Tesla Claims Its Full Self Driving (FSD) Saves Lives, But Wants You To Pay $99/Month To Get It

This one is outside the usual scope of home energy upgrades, but here's what it's about: Tesla CEO Elon Musk claims the company's Full Self-Driving software (FSD), a system that steers, brakes, and navigates with driver oversight, is safe enough to prevent 90 percent of the roughly one million traffic deaths that happen worldwide each year. Yet Tesla charges $99 a month for FSD and recently dropped automatic lane centering, a simpler safety feature, from the standard equipment on its new cars, pushing more buyers toward the paid subscription.

The writer, a Tesla owner who used FSD V14 on a 2026 Model Y, argues this echoes the early history of seatbelts, which started as a paid option before becoming standard and eventually legally required. He suggests that if FSD truly saves lives, Tesla may eventually face pressure to make it standard, or even license it to other automakers the way it opened its Supercharger network. He also shares a personal near-miss where overriding FSD led to a minor crash, and notes that other automakers still favor lidar and radar systems over Tesla's camera-only approach, especially for driving in bad weather.

For homeowners, this has no direct bearing on energy upgrades or rebates. It is simply news about the ongoing debate over self-driving car safety and pricing.