Tesla Reports 1.74 Million FSD Subscriptions Under CEO Pay Package Rules

Tesla has reported it now has 1.74 million active Full Self-Driving subscriptions, a 67% increase from a year ago. However, a footnote in its Q3 2026 shareholder letter clarifies that this number is calculated according to the criteria established for 'our 2025 CEO Performance Award.' The company's statement confirms the figure 'includes both upfront payment and monthly subscriptions.'

This accounting method means customers who purchased the Full Self-Driving software as a one-time payment, some several years ago, are still counted as active subscribers. This is a critical distinction, as reaching 10 million active FSD subscriptions is a necessary milestone for Elon Musk to earn his 2025 compensation package. It is also important to note that hundreds of thousands of these customers were sold on unsupervised self-driving technology, which Tesla has yet to provide.

The company's reporting on this metric has been consistent with its compensation agreement. Tesla ceased selling Full Self-Driving as a one-time purchase on February 14, 2026, and new customers can now only subscribe for $99 per month in the U.S. Prior to that date, the software was sold for a single payment, with prices that reached $15,000. Those who paid upfront remain in the active count as long as their vehicle is active, though free trials are excluded.

While Tesla reported 1.28 million active subscriptions in April, it has not disclosed how many of the current 1.74 million figure are recurring monthly payments. This same reporting approach is used for other metrics in the shareholder letter. For instance, the cumulative deliveries figure, now 10.2 million, also includes 'any unsupervised Robotaxis placed into commercial operation' to align with the pay package, which has a 20 million vehicle delivery milestone.

In addition to the subscription total, Tesla stated that over 75% of new vehicle deliveries in North America included FSD subscriptions during Q3, which it described as 'a nearly twenty percentage point sequential increase.' The company added that it believes 'FSD is driving demand in markets where it is available.' This attach rate figure, however, is not defined in the letter, leaving it unclear if it includes subscriptions started with an introductory offer or how many of those customers remain after a few months.

The connection to Elon Musk's 2025 performance award is direct. The award consists of 12 tranches, each contingent on achieving a market capitalization target and an operational milestone. The operational list includes delivering 20 million vehicles, reaching 10 million active FSD subscriptions, producing 1 million Optimus robots, deploying 1 million robotaxis in commercial operation, and meeting adjusted EBITDA targets. As of June 30, Tesla considered only the 20 million delivery milestone as probable.

Tesla added 260,000 net FSD subscriptions in Q3, its strongest quarter for this metric. At that rate of growth, it would take approximately eight years to reach the 10 million target. If growth continues at the pace of the last 12 months, around 700,000 per year, it would take closer to 12 years. The compensation award remains active until 2035.