Tesla has not yet officially launched the "fully automatic driving function"
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According to Electrek, Tesla introduced its second-generation Autopilot hardware, known as Autopilot 2.0, along with the "Enhanced Autopilot" and "Full Autopilot" packages a year ago. However, despite initial expectations, the rollout of the full autonomous driving features has faced delays. Despite this, new data from Electrek reveals that a significant number of Tesla owners have already opted to purchase these advanced packages.
Sources close to the company told Electrek that among Tesla's global fleet of over 90,000 vehicles equipped with Autopilot 2.0 hardware, approximately 77% of owners have purchased the "Enhanced Autopilot" package, while 40% have gone for the "Full Autopilot" option. This means that more than 35,000 Tesla owners have paid $3,000 (around RMB 20,000) for a feature that hasn't been officially released yet. Elon Musk hasn't provided a clear timeline for when the full self-driving capability will be enabled.
Tesla has warned that the feature is still under development and requires extensive software validation and regulatory approval, which may vary depending on location. Meanwhile, the "Enhanced Autopilot" package, priced at $5,000 (approximately RMB 33,000), has been purchased by over 69,000 owners in the past year. Some of those who bought the "Full Autopilot" package did so because they wanted complete autonomy, even though the feature isn't available yet.
Both packages are software-based, as all cars come with the same Autopilot 2.0 hardware, including eight cameras, a forward-facing radar, ultrasonic sensors, and a dedicated autopilot computer. Earlier this summer, Tesla slightly upgraded the system to what it now calls Autopilot 2.5.
Even for cars without any Autopilot packages, less than a quarter of buyers have the Autopilot 2.0 hardware. These owners can later activate the features remotely, but at a higher cost—$1,000 more than the current price.
Analysts are surprised by the high demand, especially for the fully autonomous driving feature. Many customers seem confident that Tesla will eventually roll out the functionality and don’t want to pay more later. Despite the lack of activation, the sales of these packages have already generated over $100 million (about 660 million yuan) in revenue.
Some owners expressed disappointment, believing that the Autopilot program wasn't delivering as quickly as CEO Elon Musk had promised when he launched Autopilot 2.0. While Tesla has rebuilt the original Autopilot 1.0 using its own computer vision system, the enhanced and full versions of Autopilot remain unactivated in most vehicles.
This summer, the pace of updates seemed to slow down, but Tesla has been gathering more data and hiring AI and Autopilot experts to accelerate progress. The company plans to demonstrate full self-driving capabilities in the country soon, and the public should gain a clearer picture of Tesla’s roadmap before the end of the year.