I Asked Tesla's Grok AI About FSD V15. Here's What It Said, and Why the Subscription Timing Matters.
I've been driving a 2026 Model Y with Hardware 4 for a while now, and FSD V14 is the best version I've run. It handles the full trip in a way earlier versions couldn't: backing out of the garage, doing three-point turns on narrow streets, the stuff that used to require immediate takeover. On superhighways it's nearly boring. Two-lane roads have gotten good enough that I'm not white-knuckling the wheel the whole time.
But the more interesting story right now isn't what V14 does. It's what comes next, who you can ask about it, and what the subscription changes mean for anyone buying today.
Ara Told Me V15 Is Coming
Tesla's in-car AI assistant is named Ara, and it runs on Grok. You get to it by saying "Hey Grok!" or holding the mic button. I've been using it more than I expected. Recently I asked it directly about FSD's roadmap.
Ara's answer: FSD V15 arrives at the end of 2026 or beginning of 2027, and it will offer Unsupervised Full Self Driving.
That's a notable thing for an in-car AI to say. Tesla's own assistant is forecasting unsupervised operation within roughly six months. Take that with appropriate skepticism (this is Tesla's software giving you Tesla's talking points), but it's consistent with what's already happening. Tesla is running unsupervised robotaxi rides in geofenced areas including Austin, Texas. The infrastructure exists. The question is how fast it expands geographically.
The Subscription Math Has Shifted
Tesla no longer offers permanent FSD for new car purchasers. The current rate is $99/month. If you bought a 2018 Model 3 when the permanent license was available, you paid $6,000. Whether that was a good deal depends on how long you've owned the car and how much you've actually used it.
For new buyers, monthly is all there is. But there are ways to reduce the immediate cost.
New Model Y purchases include one free month of FSD. Use a referral link on a Model 3 or Y and you get two additional free months (about $200 of value), bringing the total to three free months to try it before committing. Cybertruck buyers using a referral link get $1,000 off the purchase price instead. And if you're buying a new Model 3 Premium or Performance, Tesla is currently including one year of free Supercharging.
None of that answers the $99/month question permanently. But three free months is enough time to figure out whether FSD V14 actually fits your driving habits.
One Thing New Buyers Should Know
New Teslas no longer include automatic lane assist by default. You get smart cruise control. Lane centering on the highway, the feature that's been part of basic Autopilot for years, now requires an FSD subscription. So the base highway driving experience is narrower than it used to be.
If you're expecting the car to behave like older Teslas out of the box, it won't on this specific point. The $99/month covers it, but it's no longer included.
The Hardware Divide Is Real
Hardware 3 doesn't support FSD V14. The improvements I've described above require HW4. That's a hard limit, not a software toggle.
This will matter more as V15 gets closer. If V15 really does deliver unsupervised operation, the gap between HW3 and HW4 vehicles becomes much harder to ignore. HW3 owners aren't just missing recent polish, they're potentially locked out of the feature entirely.
The Price Will Go Up
Elon Musk has said FSD's price will increase when it becomes unsupervised. That's not surprising. $99/month for a supervised assist feature and $99/month for something that drives your car without you are genuinely different products at different price points.
If Ara's timeline is right and V15 arrives in late 2026 or early 2027, there's a window of a few months where you'd be locking in the current rate before a likely increase. Whether that's worth planning around depends on how much you drive and how much V14 already changes your daily commute.
On HW4 with V14, it's already worth the math to me. V15 being unsupervised would push it well past that threshold. We'll see if the timeline holds.
Source: Cleantechnica