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Tesla bull asks Elon Musk for Full Self-Driving value to be added with vehicle trade-in
Tesla will consider adding monetary value to its Full Self-Driving suite when an owner is attempting to trade-in their vehicle. The company is looking into the possibility following a request to Elon Musk from notable Wall Street analyst and Tesla bull Pierre Ferragu.
Ferragu, an analyst from New Street Research, currently owns a Model 3 equipped with Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite. After purchasing the self-driving capability in November, Ferragu said he is interested in upgrading from a Model 3 to a Model Y. Still, he isn’t pleased about paying the $10,000 price tag for the semi-autonomous driving feature when he recently shelled out the money for the Model 3.
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite is what the company may be most known for outside of its highly-advanced electric vehicle tech, which has made it the undeniable leader in the EV sector. However, the Full Self-Driving suite is not included with the purchase of the vehicle like Basic Autopilot is, and to have the FSD capabilities, the owner must pay $10,000 on top of the price of the car.
“@elonmusk: I paid FSD for my Model 3 in November. I now want to upgrade to model Y and your team tells me you don’t value FSD in your trade-in offer because you can do the software upgrade for free. Want me to pay again full price for FSD again? That’s not fair, change that!” Ferragu tweeted to Musk.
@elonmusk: I paid FSD for my Model 3 in November. I now want to upgrade to model Y and your team tells me you don’t value FSD in your trade-in offer because you can do the software upgrade for free. Want me to pay again full price for FSD again? That’s not fair, change that!
— Pierre Ferragu (@p_ferragu) January 16, 2021
Musk and Tesla are considering adding the transfer or giving some credit toward an FSD-equipped vehicle’s trade-in value. Currently, the issue is that Tesla is not giving any monetary value to the FSD suite when someone wishes to trade in their car toward a new one. This would effectively mean that FSD makes the car no more or less valuable than it would be without the functionality equipped. This is causing a dilemma with some owners who wish to upgrade or change their Tesla vehicle as it would require paying another hefty $10,000 fee.
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Musk stated that he would look into the possibility of having FSD add value to a trade-in. The reason Tesla didn’t consider it before, according to Ferragu, is because the company can activate the functionality to any vehicle for free.
Looking into this. No question that FSD should be viewed as reasonably valuable when doing a trade-in.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 18, 2021
Other owners would be interested in a one-time transfer to a new vehicle, which would be advantageous for multiple scenarios. One would be if a family has two Teslas, but one is driven more than another. If the new car will be driven more frequently, but the current car has FSD, some owners may want to transfer the self-driving capability to the new vehicle. Another situation that would give owners some more leeway would be if they are trading an FSD-equipped vehicle in for a new Tesla. If their FSD purchase was recent and at the same price point as the current $10,000 tag, the feature could be transferred to the new car. If the owner paid less, Tesla could require the owner to pay the difference.
Tesla has been known to listen to real-world owners and use the feedback to improve their cars. Musk will likely update the development as it is figured out. It will be interesting to see how the company values FSD through trade-ins or if it will take the route of a transfer option for recent buyers of the Full Self-Driving suite.
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Elon Musk shed two new bits of detail on Starship following its 13th test launch, which was an overwhelming success.
SpaceX launched Starship for the 13th time last Friday after two delays: one on Monday when several Raptor engines did not ignite, and another on Thursday due to unfavorable weather conditions in Starbase, Texas.
The launch was overwhelmingly successful. SpaceX was able to complete a necessary test of the heat shield tiles by increasing the acceleration of Starship from launch throughout the flight; 20 Starlink v3 satellites were released with no issue; the Super Heavy Booster landed safely in the Gulf of America, Ship successfully reignited engines while in space; and it also splashed down without incident in the Indian Ocean.
SpaceX Starship just nailed something it’s never done before
Nevertheless, more details are coming out about Starship, and Musk is doing the talking.
Starship Will Be Retrieved in the Ocean
Musk revealed on Tuesday night that Starship would be recovered by a ship in the Indian Ocean. SpaceX routinely tries to recover Starship after splashdown in an effort to find out more about the flight by examining the spacecraft afterward.
We’re sending a ship out to recover Starship https://t.co/fUqUZTITO9
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 28, 2026
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This helps engineers find out more about why things might have happened, allows them to examine any potential damage or anomalies that might have occurred, and increases the chances of an even more successful flight next time thanks to the additional information recovered.
Ship Could Have Been Caught by Tower Arms, Musk claims
Musk has already indicated that SpaceX will plan to attempt a catch of Starship with the 14th test flight. While this would be a major accomplishment, it would be an expected next step, considering the fact that the Super Heavy Booster has already been caught by the chopsticks on numerous occasions.
The ship landing was precise, meaning that it would have been caught by the tower arms https://t.co/6nbNrRfX9P
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2026
A ship catch would be a great indication of where SpaceX stands in terms of reusability and launch cadence. A successful catch with relatively no incidents would be a good sign that SpaceX is nearing a more frequent launch of Starship, but also that the reusability of the massive rocket would be something many would expect in the near future.
It is a necessity to make life multiplanetary.
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Elon Musk has updated his timeline for when humans will walk on Mars and for when ships will simply get there.
The objective of getting to Mars has been one of Musk’s biggest goals since becoming a serial entrepreneur and realizing that time on Earth is limited. Musk has said several times he hopes to die on Mars, and not by impact.
Musk now believes that people will be on Mars in “roughly 5 to 7 years.” He said that a Mars lander will get there “a few years sooner.”
People on Mars in roughly 5 to 7 years.
Mars lander a few years sooner.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2026
The response from Musk comes after NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said that SpaceX’s biggest priority is the Moon and not Mars. Because of this, Isaacman conceded that he believes nuclear power and propulsion investments will provide “potentially the pathway with the fewest miracles required to put four people on Mars in the next 10 to 15 years.”
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Of course, this is what NASA can do through taxpayer funding and nuclear investments, he added.
Musk’s grand ambitions are much more optimistic than most, and it is certainly a double-edged sword. This is not the first time timelines for Mars have been somewhat lofty, especially to those normal thinkers like you and me, not super geniuses like Musk.
In fact, the SpaceX and Tesla frontman has said on at least a dozen occasions that we could be on Mars in the coming years. Musk said 2020 would be the big year as early as 2009. In 2020, he was “highly confident” of a landing in 2026, and had even said 2024 in a best-case scenario.
The point is, the range has varied, and it’s anyone’s guess when we’ll get there. This latest adjustment to the timeline is typical of Musk, and while the Moon has seemingly taken priority over Mars, it is still worth mentioning that the ultimate goal is to make life multiplanetary, and it starts potentially with the Red Planet.
SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX) got an absolutely crazy price target rating from Raymond James after the company experienced a tough first few weeks following its Initial Public Offering (IPO).
Despite the tumultuous start, SpaceX has plenty of believers, and the company’s massively successful Starship launch last Friday, its 13th test flight of the massive rocket, went so smoothly that Raymond James analysts pushed its price target on the company to roughly 7 times its current trading level.
SpaceX Starship just nailed something it’s never done before
The firm officially put a “Strong Buy” rating and an $800 price target on the stock. It currently trades at around $113. Its all-time high is $225.64, reaching this trading level shortly after shares first went public.
Raymond James’ price target is tied to the firm’s confidence after Starship’s 13th test flight. Analysts at the firm said it was an incremental step that reduces engineering risks, citing the widely successful heat shield test that CEO Elon Musk recently detailed, the smooth deployment of Starlink V3 satellites, and a successful in-space engine relight.
SpaceX also managed to see Starship splash down safely in the Indian Ocean, while the Super Heavy Booster fell down to the Gulf of America with no incidents.
It is interesting to see these launches have such a tremendous impact on the stock and what investors think of it. After SpaceX initially delayed the Starship launch last week, shares fell tremendously. Most probably did not realize that the stand-down is a standard practice, especially if everything is not perfect.
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The mission was initially aborted due to an issue with Raptor engines. This was resolved, and Starship launched last Friday after another delay on Thursday, which was caused by weather.
Now that analysts have seen what SpaceX launches are capable of and how impressive the feat is, firms are adjusting their price targets accordingly, making it known that they have high expectations for the space exploration company.
Elon Musk sheds two new bits of detail on Starship after 13th test launch
Elon Musk updates the SpaceX timeline for Mars
