Tesla Drops Autopilot Features And Pushes Costly Upgrade

In a move that has sent shockwaves through the electric vehicle community, Tesla has officially discontinued its Basic Autopilot as a standard feature on new Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in North America, effective January 23, 2026. This significant change comes amid mounting financial pressures and a rapidly evolving competitive landscape, forcing buyers to subscribe to the $99-per-month Full Self-Driving (FSD) package to access features that were once included at no extra cost.

For nearly seven years, Tesla’s Basic Autopilot suite offered drivers two key features: Traffic-Aware Cruise Control (TACC), which maintains a set speed while keeping a safe distance from the car ahead, and Autosteer, a lane-centering tool that helps keep vehicles safely within their lanes. But as of this week, new Tesla buyers will find themselves with only TACC included as standard. Autosteer, once a hallmark of Tesla’s safety and convenience, now sits behind the paywall of the FSD subscription. According to Electrek, this adjustment marks a sharp departure from Tesla’s long-standing strategy, and it’s left many consumers and industry observers scratching their heads.

This isn’t just a minor tweak—Tesla’s shift has real implications for safety and value. Lane-keeping features like Autosteer are widely considered essential safety tools, reducing driver fatigue and preventing dangerous lane drift. Yet, as Motor1 points out, even economy cars such as the 2026 Toyota Corolla LE and Honda Civic now offer lane-centering as a standard feature. In contrast, Tesla customers are being asked to shell out an extra $1,200 per year for the same capability. For budget-conscious buyers aiming for monthly payments in the $500–$600 range, this new requirement could be a deal-breaker.

The timing of this change is telling. Tesla’s sales have been declining for two years, and the company recently lost access to significant U.S. subsidies that had previously bolstered its profits. Some industry analysts and consumers see the removal of Autosteer as a desperate attempt to shore up revenue by nudging more buyers toward the FSD subscription. As one top commenter, Pabbers, noted on Electrek, "Tesla seem totally delusional about the appeal of their cars, and the capabilities and value of competitors. Gone are the days where people would flock to buy Teslas because they were the best product out there. Now, the competition has caught up and overtaken Tesla. And they also have the advantage of not having a divisive figure at the helm."

Indeed, the company’s latest pricing structure is part of a broader pivot away from one-time software purchases. Starting February 14, 2026, Tesla will discontinue the $8,000 one-time fee for FSD, shifting exclusively to the $99-per-month subscription model. CEO Elon Musk has made it clear that this price will only go up as FSD’s capabilities improve. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Musk stated, "I should also mention that the $99/month for supervised FSD will rise as FSD's capabilities improve." He added, "The massive value jump is when you can be on your phone or sleeping for the entire ride (unsupervised FSD)."

While Musk touts the future potential of FSD, the present reality is more complicated. Tesla’s online vehicle configurator now lists only Traffic-Aware Cruise Control as standard on all Model 3 and Model Y trims, regardless of price. Even the $59,130 Performance version omits Autosteer, offering instead a 30-day trial of FSD. This has led to widespread confusion and frustration among would-be buyers, with many turning to social media to voice their displeasure. As reported by Motor1, reactions have ranged from "super lame" to "laughable," with some consumers pledging to consider rival brands for their next purchase.

Speculation is rife about the true motivation behind Tesla’s decision. Some suggest it’s a bid to increase the FSD subscription "take rate," which has lagged behind expectations. As of October 2025, only 12% of Tesla customers had opted for FSD, according to chief financial officer Vaibhav Taneja—a far cry from the numbers Musk needs to unlock his staggering $1 trillion CEO performance award. One of the pay package’s key milestones is reaching 10 million active FSD subscriptions by 2035. As TechCrunch notes, removing lane-centering from the standard package may be Tesla’s way of nudging more customers toward the lucrative subscription model.

The backdrop to these changes includes regulatory scrutiny and legal challenges. In December 2025, a California judge ruled that Tesla had engaged in deceptive marketing by overstating the capabilities of both Autopilot and FSD, resulting in a 30-day suspension of Tesla’s manufacturing and dealer licenses in the state. The California Department of Motor Vehicles, which brought the case, agreed to stay the ruling for 60 days so Tesla could comply by discontinuing the Autopilot name. This regulatory pressure likely played a role in the company’s decision to overhaul its driver-assistance offerings.

Despite Musk’s ambitious vision for fully autonomous vehicles, Tesla’s FSD remains a supervised system, requiring drivers to keep their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. The company has faced lawsuits and investigations over its rollout of FSD and Autopilot, with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration linking the overpromising of Autopilot’s capabilities to hundreds of crashes and at least 13 fatalities. In October 2025, the U.S. auto regulator launched an investigation after reports surfaced that Teslas equipped with FSD were running red lights and driving on the wrong side of the road.

Still, Tesla is pushing ahead with its vision for the future. On the same day it discontinued Basic Autopilot, the company rolled out its first robotaxi Model Y SUVs in Austin, Texas. These vehicles, running an advanced version of Tesla’s driving software, operate without human safety personnel inside—but are still followed by other company cars for supervision. Musk maintains that true "unsupervised" FSD is on the horizon and will massively boost demand for Tesla’s vehicles once it arrives. For now, though, the company makes it clear that FSD requires active driver supervision.

Tesla’s journey with driver-assistance technology has been a bumpy one. The company first introduced Autopilot in the early 2010s, after talks broke down with Google over using its autonomous driving tech. By April 2019, Autopilot was standard on all Teslas. Over the years, however, the company has struggled to clearly communicate what its software could—and couldn’t—do, sometimes leading drivers to overestimate its abilities with tragic consequences.

As 2026 unfolds, Tesla’s gamble on subscriptions and advanced autonomy is a high-wire act. The company is betting that customers will pay for features once taken for granted—and that regulators and competitors won’t outpace its technological ambitions. Whether this strategy will pay off remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: the road ahead for Tesla, its customers, and the future of automated driving just got a lot more complicated.