Almost certainly a move that will compel both diehard Tesla owners and new customers to buy the limited-time offer, Tesla has declared Full Self-Driving (FSD) transfer options on all fresh orders of Model S, 3, X, and Y (or S3XY as they are now collectively referred to) in Europe and the Middle East.
This is the first time Tesla is extending this incentive beyond North America, as it seeks to continue its international expansion and achieve significant penetration of its premier autonomous driving technology.
What FSD Transfer?
The Full Self-Driving package offered by Tesla is an exclusive suite of software programs meant to enable a Tesla car to self-drive on the road, on highways, at interchanges, and even in parking lots. Although the FSD remains a Level 2 driver-assistance system, it is expensive, with each market priced at approximately €12,000 to €15,000 at present, which makes it one of the most luxurious products offered by Tesla.
This was not so in the past, where after one bought FSD into a particular car, it could not follow you to another car, even where one chose to upgrade. It implied that diehard Tesla users who already purchased a new model would be forced to pay for the FSD package once again. The inefficiency of porting FSD not only to each other but to the rest of the fleet was a decades-long source of frustration for the early adopters and enthusiasts.
Under this new plan, the existing owners with FSD on an older model of Tesla can now carry the same features to a new S3XY order, thus allowing them to save thousands of euros or dirhams, according to the location.
Regional Significance
So far, customers in the United States and Canada (typically during short promotions) were the only people to be able to make FSD transfers. Expanding this to Europe and the Middle East is indicative of an increasing level of confidence in the way Tesla is positioned and its infrastructure in those territories.
In Europe, Tesla has been operating in a more complicated legal environment in terms of the autonomous driving functionality. The presence of compliance procedures with regulatory bodies and the existence of diverse regulations amongst member countries of the EU have made the introduction of some FSD capabilities take longer than in the U.S. Still, Tesla is experimenting with its software in the European markets, and the expansion of its Supercharger network has already created good cornerstones to go further.
How It Works
To be eligible for the free FSD transfer, customers have to fulfill only some general conditions:
- The current Tesla has to be the fully purchased (not subscribed) Full Self-Driving package.
- The order placed on the new vehicle needs to be made during the promotion window that Tesla has not dated, but is assumed to take place over a limited time frame until Q3 2025.
- The transfer of ownership also requires the trade-in or deactivation of the existing FSD vehicle.
It has simplified the task through its app and web portal so that customers can quickly check their qualifications, get and track their order to help their new vehicle be delivered.
Strategic Implications
This offer not only serves as gratitude to loyal customers of Tesla, as this is a strategy game. Attracting the current owners to upgrade to newer models by Tesla will generate a flywheel effect: existing Tesla units go into the second-hand market with high resale value, and new ones are shipped with future-proof hardware.
It also provides Tesla with a competitive advantage. The transfer of features that are software-based is not possible across automakers in most cases. The step taken by Tesla in this direction may establish a new trend in the auto industry in terms of software bundling and valuing.
