When Tesla stopped including Basic Autopilot on new vehicles earlier this year, many owners suspected it was meant to push more buyers toward Full Self-Driving. According to a source with knowledge of the decision, that’s exactly what happened, and it was Elon Musk who made the call.
Not a Tesla App was told that Musk decided to remove Basic Autopilot, which includes Traffic-aware Cruise Control and Auto-steer, from new vehicles to boost FSD subscriptions, which happens to be one of the tiers Must must meet to qualify for his pay package.
The Timeline
Tesla shareholders approved Musk’s 2025 CEO Performance Award at the last Annual Shareholder Meeting in November 2025. One of its operational milestones requires Tesla to reach 10 million active FSD subscriptions (or purchases), paired with a $2.5 trillion market cap goal.
About two and a half months later, in January 2026, Tesla stopped including Basic Autopilot on new vehicles in the U.S. and Canada. New cars came with Traffic-Aware Cruise Control (TACC) only. Anyone who wanted Autosteer, the feature that keeps the car centered in its lane, had to buy or subscribe to FSD.
Buyers could still purchase FSD outright at that point, but that option ended the very next month. Since then, FSD has only been available as a monthly subscription in North America.
A Brief History of Autopilot
Autosteer wasn’t always included for free. Early on, owners had to buy Enhanced Autopilot to get it, which included TACC and Autosteer along with features like Auto Lane Change, Navigate on Autopilot, Autopark, and Summon. It was last priced at $6,000.
Around 2019, Tesla split those features up and made Basic Autopilot standard on every new vehicle, with TACC and Autosteer included at no extra cost. Enhanced Autopilot was later dropped in North America as Tesla shifted gears to FSD.
For years, Basic Autopilot was good enough for a lot of drivers, especially on highways. That’s the group the change was aimed at.
FSD Subscriptions Are Climbing
The numbers suggest this change away from Basic Autopilot is working. Tesla said in its Q3 2026 earnings report that FSD hit a record 1.74 million subscribers, with more than half on monthly plans. Tesla stated that FSD was also included with 75% of all new vehicle orders in North America that quarter.
During Tesla’s Q3 earnings call, an analyst estimated that FSD’s annual recurring revenue is approaching $1 billion, and Tesla confirmed the numbers were correct.
Tesla has also started offering FSD subscriptions in more markets. FSD used to be limited to North America, but has since expanded to places like South Korea and a growing list of European countries. Every new market adds more potential subscribers.
Still a Long Way to Go
Even with record growth, Tesla is still well short of 10 million active subscriptions. Getting there will likely depend on EU-wide FSD approval, expected to be decided in December, along with more markets and continued improvements to FSD itself.
Removing Basic Autopilot gave Tesla a boost in monthly subscription revenue, but it removed a feature that is becoming common across vehicles — lane centering.
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