Musk says FSD is Tesla's biggest demand driver as output expands

On October 22, 2026, Tesla used its quarterly disclosures and earnings call to put FSD at the center of its story. An IT之家 report that morning said 75% of new vehicles delivered in North America in the previous quarter came with an FSD subscription, up from 55% in the second quarter. Paid FSD users across the fleet reached 1.74 million, up 67% year over year, excluding free trials. Monthly subscribers and one-time buyers were split evenly, with roughly 875,000 people paying $99 per month. Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla's vice president of AI software, said every delivered car includes a one-month FSD subscription, and that many users still choose to pay even with that free period. Tesla also said an unsupervised version of FSD could arrive as early as next summer, though it would be limited by geofencing and hardware.

Later that day, 36Kr and IT之家 reported remarks from Musk on the earnings call. Musk said demand for Tesla vehicles is growing fast and now substantially exceeds production capacity, that the company is expanding output significantly, and that FSD is the biggest driver of that demand. He claimed no vehicle currently on sale can compete with Tesla at the FSD level. On approvals, he said FSD has been licensed in several European countries and that Tesla hopes to secure EU-wide approval, but timing is hard to predict: it could land within a few months, and a slip into the first quarter of next year would not surprise him. The approval process, he said, is not under the company's control. The IT之家 report also noted that Musk expects issues around robot AI, electromechanical design, reliability and service life to be resolved by the end of next year, at which point Tesla could deliver Optimus to companies other than Tesla.

The record currently stops there: Tesla has published the North American FSD take rate and paid subscriber count, Musk has given his demand, production and European approval comments, and no firm date exists for EU-wide approval.