Tesla just pulled the rug out from under anyone hoping to own their car’s autonomous driving features. After February 14, 2026, you can’t buy Full Self-Driving outright anymore—it’s $99 monthly subscriptions or nothing. The company ditched the $8,000 one-time purchase option that let you actually own the software permanently.
Autopilot Gets the Axe Too
The plot thickens beyond just FSD pricing. Tesla eliminated Autopilot’s free Autosteer feature, which previously handled highway lane-keeping without extra cost. New 2026 Teslas ship with only basic cruise control as standard. Want your car to steer itself on the freeway? That’s $99 monthly now. It’s like Netflix deciding you need Premium to watch anything beyond the main menu.
Musk Warns Prices Will Climb Higher
Elon Musk telegraphed the real punch line on January 23: “The $99/month for supervised FSD will rise as FSD’s capabilities improve.” He specifically cited the “massive value jump” coming when you can sleep for the entire ride during unsupervised autonomous driving. Translation: this $99 price tag is temporary bait before the real subscription costs kick in. As of December 2025, the average new EV price was $58,034, representing a 2.4% increase year-over-year.
The Business Model Behind the Switch
This isn’t just about recurring revenue—though Tesla loves that predictable software income stream. Musk’s compensation milestones require hitting 10 million active FSD subscriptions, with only 12% of current Tesla owners currently subscribing. Forcing subscription-only access eliminates the ownership alternative that was limiting adoption numbers.
Your Last Chance to Transfer Ownership
If you already own FSD outright, you keep it permanently. But Tesla’s ending one-time transfers after March 31, 2026, creating urgency for anyone considering vehicle upgrades. After that deadline, even existing FSD owners will face monthly subscriptions when buying new Teslas. The company is essentially grandfathering current owners while forcing everyone else into the subscription economy.
The shift signals a fundamental change in automotive software ownership. Your car’s capabilities increasingly depend on monthly payments rather than purchase decisions—assuming Tesla’s unsupervised driving promises eventually materialize beyond current supervised limitations.
