Tesla Introduces 3-Year Subscription Bundle for Models S and X; Adds Quicksilver Color for Model 3 (2024)

Tesla has introduced a brand-new subscription bundle for the Model S and Model X in the United States and Canada. The new bundle option combines several Tesla subscriptions into one — something Tesla has never done before.

3-Year Bundle

Tesla’s new 3-Year Bundle is only available for the Model S and Model X, on any of the two variants – Long Range or Plaid. The bundle is $5,000 USD, but pricing for Canada has not yet been confirmed. The bundle itself includes an FSD subscription for three years, as well as free Supercharging and Premium Connectivity for that same period. It’s a good deal if you plan to solely Supercharge your vehicle or rely on them heavily for trips or work.

Of note, the Canadian website has not been updated yet to reflect the new bundle, but we expect this to be updated in the coming hours or days.

Let’s break it down a bit. 3 years is 36 months, which we’ll base our math on:

• 3 Years of FSD subscription: $3,564

• 3 Years Premium Connectivity (annual plan): $297

• Free Supercharging: $1,139

At $1,139, the free Supercharging is worth it if you plan to consistently drive longer distances in the United States or Canada. The Supercharging included is unlimited – and a single full charge at a high-rate Supercharger – say $0.50/kWh – is likely to run you nearly $50.

To break even, you’d need to drive somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 miles that were solely charged via a Supercharger across those three years. The actual number would depend on your model, efficiency, and exact Supercharger pricing. This isn’t a deal for everyone, but if you regularly use Superchargers for long trips, commuting or travel regionally, this could be a great deal that has some folks pulling the trigger on a new Tesla.

Quicksilver Model 3

Along with the Cybertruck reservation changes yesterday and the new subscription bundle, Tesla has also introduced the Quicksilver color option in the United States for the Model 3.

Tesla’s Quicksilver color has been much desired since it rolled out initially in Europe, and then Canada. It has finally arrived in the United States as well and is now available for any version of the Model 3. In Canada, Quicksilver has been available since launch – as the Model 3 is imported from Giga Shanghai.

Now, US-produced Model 3s will have Quicksilver as an option. The original silver option for the Model 3 was discontinued back in 2018, so this is a refreshing change for those looking for this new, darker, silver variant.

The Cybertruck Foundation Series configuration has finally opened up to all reservation holders in Canada and Mexico. In addition to that, there is no longer a requirement to have a reservation for the Foundation Series in the United States. You can simply go to Tesla’s website and order one.

This is a big moment for the Cybertruck, which is starting to become more widely available and seen on roads across the United States. Delivery in Canada and Mexico for the Foundation Series is set to begin in October.

Cybertruck in Canada

The Cybertruck is finally available in Canada, after the approval of steer-by-wire. The AWD Foundation Series is available for $137,990 CAD, and the Cyberbeast Foundation Series is available for $165,990 CAD. This is roughly in line with the Foundation-series pricing available in the United States.

These order invites are currently only available for reservation holders, and invites are being sent out now. A couple things of note here – after taxes, in Ontario, the AWD Cybertruck is $165,000 CAD. The Cyberbeast is above $200,000 CAD. This includes the luxury tax, which Tesla is applying for some reason.

The Cybertruck should be exempt from the luxury tax, as its Gross Vehicle Weight Rating is above the luxury tax guideline limit of 3,856kg. The AWD Cybertruck has a GVWR of 4,159kg. At this point, we’re not sure if this is just an error on Tesla’s part, or if the law has changed without the webpage being updated to reflect a change in minimum GVWR exemptions. If it is exempt, the overall price will drop about $8,500 for the AWD to $155,990 after tax, and about $11,300 for the Cyberbeast, to about $187,500 CAD.

If the Cybertruck is indeed exempt, that would bring the price down considerably – in fact, a non-Foundation series AWD Cybertruck will cost less in Canada than the Model S Long Range or Model X Long Range.

Update: Cybertruck Program Manager Siddhant Awasthi has confirmed that Tesla is looking into the Canadian Luxury Tax issue, and it should be removed.

Cybertruck in Mexico

The Cybertruck is also available in Mexico now, for reservation holders just like in Canada. Pricing hasn’t been confirmed just yet, but it should be equivalently priced to the American and Canadian Cybertrucks.

Mexicans can also revel in the fact that there is no luxury tax for vehicles in Mexico – so no panic over being charged extra. As such, you can expect to pay $1,888,380 MXN before tax for the AWD, and $2,266,056.00before tax for the Cyberbeast.

When Will Orders Open Up for AWD?

While Tesla has previously mentioned that the Foundation Series will be ending sometime this year – we’re expecting fairly late into the year, given the continued high demand for the Foundation Series.

While it was originally confirmed to be ending alongside Q3 2024 (September), it was later updated to be “through late 2024.” We’re not 100% certain that Tesla will keep that exact date, given the delayed launch of the Cybertruck in Canada and Mexico. You can bet that Tesla will adjust the timing based on demand in the two new markets.

Either way, once the Foundation Series ends, we can expect demand to pick up considerably, as the mark-up for Foundation is $20,000 USD ($27,500 CAD or $377,570 MXN) – a fairly sizeable amount in both countries.

In early 2023, Tesla launched its FSD Hardware 4.0 – now known as AI4 – an improved version of Hardware 3 with various advantages. This hardware launch initially came off to a rocky start with FSD and Autopilot not being available to freshly delivered vehicles.

Today though, AI4 is the next step as Tesla strides towards full autonomy. While Tesla hasn’t abandoned HW3 or declared it as legacy yet – and doesn’t seem to plan to, it’s still important to be able to figure out what hardware your vehicle has. This is especially true for those who have paid for, or are subscribed to FSD – as it seems that going forward, AI4 will receive major FSD updates before hardware 3, which will require optimization.

So, let’s go over what AI4 offers in terms of improvement, the fact that there is no retrofit path from Hardware 3, and finally, a few easy ways to tell FSD Hardware 3 from Hardware 4/ AI4.

HW4 / AI4 Improvements

AI4 brought along several improvements, including new cameras, new electrical and wiring harnesses, and most of all – improved processing power.

The new cameras bring improved resolution for better details. The rear camera on AI4 has a resolution of 1448x938 vs 1280x960 on Hardware 3. However, there’s a much larger differences in the front cameras. HW4/AI4 has a resolution of 2896x1876 while HW3 has a resolution of 1280x960. That’s a huge improvement in quality - additionally, that telltale red tint that they have ensures better performance in low-light conditions. The video below compares the difference between HW3 vs HW4.

Musk previously said that HW4 is about 3-5x faster than hardware 3, although all of that compute power isn’t being utilized yet. We’ll likely see the full power of HW4 come into play with the divergence of HW4 later this year.

How to Tell If You Have HW3 or HW4 / AI4

There are a few easy ways to tell if you have Hardware 3, or AI4. Sadly, Tesla doesn’t provide any information in the app or vehicle that simply tells you which FSD hardware you have, so here are a few ways to tell them apart.

Delivery Date

The first is based on your model and delivery date. If you purchased Model S or X, you’ll likely have AI4 if you purchased after March 2023. If you have a Model Y, it’s after late May 2023 for vehicles made in the United States. The updated 2024 Model 3 has HW4, but if you have a 2017-2023 Model 3, you’ll have Hardware 3.

Red Camera Lenses

Next, if you’re not sure of the delivery date of your vehicle, or want to confirm, take a look at the vehicle itself. HW4/AI4 has cameras with red lenses – the easiest place to see this is on the front cameras – where there will be 2 red lenses and one black (fake) lens. AI4 got rid of the 3^rd front-facing camera since the cameras now have a higher resolution.

The repeater cameras are also slightly different, with the same red tint, but include a smaller and narrower turn indicator.

No Retrofit to HW4

Elon Musk and Tesla have confirmed that unlike AP 2.5 or AP 2, Tesla does not intend to offer a retrofit for older vehicles. This isn’t a surprising move, especially given the fact that there is an entirely new wiring and cooling harness for the compute unit in AI4.

This, in turn with AI4’s different form factor, means that it isn’t feasible to upgrade HW3 vehicles to AI4. A retrofit would be a complex and expensive task that would likely require building a custom solution that would fit into HW3 vehicles. It also comes with other complications such as overwhelming Tesla Service. Instead, Tesla will continue to do it the software way – by optimizing and updating the FSD models to perform well on Hardware 3.