Tesla Reports 1.74M FSD 'Subscriptions' Under Pay Package Definition
The company's Q3 report counts one-time license purchases alongside monthly fees to calculate its active Full Self-Driving user base.
By Ivan Petrov ·
Tesla reported 1.74 million active Full Self-Driving subscriptions as of its Q3 2026 shareholder letter, a figure that represents a 67% increase over the previous year. The company's disclosure outlines that this metric adheres to the 2025 CEO Performance Award definition, incorporating both upfront payments and monthly subscriptions. This accounting method allows Tesla to count owners who purchased FSD licenses years ago as active subscribers for as long as their vehicle remains active, excluding only free trials.
Tesla discontinued the sale of FSD as a one-time purchase in February 2026, transitioning all new customers to a monthly subscription model priced at $99 in the United States. However, prior to this change, licenses were sold for as much as $15,000. The company has not disclosed how many of the 1.74 million reported users are paying recurring monthly fees. A significant portion of these users were sold unsupervised self-driving technology that Tesla has yet to deliver.
This reporting methodology is directly tied to Elon Musk’s compensation structure. The 2025 CEO Performance Award outlines 12 tranches, each contingent on meeting specific market capitalization and operational milestones. To receive payment, Musk must achieve targets such as 10 million active FSD subscriptions, 20 million cumulative vehicle deliveries, 1 million Optimus robots, and 1 million robotaxis in commercial operation. Tesla's cumulative delivery count of 10.2 million includes unsupervised Robotaxis placed into commercial operation, aligning with these requirements.
Tesla also stated that over 75% of new vehicle deliveries in North America during the third quarter included FSD subscriptions, marking a nearly twenty percentage point sequential increase. The company attributes this to FSD driving demand in available markets. The shareholder letter does not clarify if this figure includes subscriptions initiated with introductory offers or if it accounts for retention rates after the initial period.
During the third quarter, Tesla added 260,000 net FSD subscriptions, its highest quarterly total to date. Despite this growth, reaching the 10 million active subscription milestone required for Musk's pay package would take approximately eight years at the current pace. If growth continues at the rate of the last 12 months, roughly 700,000 per year, the timeline extends to roughly 12 years. As of June 30, Tesla considered only the 20 million delivery target probable among its operational milestones.
Source: Electrek
