Elon Musk raises price of Tesla's Full Self-Driving technology

The software will cost $15,000 in North America from September 5

Tesla chief executive Elon Musk speaks during the opening day of the Tesla Gigafactory in Gruenheide, Germany. EPA

Musk speaks next to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the prime minister of Brandenburg state, Dietmar Woidke, during the opening ceremony. AFP

The Tesla chief, right, was cheered as he oversaw the handover of the car maker's first German-made cars at the Gruenheide plant. EPA

Musk described the opening as "another step in the direction of a sustainable future". EPA

Tesla is likely to launch a test version of its new "full self-driving" software in Europe, possibly next year, the chief executive said. EPA

Musk dances as he hands over the first Teslas from the new factory. Getty Images

Musk said battery production will be a "challenge" next year and a "limiting factor" in the coming years. Reuters

Tesla cars are parked at the site of the new Tesla Gigafactory in Gruenheide, Germany. Reuters

Tesla was handing over the first Model Y cars made at its €5 billion Gruenheide plant to clients on March 22, the company said. Getty Images

The new Tesla Gigafactory is the company's first European production centre. Getty Images

Newly completed Tesla Model Y electric cars parked at the site near Gruenheide. Getty Images

The new factory is the largest investment in a German car factory in recent history. Getty Images

A road sign reading 'water protection area' next to the Tesla logo at the site of the Tesla factory. EPA

A road sign reading 'Tesla Street' at the new plant. EPA

A building under construction at the Tesla factory. EPA

At full capacity, the factory will produce 500,000 cars annually. EPA

Tesla plans to hire 12,000 workers at the plant. Bloomberg

The price of Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) software will rise to $15,000, the electric car maker's chief executive, Elon Musk, has said.

The world's richest person tweeted on Sunday night that price would increase from $12,000 in North America from September 5 after the release of version FSD Beta 10.69.2 for its driver assistance system.

Mr Musk said the current price would be honoured for orders made before September 5 but delivered later.

“FSD Beta 10.69 started rolling out to Tesla owners last night,” he tweeted. “This build is a big step forward! 10.69.1 probably end of week with wider release. 10.69.2 in a few weeks should be good enough to provide to all FSD Beta participants.”

FSD is also available on subscription for $199 a month but Mr Musk did not mention any alteration to the cost of that. It was also not stated whether the price rises would be across global markets.

This is the second FSD price rise this year, after it increased from $10,000 to $12,000 in January.

The current FSD offers auto lane changes, navigation on autopilot, autopark and smart summon, whereby the driver can use their phone to call the car and have it drive itself to their location without a driver.

Traffic light and stop-sign control allows the car to detect and react to traffic signals. Autosteer on city streets is “coming soon”, Tesla's website says.

Despite the advancements in technology, Tesla's FSD does not make its cars fully autonomous.

“The currently enabled features require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous,” Tesla said on its website.

“The activation and use of these features are dependent on achieving reliability far in excess of human drivers as demonstrated by billions of miles of experience, as well as regulatory approval, which may take longer in some jurisdictions.”

Tesla's FSD has sparked safety concerns and scrutiny from regulators.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been investigating a number of accidents in which it suspects Tesla's autopilot was being used.

Since 2016, the NHTSA has sent teams to 39 crashes in which self-driving systems are suspected of having been in use, according to agency documents. Of those, 30 involved Teslas, including crashes that caused 19 deaths.

Earlier this month it was revealed that the NHTSA was investigating more than 750 complaints about Teslas braking for no reason.

Last week, a BMW test car with autonomous-steering capability swerved out of its lane into oncoming traffic, killing one person and seriously injuring nine in Germany.

“The vehicle has a level 2 driving assistance system that is already incorporated in production vehicles today and which can support the driver on demand,” BMW said.

“With level 2 vehicles, the driver always retains responsibility.”

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