There are many things about how Tesla is approaching self-driving technology that makes it different from the rest of the auto industry.
The automaker refuses to use lidar sensors and instead plans to rely mainly on computer vision technology using cameras.
It also started installing the needed hardware in all its vehicles years ago when it believed that self-driving had become mostly a software problem.
But most notably, Tesla started to pre-sell a “Full Self-Driving” package in its vehicles years before it planned on making the technology available through the software.
That’s a somewhat bold move that has been criticized for different reasons.
Some say that it’s confusing customers in thinking that Tesla vehicles are currently capable of self-driving, which is not the case.
Others have also criticized Tesla for often changing the price of the package up and down, even though they haven’t delivered the features promised in the package.
Over the last year, CEO Elon Musk has made Tesla’s pricing strategy clearer when it comes to the “Full Self-Driving” package: Tesla is going to increase the price of the package as it introduces new features.
Currently, Tesla sells the package for $7,000:
The increase happened late last year after Tesla bundled some Autopilot features into the package.
Now Musk says that Tesla will probably increase the price in July. When asked about a possible price increase on Twitter, he replied:
Yeah, probably July 1st.
It would coincide with Tesla’s worldwide release of the long-promised ability to “recognize and respond to traffic lights and stop signs.”
As we previously reported, Tesla is currently testing the capability in its early access program, and Musk believes that it’s going to be out in the US in a few weeks and in a few months worldwide.
Tesla has had to put some revenue from its sales of Full Self-Driving package aside as unrecognized revenue since it hasn’t delivered fully on the promised features.
As of 2019, Tesla had more than half a billion in unrecognized revenue from selling the Full Self-Driving package.
