Tesla has launched a new referral program in the United States, where the reward is no longer a car purchase discount, but rather benefits related to full autonomous driving (supervised version, Full Self - Driving, FSD). Refereed car owners can receive one month of free FSD, while the referrers can get one month of free FSD or 99 dollars in Tesla credits once the referred owner starts paying.
At the same time, Tesla's " Refer and Earn " terms no longer list any vehicle models as eligible purchase rewards for buyers or referrers. In other words, if you purchase a Tesla today using a friend's invitation code, neither party will receive any reward.
FSD Recommendations on How to Operate
Participants must own a registered Tesla that is hardware-compatible. They cannot have purchased FSD in the past 12 months, nor can they buy out FSD in one go. There are also additional restrictions for those who have recently purchased a car: anyone who has received a free FSD trial on a new car is not allowed to use the referral link within 12 months after the trial ends.
Vehicle rewards have been discontinued.
Greater changes are hidden on Tesla's “Refer and Earn” page. Buyer benefits now only apply to solar panels; referral benefits cover solar panels, first test drives (up to 30 times per account for life), as well as the new FSD referral rewards.
Model 3. Model Y and Cybertruck only appear in loyalty rewards and are applicable to existing Tesla owners purchasing another Tesla product. Model S and Model X are not listed at all.
Tesla has not announced this change. The update date indicated on the page is "February 24, 2026," so it is unclear when the vehicles were actually removed from the list.
This forms a sharp contrast with the plan's previous focus. Tesla's referral program has always revolved around car sales. In August 2024, when Tesla restarted this program, buyers who purchased Model S, Model X, Model Y, or Model were eligible for a $1,000 discount, and the referrer could earn 500 dollars in credits. Over the past decade, Tesla has canceled and restarted this program several times, but the vehicle has always been at its core. No longer is that the case.
Key Metrics
This is precisely one of the key indicators in Elon Musk's 2025 CEO performance rewards, which includes the milestone of "10 million active FSD subscriptions." It is for this reason that Tesla began disclosing this figure in January of this year.
The free one-month period obtained by friends is not included in this total. Only paid conversions are counted, and it is precisely this event that is rewarded under the new plan.
Electrek Perspective
For Tesla, this is a plan with very low costs, and it is directly built upon one of its most important businesses today – the sale of FSD. In the past, Tesla would offer a $1000 discount to encourage referrals; now, what they offer is simply software that is already installed in the cars, and the referrers receive the same software, or points that can only be used for purchases at Tesla. In exchange, Tesla gains a subscriber who pays $99 per month.
Since the reward recipients must already own a Tesla, this program will not add any new cars to the fleet. Its goal is to attract subscribers from the existing fleet. By the end of 2025, Tesla has sold approximately 8.9 million cars, but only 1.74 million of them are paying for FSD. Therefore, there is still significant room for growth. Based on the pace of the third quarter, we estimate that it will take about another 8 years to reach 10 million subscribers.
Therefore, Tesla has stopped paying rewards for recommendations that result in the sale of a single car, and instead focuses on rewarding those recommendations that contribute to the increase in the figures outlined in Musk's compensation plan. We believe this is sufficient to illustrate the company's current priorities.
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