50 Tesla referrals delivered, no roadster, still want FSD

Yesterday, my 50th Tesla referral got delivered. If you’ve been following techAU over the past year, you’ll be very familiar with my ongoing campaign to have FSD added as a referral bonus. With 50 achieved, it’s time to take a look at the history of this story.

Let’s start with a rundown of the timeline of events.

Timeline

• February 2, 2019 – Previous Referral Program closed.
• May 11, 2019 – Tesla Model 3 Australian pre-orders get referral codes
• June 20, 2019 – Posted on Twitter to Elon Musk, asking if 10 referrals would unlock FSD.
• June 20, 2019 – Elon replied – “Will consider”
• June 28, 2019 – 10 referrals
• July 31, 2019 – 20 referrals
• September 2, 2019 – 30 referrals (1st delivery)
• December 18, 2019 – 40 referrals
• February 19, 2020 – 50 referrals.
• April 4th, 2020 – The 50th referral was delivered (52 referrals).

Model 3 Price Range

Now let’s calculate what 50 vehicles means to Tesla. The referral program doesn’t detail which models were purchased, so we have to look at averages.

To calculate the average, I’ve detailed the cheapest and most expensive models.

• Price of Model 3 SR+ with no options: $73,060 x 50 = $3,653,000.00
• Price of Model 3 Performance with all options: $124,234 x 50 = $6,211,700.00

The places the average total between these extremes at $4.932 million.

Cost of FSD

Tesla’s Full Self Driving package currently cost A$8,500, up from the initial A$7,100 in Australia. With the profit made from 50 vehicles, it’d be fairly easy to accommodate the FSD cost for high-volume referrers. This s particularly true given the hardware is already in the cars, it’s simply the R&D cost that Tesla would be forgoing.

The reason the FSD Unlock as part of the referral program is so important to me, is that it would allow Tesla’s biggest fans to experience the best of what Tesla offers. For a company that doesn’t do marketing, their referral program is the best promotion technique they have outside making great products.

Full Self-Driving Capability includes:

• Navigate on Autopilot: automatic driving from motorway on-ramp to off-ramp including interchanges and overtaking slower cars.
• Auto Lane Change: automatic lane changes while driving on the motorway.
• Autopark: both parallel and perpendicular spaces.
• Summon: your parked car will come find you anywhere in a car park. Really.

Tesla has committed to the following in the near future:

• Recognise and respond to traffic lights and stop signs.
• Automatic driving on city streets.

I actually don’t mind what the target number of referrals for FSD unlock is, but I’m asking Tesla to just set a number and give us something to aim for. The free Supercharging is amazing, but after you have multiple years of free driving, it’d be nice to have another reward to aim for.

Current Referral Program

Cars
You and anyone using your referral link can each earn 1,500 kilometers of free Supercharging with the purchase of a new Tesla car. Each car referral also gives you a chance to win a Model Y monthly or Roadster supercar quarterly. Owners who already have free Supercharging get two chances to win.

Previous Referral Program

(Phase 9 of the Tesla Referral Program ended on February 2nd, 2019)

Phase 9 Award Fulfillment Statuses

1. Qualifying Referral:

• Launch Your Photo into Deep Space Orbit
• Commemorative Hat

2. Qualifying Referrals:
Owners were invited to choose either of the options below for their second referral

• Signature Black Wall Connector
• Tesla Credit

3. Qualifying Referrals:
Owners were invited to choose either of the options below for their third referral.

• 21” Arachnid Wheels for Model S or 22” Turbine Wheels for Model X
  Model S and Model X Prize Wheels: Owners can self-schedule their installations by logging into the Tesla app, select ‘Wheel and Tire Installation’ and add ‘Referral wheel award’ in the appointment notes.

4. Qualifying Referrals:
Priority Access to Vehicle Software Updates
Access has been granted until December 31, 2020.

5. Qualifying Referrals:
Tesla Unveiling Invitation
Winners will receive invitations for upcoming product unveilings and be given the opportunity to register and attend. Once a prize winner has attended an event they will not receive additional invitations.

Founders Series Powerwalls and Secret Level Awards

• Founders Series Powerwall 2: Installations are being scheduled by regional teams as the Founders Series Powerwalls become available. To inquire about scheduling your installation, please submit a contact request and select “Referral Program” as the topic. Follow the prompts to complete your inquiry. You may include “Schedule Founders Series Powerwall” in your contact notes.
  
• Founders Series Roadster: Discount off the base price will be displayed in the Loot Box. No deposit is required. Discounts will expire one year after the Roadster becomes available for order.
  
• Amazing Adventures: We are working out details, timelines and logistics for these unique prizes. Stay tuned, you will be contacted when a Secret Levels prize is ready for action.
  • Drive an Electric Boring Machine: Drive an electric tunnel boring machine with The Boring Company in Hawthorne, CA.
  • Watch a SpaceX Rocket Launch: Attend the launch of Falcon Heavy, the world’s most powerful rocket, in Cape Canaveral, FL.
  • Race the Tesla Semi: Race a giant electric semi truck around our test track. There will be additional prizes and trophies for the best track times.
  • Launch a Time Capsule into Space: Launch a personal time capsule into deep space orbit for millions of years.

The big one there is the Founder’s series roadster. That discount off the base price was 2% per referral. This means under the old referral program, with 50 referrals, I would have unlocked a Founder’s Series Roadster. In Australia, these are worth A$326,000.

Update
After posting, I checked my Tesla account again and the total referral account count is now 53. It is encouraging that despite what’s happening in the world right now that 4 referrals have come in since March.

Over the course of the referral program, I’ve seen 11 cancel, but none of these have been in the past two months.