Tesla Reports 1.74 Million FSD Users Under Specific Pay Criteria

Tesla now reports 1.74 million active Full Self-Driving subscriptions. This figure represents a 67% increase over the last year. The company included this data in its Q3 2026 shareholder letter. However, a specific footnote explains how the count is derived. The metric follows the terms of the 2025 CEO Performance Award. It includes both upfront purchases and monthly payments. This means owners who bought the software years ago are still counted as current subscribers.

The counting method has significant implications for Tesla’s leadership. One of the milestones for Elon Musk’s 2025 pay package is reaching 10 million active FSD subscriptions. By including one-time buyers, the company boosts its total number. This is notable because many of these owners were sold the promise of unsupervised self-driving. Tesla has not yet delivered that specific capability to all of them.

The company stopped selling FSD as a one-time purchase on February 14, 2026. New customers in the US now pay $99 per month. However, anyone who paid up to $15,000 before that date remains in the active count. The only exclusions are free trials. Tesla previously reported 1.28 million users in April. Six months later, it still has not disclosed how many of the 1.74 million actually pay a monthly fee.

This approach appears elsewhere in the report. The cumulative delivery figure is now 10.2 million. This number also includes unsupervised Robotaxis in commercial operation. This matches another pay package milestone for 20 million vehicles. Tesla also claims that over 75% of new North American deliveries in Q3 included FSD. The company describes this as a nearly twenty percentage point increase. It believes the software is driving demand in available markets. However, the letter does not define how this attach rate is calculated or if it accounts for long-term retention.

Musk’s award consists of 12 tranches. Each requires a market cap and an operational milestone. The operational goals include 20 million deliveries, 10 million FSD subscriptions, and 1 million Optimus robots. As of June 30, Tesla considered only the delivery milestone probable. The company added 260,000 net FSD subscriptions in Q3. This is its best quarter to date. At this pace, reaching 10 million would take about eight years. At the average pace of the last 12 months, it would take closer to 12 years. The award is valid until 2035.

The board defined these metrics to align with executive compensation. Tesla has not specified how many customers pay the monthly fee. The high attach rate suggests strong initial adoption. However, investors are left to wonder about long-term retention. If the 75% take rate holds, it would be a significant business achievement. The company knows the retention numbers. The focus remains on whether these metrics reflect true momentum or are tailored to meet specific pay targets.