Tesla Raises Price of Autopilot Option by $500
August 26 2016 - 1:10PM
Dow Jones News
Tesla Motors Inc. raised the price of its semi-autonomous
Autopilot option by $500, the latest move by the Silicon Valley
auto maker to adjust prices and options on its electric
vehicles.
The move comes the same week that the company made a more
capable battery pack available for its Model S sedan and Model X
SUV. The new 100 kilowatt-hour batteries will enable the sedan to
achieve as much as 315 miles on a charge and significantly increase
acceleration times, the company said Tuesday. It also takes the
price of the car to $134,500.
Earlier in August, Tesla started offering a new $593-per month
lease on its base Model S sedan.
Advanced driver-assistance programs are growing in popularity as
auto makers become more aggressive in marketing them or installing
them on models at the point of production. Analysts consider
features like automatic braking or adaptive cruise control to be
among the most profitable components of a new vehicle sale when an
auto maker offers those features as options.
Tesla's Autopilot feature will now cost $3,000, a spokeswoman
said, representing a 20% increase. Other auto makers charge a
variety of prices for active-safety packages, while some are
beginning to include them as standard in certain vehicle
ranges.
Honda Motor Co.'s system is considered less capable then
Tesla's, but is about half the price. Volvo Car Corp. recently
began selling its new S90 sedan with a standard "Pilot Assist"
feature.
Tesla will soon launch an "8.0" version of its Autopilot, Chief
Executive Elon Musk said during a recent conference call. The
upgrade will offer "material" enhancements to its performance;
Autopilot includes adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping aids,
automatic braking and other features allowing the car to drive
itself on the highway under certain circumstances.
Autopilot came under scrutiny in late June when the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it launched an
investigation into the system after a traffic fatality was
connected to it. Mobileye NV, an important supplier of the
Autopilot system, said it would stop supplying components to Tesla
for the software due to disagreements over how it was deployed.
Mr. Musk has said Mobileye's decision does not affect Tesla's
plans with Autopilot upgrades.
Write to John D. Stoll at john.stoll@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 26, 2016 12:55 ET (16:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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