Tesla’s US referral program changed overnight, and it isn’t only a new perk. On Thursday evening Tesla launched a referral program for Full Self-Driving (Supervised): you give a friend a free month, and you get a free month back (or $99 in Tesla Credits) if they subscribe. But owners quickly spotted the other half of the change. The old $250 credit for referring a new car buyer appears to be gone, and for a few hours some owners’ pending car referrals disappeared from the Tesla app. Several now say those pending referrals are back.
Here’s what Tesla has confirmed, what owners are reporting, and what it means if you have referrals waiting on deliveries.
What’s confirmed
Tesla North America announced the new program on X at about 8:48 p.m. ET on October 29: “Refer friends & family to gift them a month of FSD Supervised. Once they subscribe, you’ll receive a free month in return (or $99 in Tesla Credits if bought outright). Available in the US.” The post links to a new Tesla support page for the program.
Refer friends & family to gift them a month of FSD Supervised
— Tesla North America (@tesla_na) October 30, 2026
Once they subscribe, you’ll receive a free month in return (or $99 in Tesla Credits if bought outright)
Available in the US
According to the program terms quoted by EV (eletric-vehicles.com) and Drive Tesla, it works like this:
- Who can refer: owners or lessees who pay for an FSD (Supervised) subscription or bought FSD outright. That includes FSD that came with a vehicle package such as Luxe or Tech. Owners who only have FSD “through a one-year grant” can’t refer anyone.
- Who can get the free month: someone with a registered Tesla that has FSD-compatible hardware, who hasn’t paid for an FSD subscription in the past 12 months and has never bought FSD outright. If you got a free FSD trial when you took delivery, you have to wait until 12 months after that trial ends.
- The reward: one free month of FSD if you’re a subscriber, or a $99 Tesla Credit if you bought FSD outright. Either way, the friend has to start a paid subscription during the trial.
- The limits: up to 12 rewards per calendar year and 48 over the life of an account. Each trial redeemed counts toward the 12-per-year trial limit, even if that person never subscribes.
- Where to find it: the “Refer and Earn” menu in the Tesla app, version 4.62.0 or later. Credits expire 12 months after they’re granted and can’t be cashed out.
The $99 credit matches the US FSD subscription price of $99 a month. At 12 rewards a year, that works out to up to a year of free FSD, or $1,188 in credits for someone who bought FSD outright. That fits the “1-year-free-fsd” image file that app sleuths found last week, which we covered alongside the Robotaxi app code leak. Not a Tesla App also reported the referral code in app 4.62.0 on October 27.
What’s rumored or reported
Tesla’s announcement didn’t mention car referrals at all. Within about half an hour, owners started posting that the old program was gone. “Looks like the Tesla referral program where you get $250 in Tesla credits per car ordered is gone,” Whole Mars Catalog posted, sharing a Tesla referral page that now offers only “Solar Panels & Powerwall, $400 Off.” EV also reports that Tesla’s Refer and Earn page now lists solar as the only product with buyer and referrer benefits. Until Thursday, a referrer got a $250 Tesla Credit when someone bought a Model 3, Model Y or eligible Cybertruck through their link, and the buyer got three months of FSD.
Not every report agrees. TeslaNorth wrote that the FSD program “sits beside, rather than replaces,” the car-order referral track. Tesla hasn’t commented either way, so treat the end of the $250 car credit as reported but not officially confirmed.
The bigger worry was pending referrals. These are buyers who ordered with someone’s link but haven’t taken delivery yet. “If you had any referrals pending they are gone!” JeebsTX wrote at around 9:30 p.m. ET. On the Cybertruck Owners Club forum, an owner said two October referrals had dropped off their list.
Later reports were more reassuring. Owner Kamber (@KBTesla1) posted that referrals from before the switch “now again show pending referrals in the Tesla app.” His screenshot shows three orders, each still marked $250 Tesla Credits. Earlier, he’d asked Tesla Assist, the app’s AI assistant. It replied that the referrals were “still tracked” and that the app “may hide pending items after a program update.” That’s an AI chatbot answer, not a policy statement. Another owner said Tesla Assist told them a pending referral “will be honored upon delivery.” Early Friday, the forum owner who had lost two referrals said they were back after a Tesla app update.
So far, that points to a display glitch during the switchover, not lost credits. But Tesla hasn’t confirmed it, and those orders haven’t been delivered yet, so no one has actually been paid on them.
Old referral program vs. new FSD referral program
| Old car referral (until Oct. 29) | New FSD referral (US) | |
|---|---|---|
| What the friend does | Buys a Model 3, Model Y or eligible Cybertruck | Starts a paid FSD subscription during a free month |
| What the friend gets | 3 months of FSD (Supervised) | 1 month of FSD (Supervised) |
| What you get | $250 Tesla Credit | 1 free month of FSD, or $99 credit if you own FSD outright |
| Yearly cap | 10 per calendar year | 12 rewards per calendar year (48 lifetime) |
| Who can refer (new rule) | n/a | Only FSD subscribers or outright owners |
Why Tesla is doing this
Tesla doesn’t need much help selling cars right now. It does want more FSD subscribers. Elon Musk said in January that Tesla would stop selling FSD outright after February 14, so in the US it’s subscription-only now. Tesla reported 1.74 million active FSD subscriptions at the end of the third quarter (a count that includes older outright purchases), and said more than 75% of new North American deliveries included FSD. A program that turns current subscribers into salespeople, aimed at owners who have never paid, fits that push. The reaction suggests it works: Sawyer Merritt said he had several FSD referrals pending within 15 minutes.
Owners who used the car program, especially those who stacked $250 credits toward Supercharging or service, aren’t happy. “They just took referrals down from $250/car to $0/car,” one owner posted.
What to do if you have pending referrals, or are about to order
- You have pending car referrals: open Refer and Earn and check your referral history after updating the Tesla app. Screenshot what you see. If an order that used your link is missing, contact Tesla support and keep a record. Don’t rely on Tesla Assist’s answer alone.
- You’re ordering a Tesla now: don’t count on three free months of FSD from someone’s referral link. Check Tesla’s current offers on the order page before you pay the order fee.
- You pay for FSD or own it outright: you can now earn up to 12 free months, or $1,188 in credits, a year. Remember that every trial redeemed uses up a slot, even if your friend doesn’t subscribe.
- You’ve never tried FSD: a friend’s link gets you a free month, as long as you haven’t paid for FSD in the past year and didn’t get a delivery trial in the last 12 months.
Tesla has been tweaking its software and services a lot this month. This week owners found that update 2026.38.5.1 broke third-party V2L adapters and last week Model Y financing rates rose to 2.49%. We’ll update this story if Tesla clarifies what happens to pending car referrals.
FAQ
Is the $250 Tesla referral credit gone?
It appears so in the US. Owners and EV report that Tesla’s referral pages now offer only solar and FSD rewards. Tesla hasn’t announced the end of the car referral credit, and TeslaNorth reported that the car track still exists, so it isn’t officially confirmed.
Will my pending Tesla referrals still pay $250?
Several owners say their pending referrals reappeared in the app, still marked at $250, after briefly vanishing. Tesla hasn’t confirmed this publicly. The credit normally posts once the buyer takes delivery.
How do I send a Tesla FSD referral?
Update the Tesla app to version 4.62.0 or later, open the menu, tap Refer and Earn, and share your FSD (Supervised) link. You have to be an active FSD subscriber or have bought FSD outright.
Is the FSD referral program available in Canada?
No. Tesla says it’s available in the US, and Drive Tesla confirms Canada is excluded for now.
