Tesla has recently announced a new incentive, aiming to encourage current owners to upgrade their vehicles. Effective immediately, customers who upgrade from Enhanced Autopilot to Full Self-Driving (FSD) Capability will receive $1,000 off the purchase of a new Tesla. This offer is valid for deliveries made by September 30, 2024.
For years, Tesla owners who invested in the Full Self-Driving Capability package—priced up to $15,000—have requested the ability to transfer this feature when trading in their vehicles for newer models. The logical reasoning behind this request was straightforward: Tesla had yet to deliver the promised self-driving capability, and owners who still believed in the company’s potential to fulfill this promise via software updates wanted their investment to carry over.
Despite the logical appeal, Tesla had long resisted this idea. Eventually, the company relented but only for orders placed in the third quarter of 2023. CEO Elon Musk emphasized that this was a “one-time thing,” urging customers to take advantage of the offer within that specific timeframe.
“This is a one-time amnesty, so it needs to be—you need to take advantage of it in Q3, or at least place the order in Q3 within reasonable delivery time frames,” Musk stated. “So, yeah, yeah, yeah, hope this makes people happy. But want to—I mean, this is a one-time thing, OK?”
Critics argued that this move was less about doing right by customers and more about generating a surge in orders. It seemed Tesla was leveraging its own failure to deliver on its self-driving promises as a means to drive sales.
Despite Musk’s insistence that the offer was a one-time deal, Tesla reintroduced the incentive in April of this year and again earlier this month. Once more, Musk declared that it would be the “last quarter” for the offer, though similar statements had been made before.
In a recent email to customers, Tesla extended the offer until September 30, 2024. This time, it includes those with Enhanced Autopilot. The email detailed the new incentive:
“Upgrade your Enhanced Autopilot to Full Self-Driving (Supervised) and transfer it to a new Tesla purchase to get $1,000 off your new order. Take delivery by September 30, 2024, to be eligible.”
This extended offer is available until the end of the quarter, giving Tesla owners a fresh opportunity to take advantage of the transfer incentive and upgrade their driving experience.
