Tesla FSD now allows phone usage while driving and gift subscriptions for HW3 vehicle owners
Tesla recently got into the holiday spirit and gave the gift of FSD 14 to any owner with a newer vehicle that runs on the latest HW4/AI4 kit of computer and cameras.
That gift expires after the holidays, on January 8, 2026, so those who got the offer at the end of November and signed up, have 40 days to experience FSD for free. The free FSD deal, however, was only sent out to owners of newer Tesla vehicles, while those on the old HW3 kit that are still in the majority, were left out as their cars can't run the latest FSD update.
Tesla did mention that it will issue an FSD 14 Lite version of sorts for HW3 cars, instead of retrofitting them with HW4 computers, as Elon Musk initially promised. By that time, however, the free FSD trial deal will most likely be gone.
Tesla FSD gift subscription
Still, HW3 vehicle owners will have a chance to experience FSD for free even after January 8, as long as some kind soul gives them FSD in the form of a gift card. Tesla is now offering FSD gift subscriptions for the first time, charging those friends or relatives who are wondering what to give the Tesla person in their lives $113 for the privilege.
It's a great gateway initiative to introduce someone to FSD, and the price is higher than the usual $99 subscription rate since Tesla wants to account for the eventual sales tax, too. The FSD gift card allows activating a month of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) to take for a spin and see if they'd like to continue using it on a regular basis.
Speaking of which, FSD is getting less and less "supervised," even officially, as it now allows drivers to use their phones if the road conditions allow, similar to what Mercedes is doing with L3 autonomy in georestricted areas.
With the latest FSD 14.2.1 update, users have begun to notice that the car allows them to message from their phone for quite a while before it starts nagging them for attention. Elon Musk confirmed the new FSD feature that allows Tesla drivers to use their phone and said that it depends "on context of surrounding traffic," so it is only allowed in certain scenarios that the AI computer deems low risk. People have been texting or doing much worse on FSD for a while anyway, and Tesla is now officializing their actions on the way to bring unsupervised FSD to newer vehicles.
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