Teslaās CEO Elon Musk has for years been guiding the company towards an autonomous future with cars driving themselves around cities and towns with its full-self driving (FSD) software, if regulators would allow it.
In left-hand-drive markets like the US, this capability has been available to many Tesla owners but no launch timeline was hinted for right-hand-drive markets like Australia.
Now, Musk has taken to X to share that right-hand-drive customers could start receiving FSD software in their cars as early as the first quarter of 2025.
Hopefully, RHD markets in late Q1, early Q2, pending regulatory approval
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 5, 2024
This came just after the Tesla AI team released its roadmap for the products and features they are working on.
In that update, Tesla indicated FSD will be heading to Europe and China in Q1 2025, pending regulatory approvals.
Due to popular demand, Tesla AI team release roadmap:
September 2024
– v12.5.2 with ~3x improved miles between necessary interventions
– v12.5.2 on AI3 computer (unified models for AI3 and AI4)
– Actually Smart Summon
– Cybertruck Autopark š
– Eye-tracking with sunglasses š¶ļø
-ā¦— Tesla AI (@Tesla_AI) September 5, 2024
FSD software can be purchased with every new Tesla in Australia and as of the writing of this article, the price is $10,100.
In the US, the FSD capability can also be accessed via a subscription of $US199 per month.
The news of FSD release outside of the US comes over a year after Tesla started hiring āADAS Test Operatorsā outside of North America in Europe for what was believed to be the expansion of the Full Self Driving (FSD) Autopilot suite.Ā
Soon after that in July 2023, Tesla began hiring for āVehicle Operatorā roles right here in Australia with an aim to collect data on local roads.
As Tesla described it at that time, the local roles were to āhelp accelerate vehicle level data collectionā across ādesignated regions.ā These regions were referring to four states including Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia.
In recent months, multiple breakthroughs have been experienced by Tesla in the areas surrounding its FSD program.
This includes a wide release of the software from the Beta stage into the hands of everyday drivers who have purchased the software in the US.
With the latest update from Musk hinting at an early 2025 release in right-hand-drive markets, many Tesla owners could get to experience the carās full capabilities in the not-too-distant future.Ā
We just hope that the barrier to experiencing the software also comes down with a monthly subscription over an upfront cost being charged in Australia today.
RizĀ is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.