use of FSD is completely dependent on the lawmakers first passing laws governing autonomous driving and liability issues. Who knows when?
IF/WHEN FSD does become a reality and you decide to use it for Tesla Ride Share, the cost of FSD would theoretically be a business expense and deductible at that time. Possibly also may be a payment plan through Tesla to deduct from your FSD payment from rideshare fares so basically no money out of pocket to you. Also possible that Tesla may have some promotion that if you decide to join Tesla Ride Share that you get discounted or free FSD activation?

As per Elon's example, if someone hacked Tesla and commanded all of the FSD cars to drive to New Hampshire, your car would still be in the driveway because you never paid for FSD.

I don't think the FSD will simply be black or white.
There's a good chance that FSD option cars will start seeing bonus features to differentiate it from EAP well before true autonomous driving is possible or approved.
Of course we have no idea what those extra capabilities will be. I think Elon eluded those may start rolling out this fall.

 

I can't think of any FSD features that are still technically controlled by the driver that aren't included under the EAP umbrella currently.

The true limiting factor is legal liability. There is no self driving function that I can think of that can be activated and won't expose Tesla to liability without laws in place to protect the manufacturers. A feature like Summon requires the driver to initiate the vehicle's motion when the operator is within close proximity and still is "in control" of the vehicle's operation in the event of an accident.

 

So how do you tell if the car has the option added? Does it say something on the info screen? How would you verify it was added at delivery time?

 

For anyone who ordered their M3 with FSD (or added it after purchase) - how do you tell that the option has been added to your car? I believe that the dual motor and performance versions show on the status screen, but what about FSD?

 

Technically speaking there is no way to tell as nothing is visually different on the car. In addition none of the FSD exclusive features have been activated yet.