Tesla paywalls basic safety feature on Model 3 and Model Y vehicles

Tesla has announced it will put a paywall on its lane-centering feature for both the Model 3 and Model Y.

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This decision has effectively killed standard Autopilot, with the company now putting a basic safety feature behind the Full Self-Driving (FSD) subscription, which costs $99/month. Notably, Tesla included this feature in its vehicles for 7 years under the name "Basic Autopilot," which consists of two key mechanics: Traffic-Aware Cruise Control, which matches your vehicle's speed to the vehicle ahead, and Autosteer, which maintains the vehicle's center position within a lane. Autosteer is now being moved behind a paywall.

Why is Tesla now pay-walling Basic Autopilot features? Reports are pointing to Elon Musk's near $1 trillion pay package, approved by Tesla shareholders in November 2025, specifically the stipulation that Tesla must increase the total number of FSD subscribers by 10 million.

By removing the free, sought-after features, Tesla is now pushing its drivers toward paying for the FSD subscription, which, if they just want Aware Cruise Control and Autosteer, will cost them $99/month or $1,188 annually.

Moreover, if drivers want the full FSD package, they can pay a one-time fee of $8,000, but that offer ends after February 14. To add more fuel to the fire, Tesla CEO Elon Musk warned that FSD won't always be $99/month, "I should also mention that the $99/month for supervised FSD will rise as FSD's capabilities improve."

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