Tesla Full Self Driving Unsupervised Soon? And Further Conversations with Ara (the Grok AI Bot)

This is a personal account from a Tesla owner about the company's self-driving software, not an energy-efficiency story. It has little bearing on home upgrades or rebates, but here is what it covers.

The writer, who owns a 2026 Tesla Model Y, describes using Tesla's "Full Self Driving" (FSD) software, now on version 14, which handles most driving tasks like navigating, stopping, and parking without the driver touching the wheel. He also talks with Tesla's built-in AI assistant, called Ara, which is built on the Grok chatbot. Ara told him Tesla is already running driverless robotaxi rides in limited areas, such as Austin, Texas, and predicted that the next version, V15, expected around the end of this year or early next year, will offer fully unsupervised self-driving with no human backup needed. The writer is skeptical this will happen on that timeline.

On cost, Tesla no longer sells a one-time lifetime purchase of FSD to new buyers; it now charges $99 a month. Newer Teslas also no longer include basic lane-keeping assistance unless you pay for FSD. The writer worries that if Tesla raises prices further once "unsupervised" driving arrives, some owners on fixed incomes could be priced out of a feature that might reduce driving deaths.

None of this involves home energy upgrades, insulation, heating, or rebate programs. It is solely about electric vehicle software and Tesla's AI assistant.