Customers decry Tesla’s shift to monthly fees for self-driving cars: ‘You will own nothing and be happy’

Elon Musk’s announcement that Tesla will soon cease sales of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software, making monthly fees the sole option for consumers, has sparked diverse online reactions and raised further questions about the trend among tech giants toward subscription-based services.

Musk, Tesla’s CEO, announced on Wednesday that FSD will no longer be available for outright purchase starting February 14, after which the software will “only be available as a monthly subscription.”

For Musk, this decision marks the end of his long-standing characterization of FSD as an “”, worth purchasing outright now because its price would only increase as the software improved. For Tesla, the shift represents the latest move by a tech giant toward a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, where a provider maintains its software—managing updates, security, and maintenance—while leasing it to users. But for those interested in Tesla and current owners of Musk’s vehicles, the change highlighted how challenging it has become to truly own products in today’s economy.

“Imagine purchasing a self-driving car and still needing to pay a monthly subscription just for it to actually drive itself,” one user in a reply to Musk’s announcement.

“You will own nothing and be happy.”

At current rates, Tesla owners can buy FSD—which remains primarily a driver-assistance system requiring an attentive driver at all times—for $8,000, or choose a monthly subscription for $99. Owners who have already purchased FSD will keep the software, though it remains unclear whether they can transfer the rights to a new vehicle, as Tesla previously allowed through . Tesla did not immediately respond to ‘s request for comment on whether rates would stay the same or if transfers between vehicles would be possible after February 14. At the current monthly rate, it would take drivers approximately seven years to equal the outright purchase price.

Tesla has steadily increased FSD’s purchase price from $5,000 at launch to $15,000 in 2022, its highest point. Musk characterized the price increases as proof that FSD was a wise investment for consumers to secure early, though the software’s upfront cost dropped to $8,000 in 2024, around when Tesla lowered the monthly rental fee in the U.S. from $199 to $99.

The price reductions followed reports of low conversion rates among Tesla drivers who chose to upgrade to FSD. While Tesla doesn’t publicly disclose the percentage of its customer base using FSD, CFO Vaibhav Taneja stated the proportion was “still small, around 12% of our current fleet” during an .

“You Will Never Actually Own Your EV”

Many responses to Musk’s announcement expressed frustration over the growing number of subscription-based features that automakers now reserve.

“People want to own their stuff outright, not be eternally beholden,” one user .

“You will never actually own your EV, because it will be useless without the software that you can never remove, replace, or modify,” another, before adding a recommendation: “Stick to internal combustion engines with as few computers as possible.”

Criticism has intensified recently regarding the software dependency of new vehicles, to the extent that the industry has labeled electric cars as “.” Tesla is hardly the only culprit, as in August, released a to boost the horsepower on some of its electric vehicles for $22.50 per month. GM also provides a subscription-based hands-free driving feature, Super Cruise, on select highways. Introduced in 2017, the service includes a three-year trial period, followed by a $25 monthly charge. Super Cruise has become a substantial revenue source for GM, which late last year an active user base of 600,000 and projected revenue exceeding $200 million for 2025.

Software updates and subscription fees for their vehicles may be beginning to annoy users. Last year, 68% of consumers indicated they would pay for car-connected services, according to an S&P Global , down from 86% in 2024.

While electric vehicles tend to be the most software-dependent, all cars today rely on connected services to some degree, regardless of their powertrain. Most modern vehicles are supported by , and frequent updates can rapidly render some features incompatible. In 2022, as carriers upgraded their telecommunications infrastructure from 3G, many vehicles manufactured by , Chrysler, and Jeep—including both battery- and gasoline-powered models—permanently lost access to a feature that automatically alerted first responders in the event of a collision.