Previously bundled into the base price of its cars, Autopilot had become a signature feature for Tesla, offering basic semi-autonomous capabilities. Its sudden removal from new Model 3 and Model Y orders marks a decisive shift in Tesla’s sales and software strategy, with a growing emphasis on recurring revenue through subscriptions.
The change comes with no official press release, no wide announcement, and no adjustment in pricing for the base models, despite the loss of included features. This quiet rollout has left customers and followers of the brand reacting across social platforms, where users began noticing the absence of Autopilot options while configuring new vehicles. The move was later acknowledged in posts from Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
From Included Feature To Paid Add-on
Tesla’s Autopilot package, once offered as standard on all vehicles, included two core features: Autosteer, designed to keep the vehicle centered in its lane, and Traffic-Aware Cruise Control (TACC), which maintained a safe following distance by adapting to the speed of vehicles ahead.
Now, both of these functions are no longer provided out of the box. Instead, they are part of the Full Self-Driving (Supervised) suite, which comes at an additional cost either through a one-time payment or monthly subscription. This update affects all new Tesla vehicles ordered in the US and Canada and reflects a wider shift in the company’s model, from hardware innovation to software-based monetization.
The base model still retains standard safety functions, but the active driver-assistance capabilities that made Tesla stand out in the electric vehicle market are no longer included by default.
Tesla Doubles Down on FSD Adoption
The withdrawal of Autopilot appears to be aimed at increasing adoption of Full Self-Driving, a product Tesla has been refining since its first beta release in 2020. The FSD program has since evolved, and in early 2024, Tesla officially rebranded it as “Supervised” to make clear that human oversight remains mandatory.
Tesla enthusiasts noted that this strategy was part of a broader push to grow FSD subscriptions. Though the cost of entry has increased, fans argue the value proposition has also grown, thanks to improvements in capabilities and upcoming software updates like FSD version 14, which is expected to begin rolling out by late 2025.
At present, customers can no longer opt for the more limited Autopilot setup. Their only option is to either purchase a car with basic functionality or invest in FSD, which still does not offer unsupervised autonomy but is being marketed as the full package for Tesla’s vision of automated driving.
I should also mention that the $99/month for supervised FSD will rise as FSD’s capabilities improve.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 23, 2026
The massive value jump is when you can be on your phone or sleeping for the entire ride (unsupervised FSD). https://t.co/YDKhXN3aaG
Rollout Confirmed by Musk, Questioned by Buyers
While Tesla did not officially announce the removal of Autopilot through traditional channels, the change was confirmed via posts and interactions from Elon Musk on X. Customers placing orders for new Model 3 and Model Y vehicles quickly observed the disappearance of Autopilot from Tesla’s online configurator, and the company did not dispute the change.
The Autopilot phase-out aligns with Tesla’s long-term plan to offer FSD as the centerpiece of its driver-assist ecosystem, with milestones like international supervised rollout targets set for 2025, and a potential unsupervised version being hinted at for 2026.
Despite some praise from loyal followers, the move has sparked frustration among customers who expected Autopilot to remain a default inclusion. Many have criticized the lack of transparency, as the base vehicle price remains unchanged despite the loss of key functionality that was previously included at no extra charge.
