Musk Cut Basic Autopilot From New Teslas to Boost FSD Subscriptions, Source Tells Not a Tesla App

When Tesla stopped including Basic Autopilot on new vehicles earlier this year, many owners assumed the change was meant to push buyers toward Full Self-Driving. According to a source with knowledge of the decision, that is exactly what happened, and Elon Musk made the call, Not a Tesla App reported in a Nov. 12 exclusive.

Not a Tesla App said it was told that Musk decided to remove Basic Autopilot, which had included Traffic-Aware Cruise Control and Autosteer, from new vehicles in order to boost FSD subscriptions. That subscription count is also one of the operational milestones Tesla must hit for Musk to qualify for his pay package, the site reported.

The timing matters for anyone shopping for a new Tesla, or comparing a new order with a car that was built last year. Tesla shareholders approved Musk's 2025 CEO Performance Award at the company's Annual Shareholder Meeting in November 2025. One of that award's operational milestones requires Tesla to reach 10 million active FSD subscriptions or purchases, paired with a $2.5 trillion market-cap goal, Not a Tesla App reported.

About two and a half months later, in January 2026, Tesla stopped including Basic Autopilot on new vehicles in the United States and Canada, the site said. New cars came with Traffic-Aware Cruise Control 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 following month. Since then, FSD has only been available as a monthly subscription in North America, according to the report.

The report does not say Tesla removed Autosteer from cars that already included Basic Autopilot. The change it describes is about what is included on new vehicles.

Autosteer was not always a free, standard feature. Early on, owners had to buy Enhanced Autopilot to get it, Not a Tesla App noted. That package included Traffic-Aware Cruise Control and Autosteer along with Auto Lane Change, Navigate on Autopilot, Autopark and Summon, and was last priced at $6,000. Around 2019, Tesla split those features and made Basic Autopilot standard on every new vehicle, with Traffic-Aware Cruise Control and Autosteer included at no extra cost. Enhanced Autopilot was later dropped in North America as Tesla shifted its emphasis to FSD, the site said.

For years, Basic Autopilot was enough for a lot of drivers, especially on highways. That is the group the change was aimed at, according to the report.

The subscription numbers suggest the shift is working, Not a Tesla App reported. Tesla said in its third-quarter 2026 earnings report that FSD hit a record 1.74 million subscribers, with more than half on monthly plans. Tesla also said FSD was included with 75% of all new vehicle orders in North America that quarter. During the earnings call, an analyst estimated that FSD's annual recurring revenue is approaching $1 billion, and Tesla confirmed those numbers were correct, the site reported.

Tesla has also started offering FSD subscriptions in more markets. The software used to be limited to North America, but has since expanded to places such as South Korea and a growing list of European countries, adding more potential subscribers, the report said. Even with that growth, Tesla is still well short of 10 million active subscriptions. Getting there will likely depend on EU-wide FSD approval, which is expected to be decided in December, along with more markets and continued improvements to the software, Not a Tesla App reported.

For shoppers, the practical change is straightforward. A new Tesla in the U.S. or Canada no longer includes lane-centering Autosteer as a standard feature. Traffic-Aware Cruise Control still comes on the car, but Autosteer requires an FSD subscription. Tesla says FSD (Supervised) remains a driver-assistance system that requires an attentive driver who can intervene at any time, and does not make the vehicle autonomous.

Current customer software, as of mid-November coverage, is FSD Supervised v14.3.13 on Hardware 4 vehicles and v14.3 Lite on Hardware 3, delivered in firmware 2026.38.5.12. Those version numbers describe the software on cars that already have FSD, not a return of standard Autosteer on new inventory.