Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, reiterated his commitment to self-driving technology on Saturday by cutting the cost of the company’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) driver assistant software from $12,000 to $8,000 in the US.
Musk believes the technology will let the most valuable car company in the world generate a sizable amount of income. However, despite increased legal and regulatory scrutiny for the technology, he has been unable to accomplish the aim of self-driving capabilities for years.
Musk announced earlier this month that Tesla will debut the robotaxis on August 8. This came after Reuters revealed that Tesla has abandoned its low-cost, mass-market vehicle in favor of the robotaxis.
The company claims that its driver assistance functions, which it refers to as Autopilot or FSD, do not enable autonomous driving and that active driver monitoring is still necessary.
In significant areas, Tesla has also been lowering the cost of its vehicle lineup. Faced with declining sales and an escalating competition in the electric vehicle market, Tesla slashed pricing in China by about $2,000 for its entire portfolio, replicating price reductions in the US.
