Elon Musk Offers Free Test Drive of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving System to Boost Sales

Tesla, an electric vehicle company, is offering its Full Self-Driving (FSD) system free for a month to customers in the United States. This move is seen as a response to a slowdown in sales despite the growing popularity of electric vehicles.

According to Reuters and other sources, on the 26th, CEO Elon Musk wrote on his social media (SNS) X (formerly Twitter) account, “All cars in the US that support FSD will be able to test drive for free for a month this week.”

FSD is a Tesla driving assistance device that, in addition to the “autopilot” function that maintains distance from the car in front and follows the lane, can also change lanes, detect traffic lights, and reach a set destination.

However, unlike the autopilot function, which comes as standard, to use FSD, you need to purchase the software for $12,000 or pay a monthly fee of $199.

Musk has also emailed employees to instruct them to demonstrate FSD to new Tesla buyers. He said, “Almost no one realizes how well FSD works.”

Musk’s offer of a free FSD test drive comes amid a slowdown in electric vehicle sales, particularly in the United States.

In the case of Tesla, despite a 5% price reduction in the second half of last year, sales increased by only 3% compared to the first half of last year, indicating a global slowdown in the growth of electric vehicles.

This free test drive is seen as an attempt to offset the decline in electric vehicle demand through software sales.

Following this news, Tesla’s stock price closed at $177.67 on the New York Stock Exchange, up 2.92%. At one point, it rose by more than 6%.