Tesla rarely offers any incentives. But, for a short time, the company is offering an end-of-year incentive – three free months of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) option for anyone who takes delivery of a new Tesla before midnight on Thursday, December 31. It’s the second incentive Tesla has offered this month. Model 3 and Model Y buyers can also qualify for a year of free supercharging today and tomorrow.
So far, the press knows little about how this incentive works. Full Self-Driving, Tesla says, will eventually enable owners to ride in their car as it drives itself. But it’s not yet available. A few Tesla owners have received it for beta testing, but the company has kept that number small. Tesla hasn’t announced the final date when it will be available to the public.
Buyers can order the feature today, with the understanding that Tesla will activate it over the air once the software is finished. It’s available as a $10,000 option, or for a monthly subscription fee…but the company has yet to reveal the monthly price.
All we know, for now, comes from this tweet from Tesla founder Elon Musk:
Presumably, this entitles buyers to a free, three-month trial of FSD once it’s available, and doesn’t apply to those paying for the feature up front.
December 31 is typically the best day of the year to buy a new car. For accounting reasons, dealers want to carry as little inventory as they can headed into a new year. Most automakers also offer dealerships a bonus based on the number of cars sold each month…which means that, on the last day of the month, you can find yourself negotiating with a dealership willing to make less of your money on the sale of a car, because the manufacturer may send money their way for the sale.
Tesla dealerships are not incentivized the same way, because Tesla doesn’t work with partners to sell its cars. It directly owns its own dealerships. But investors still want to see the company post good quarterly sales numbers, so, at the end of a quarter, Tesla is sometimes willing to offer buyers an enticement.
