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Tesla FSD is the answer to concerns about EVs’ possible “added” road risks
A recent article from Slate has brought up a rather interesting concern about electric vehicles and their wide adoption. Since electric cars tend to be a lot heavier than their combustion-powered counterparts, there is a nonzero chance that they could actually be more dangerous to pedestrians in the event of a crash. Tesla FSD could be the answer to these concerns.
There is an uncomfortable truth in the United States, and that is the fact that road fatalities are climbing. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), for one, noted that American road deaths soared during Q1 2022, rising 7% to 9,560 fatalities, the highest quarterly toll since 2002. The numbers are sobering, as they suggest that compared to pedestrians in countries like France and Canada, Americans are more than twice as likely to die in a crash.
There are quite a few factors behind these disturbing statistics, but one of them is believed to be the prevalence of overly large and heavy vehicles like full-size trucks and SUVs. While trucks are generally designed for work, full-sized pickups are now widely used by casual drivers to the point where some pickups barely see a day of legitimate work. SUVs are also all the rage. But while these vehicles could be quite safe for those inside them, they are a nightmare for the pedestrians that they might hit in the event of an accident.
As noted by Slate, one study actually found that the shift to SUVs over the past couple of decades ended up leading to over 1,000 more pedestrian deaths. Now, it should be noted that these large vehicles are already overly heavy with an internal combustion engine. When they are powered by a giant battery pack and equipped with electric motors, they become even heavier and a whole lot faster. The over-9,000-pound Hummer EV is the poster child of this, as the behemoth is capable of hitting highway speeds in about 3.3 seconds.
But inasmuch as these concerns are valid, heavy electric vehicles are only really just as dangerous as their drivers and safety features. Tesla has been making overly-heavy and ridiculously-fast sedans and crossovers for many years, yet its vehicles constantly rank among the safest on the road. This is due in no small part to the company’s active and passive safety features, which are standard on every Tesla that gets built at each of the company’s vehicle factories, both in the United States and abroad.
And coupled with Tesla’s FSD software, the risks for heavy electric vehicles are likely even less. Behind all the drama and smear campaigns targeted toward the advanced driver-assist system, after all, FSD is an incredibly cautious system that takes pedestrian safety as a top priority. Tests of Tesla FSD Beta releases have shown this time and time again — the system always keeps people around the car as safe as possible.
The use of systems like FSD Beta would likely be more widespread as the adoption of electric vehicles becomes more prevalent. Teslas would likely continue to be among the safest vehicles on the road, despite the company likely producing one of the heaviest vehicles on the market in the Tesla Semi. Fortunately, Tesla does seem to be open to the idea of having its software, like Autopilot, licensed to other automakers. This means that Tesla’s stellar safety systems could be rolled out to more vehicles, including those beyond the reach of the company’s products.
This, however, would require other automakers to admit that Tesla’s Autopilot and FSD are industry-leading solutions for pedestrian safety. Such an admission takes a lot of humility, and thus, is easier said than done. But the longer other automakers wait to roll out systems that are comparable to FSD or at least Autopilot, the longer pedestrians are exposed to an increasing number of electric vehicles that could indeed be too heavy and too fast in an accident.
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Tesla is shifting FSD to a subscription-only model, confirms Elon Musk
Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed the upcoming update in a post on social media platform X.
Tesla will be ending one-time purchases of its Full Self-Driving (FSD) system after Valentine’s Day, transitioning the feature to a monthly subscription-only model.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed the upcoming update in a post on social media platform X.
No more FSD one-time purchases
As per Elon Musk in his post on X, “Tesla will stop selling FSD after Feb 14. FSD will only be available as a monthly subscription thereafter.” This marks a shift in how Tesla monetizes its FSD system, which can now be purchased for a one-time fee or accessed through a monthly subscription.
FSD’s subscription model has been $99 per month in the United States, while its one-time purchase option is currently priced at $8,000. FSD’s one-time purchase price has swung wildly in recent years, reaching $15,000 in September 2022. At the time, FSD was proficient, but its performance was not on par with v14. This made its $15,000 upfront price a hard sell for consumers.
Tesla’s move to a subscription-only model could then streamline how the company sells FSD. It also lowers the entry price for the system, as even price-conscious drivers would likely be able to justify FSD’s $99 monthly subscription cost during periods when long-distance travel is prevalent, like the holidays.
Musk’s compensation plan and FSD subscription targets
Tesla’s shift to a subscription-only FSD model comes amidst Musk’s 2025 CEO Performance Award, which was approved by Tesla shareholders at the 2025 Annual Shareholders Meeting with roughly 75% support. Under the long-term compensation plan, Musk must achieve a series of ambitious operational milestones, including 10 million active FSD subscriptions, over the next decade for his stock awards to vest.
The 2025 CEO Performance Award’s structure ties Musk’s potential compensation to Tesla’s aggressive targets that span market capitalization, vehicle deliveries, robotics, and software adoption. Apart from his 10-million active FSD subscription target, Musk’s compensation is also tied to Tesla producing 20 million vehicles cumulatively, delivering 1 million Tesla bots, and having 1 million Robotaxis in operation. He must also lead Tesla to a market cap of $8.5 trillion.
If successful, Elon Musk’s 2025 CEO Performance Award could make him the world’s first trillionaire. It could also help Tesla become the world’s most valuable company by market cap by a notable margin.
Tesla is planning for a new 300+ stall Supercharger station that will be an expansion of an existing facility, and the company is planning to add a surprise for the Semi.
The Firebaugh, California Supercharger is currently 72 Superchargers, but Tesla filed for an expansion that will add 232 additional plugs for passenger vehicles, and it also plans to add 16 Semichargers.
This will be the biggest Supercharger station Tesla will have to date, just months after it finished the Supercharger Oasis in Lost Hills, California, which has 168 stalls. This will have 304 total Supercharger stalls, and then the additional 16 Megachargers.
🚨 This Supercharger station will have 304 total stalls and 16 Semichargers following this expansion
Absolutely INSANE size 🔥
This is located on I-5, so many semis will be traveling along this route https://t.co/hM9hdLcWwg
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 13, 2026
The Firebaugh Supercharger is located on I-5, which is a major reason for why Tesla has chosen the location for additional Megacharger plug-ins, as Tesla Semi Program Manager Dan Priestley said on X earlier today.
Lots of trucks to electrify on I-5
— Dan Priestley (@danWpriestley) January 13, 2026
The project was revealed by MarcoRP, a Supercharger tracker.
The expansion is a massive signal for charging demand, especially as Tesla’s Superchargers are opened to numerous automakers and are no longer exclusive to the company’s EVs. Additionally, the installation of Megachargers is a good sign to come for the Tesla Semi program, which aims to truly ramp up this year.
Tesla plans to launch production of the Semi later this year.
It could also mean Tesla is going to expand its footprint of large-scale Supercharger projects in the coming years, which would be a big boost as EV adoption continues to soar in the United States.
Tesla has made two big interior changes to several Model Y vehicles in its lineup, and the changes come just as the new model year begins production.
Last year, Tesla launched the Model Y Standard, which separated the previous models into the “Premium” category. The Standard vehicles lack several features, including more premium interior materials, acoustic-lined glass, and storage.
@teslarati There are some BIG differences between the Tesla Model Y Standard and Tesla Model Y Premium #tesla #teslamodely ♬ Sia – Xeptemper
The Model Y “Premium” trims are now getting several new upgrades, which come after the company launched a seven-seat configuration of the vehicle last night in the North American market for an upcharge of $2,500.
The new Model Y seven-seat configuration did not come with just an additional row of seating; it also came with a slew of other goodies that now come standard and were previously only available on the Model Y Performance, which was launched late last year.
All Black Headliner
The new Tesla Model Y Premium trims will now come standard with a black headliner, something that many owners have been requesting for some time.
The previous grey headliner and trim within the vehicle is now gone; it will be all black on all of the Premium trims from here on out, a welcome change:
Credit: Tesla
Larger and Higher Resolution Center Touchscreen
The center touchscreen in the new Model Y Premium configuration is now larger and has a higher resolution than the previous version.
In last year’s Model Y configurations (apart from the Performance), the center touchscreen was 15.4″. Now, Tesla has decided to go with the 16″ version across all Premium trims, which is a nice step up. It was nice to see this in the Performance, but it is really great to see Tesla include this in the Model Y’s more Premium trim levels.
Tesla Model Y Seven Seater
Tesla launched the latest iteration of the seven-seater for the Model Y on Monday night. Traditionally, the Model Y seats five passengers in total, but there were calls for a more spacious version several years ago.
Tesla released it, but it was extremely tight in the back, basically reserving those back seats for only small people or children.
Credit: Tesla
The new configuration looks to be slightly more spacious in the third row, but not as much space as most would require or want. Instead,
Tesla is shifting FSD to a subscription-only model, confirms Elon Musk
Tesla plans for new 300+ stall Supercharger with a special surprise for Semi
