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Tesla Prices to Skyrocket Once Self-Driving Tech is Ready

Thinking about buying a Tesla?  You may want to think about doing it sooner rather than later, at least according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk.  It sounds as though Musk believes that the price of Tesla self-driving cars will soon go up substantially.

The Tweet

Earlier today, Twitter user @DisruptResearch asked Musk: “Do consumers have limited time left to buy a Tesla car, since prices would have to go up severalfold to balance supply & demand once you solve FSD [Full Self-Driving]?” 

Musk soon replied with a simple ‘yes’, though he quickly followed up with additional information:

Musk’s View of Tesla’s Future

One of the most lauded features of Tesla vehicles is the fact that they are quickly moving towards full autonomy.  They already come to customers with the necessary hardware onboard, and once the software is updated, government regulations are laid out and met, and local legislation is in place to deal with this new form of transport, Tesla cars should be ready to hit the roads all on their own. 

Musk sees a future where these Tesla self-driving vehicles will be able to operate as robotaxis.  This means that there will be fleets of fully autonomous taxis on the road, plus private owners will have the potential of receiving passive income if they choose to participate in the program.  

Tesla Self-Driving Car Price Increase

So if a Tesla vehicle has the potential of earning thousands of dollars a year, then why would Tesla continue to sell them at their current prices?  It just does not make sense.  Musk has previously called Tesla cars “appreciating assets”, and believes that a robotaxi is “several times more valuable” than a manually driven car.  That means that in the near future, we should expect the price of Teslas to increase to compensate. 

Of course, Musk’s ideas regarding robotaxis should be taken with a grain of salt.  There are no car companies selling fully autonomous cars yet, and there are honestly no cars currently sold or even in a prototype which come close.  The timeline on this probability continues to be pushed back, and there is no reason to expect full autonomy to appear on the roads within the next 1-2 years at least.

Once prices rise to what Musk believes is an acceptable level, will Tesla remove its focus from consumer sales and turn its eye to commercial sales instead?  If the money is right, it may be fair to assume that this is the direction Tesla may move to in the future. 

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