A Tesla buyer who wants help staying centered in a highway lane now faces a much bigger software choice. A feature once bundled with the car sits behind a monthly Full Self-Driving subscription.
That change was meant to steer buyers toward FSD, Not a Tesla App reported on November 11. The outlet cited an unnamed source familiar with the decision. That source told the site Elon Musk made the call himself.
The report dates the change to January 2026 for new U.S. and Canadian cars. Traffic-Aware Cruise Control stayed. Autosteer, which keeps the car centered in its lane, became part of the paid FSD package.
For someone already set on FSD, that may not change the buying decision. For a driver who just wanted highway steering help, the choice is harder. Getting that feature now means paying for the whole package.
The Monthly Tab
Tesla lists FSD at $99 a month in the United States. Buyers can no longer pay once to own it. At that rate, a full year costs $1,188, on top of the car itself.
Subscribers get more than lane centering. FSD can make turns, change lanes, and follow a route. Drivers still have to watch the road and be ready to take over. The system does not make the car fully self-driving.
Buyers who skip FSD still get Traffic-Aware Cruise Control and active safety features. Cruise control adjusts speed to keep a gap behind the car ahead. Lane departure features can steer to help keep a car in its lane. That is different from keeping it centered as it travels.
The monthly plan does let drivers stop paying when they no longer want it. Tesla says they can cancel at any time. They keep access through the rest of the month they paid for.
A Bigger Target
FSD growth also has a place in Musk’s pay deal. Tesla’s 2025 award terms set a goal of 10 million active FSD subscriptions. It is one of several business goals in the deal.
Reaching that number alone does not unlock an award. Tesla must also reach a set market value. The business goals can be met in different orders. The FSD target is not fixed to a $2.5 trillion valuation.
That gives the subscription count a role beyond monthly revenue. But the claim that Musk cut Basic Autopilot to boost that count comes from Not a Tesla App’s unnamed source.
Counting the Customers
In its third-quarter update, Tesla listed 1.74 million active FSD subscriptions, up from 1.48 million in the prior quarter. That count includes drivers who paid upfront in the past and those on monthly plans. Free trials do not count.
Those totals do not show how many buyers paid specifically to regain Autosteer. Tesla also said more than 75% of new cars delivered in North America that quarter came with FSD subscriptions.