Tesla Reports 1.74 Million FSD Subscriptions Using Pay Package Metrics

Tesla announced Wednesday that it has reached 1.74 million active Full Self-Driving subscriptions, a figure marking a 67% rise compared to the previous year. The company's Q3 2026 shareholder letter clarifies that this tally adheres to the criteria established by the 2025 CEO Performance Award. By this definition, the metric includes both upfront payments and monthly recurring fees, meaning owners who purchased the software outright, regardless of when the transaction occurred, are counted as subscribers alongside current monthly payers.

This reporting method directly supports specific targets within Elon Musk's 2025 compensation package. To unlock certain tranches of this award, specific operational milestones must be met, including reaching 10 million active FSD subscriptions. Tesla stopped selling Full Self-Driving as a one-time purchase on February 14, 2026, and currently offers the service only as a subscription for $99 per month in the US market. However, individuals who paid upfront for the software in the past, at prices that reached $15,000, remain in the active count as long as their vehicle is active. The only exclusion from this count is free trials.

The company did not provide a breakdown of how many of these 1.74 million users pay a monthly fee versus those who bought the software years ago. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of the individuals counted in this figure were sold unsupervised self-driving capabilities, which Tesla has yet to deliver to users. The same accounting method applies to other figures in the report; the cumulative deliveries total of 10.2 million also includes any unsupervised Robotaxis placed into commercial operation, aligning with the 20 million vehicle milestone required for the compensation package.

Tesla also reported that over 75% of new deliveries in North America included FSD subscriptions during the third quarter of 2026. The company stated that Full Self-Driving is driving demand in markets where it is available. However, the report does not define whether this figure includes subscriptions initiated with introductory offers or specify retention rates for those buyers after a few months. While the active subscription count excludes free trials, it remains unclear if the attach rate calculation applies the same exclusions.

The 2025 CEO Performance Award consists of 12 tranches, each requiring both a market cap milestone and an operational milestone. These operational requirements include 20 million vehicles delivered, 10 million active FSD subscriptions, 1 million Optimus robots, 1 million robotaxis in commercial operation, and adjusted EBITDA targets. As of June 30, 2026, Tesla considered only the 20 million deliveries target as probable. During the third quarter, Tesla added 260,000 net FSD subscriptions, its best quarter to date.

Reaching the 10 million subscription target would take approximately eight years at the current pace of adding 260,000 per quarter. If the rate remains at the level seen over the last 12 months, roughly 700,000 per year, it would take closer to 12 years. The award schedule runs until 2035.