If you spend five minutes on X (formerly Twitter), you’d think Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) is either a gift from the future or a high-stakes gamble on public roads. There is almost no middle ground. But when you step away from the keyboard warriors and actually look at the Tesla FSD consumer sentiment survey data hitting the desks of analysts in early 2026, a much weirder, more nuanced story starts to emerge.
The gap between what "the public" thinks and what "the owners" experience is massive. It’s a canyon.
Honestly, the numbers are kind of jarring. While Tesla just secured the "Overall Loyalty to Make" award from S&P Global Mobility for the fourth year running, there’s a growing friction point. People love the cars, but they are increasingly skeptical—or at least divided—on the software that was supposed to define the brand’s future.
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The Great Divide: Fans vs. The General Public
A recent 2025/2026 study by Electric Vehicle Intelligence threw some cold water on the hype. It found that FSD actually makes 35% of people less likely to buy a Tesla. Only 14% said the tech was a primary draw. That’s a tough pill for a company that has basically bet its entire valuation on being an AI powerhouse rather than a car manufacturer.
But wait. If you talk to the people actually using it, the vibe shifts.
Stephen Gengaro, an analyst at Stifel who uses the suite daily, recently noted that "there are very few things it does incorrectly." He’s not alone. Once owners get over that initial "white-knuckle" phase where the car turns the wheel for the first time, it becomes second nature. It’s a psychological hurdle. You've got to trust the machine.
Why Version 13 Changed the Narrative
For a long time, FSD felt like a series of "two steps forward, one step back" updates. Then Version 12 (v12) happened, moving to an end-to-end neural network. Suddenly, the car stopped driving like a robot and started driving like a slightly cautious teenager.
By the time FSD Version 13 rolled out in late 2025 and into January 2026, the sentiment among power users took another leap.
- Smoothness: The "jerkiness" at stop signs? Mostly gone.
- Human-like logic: It handles speed bumps and multi-point turns with a fluidity that v11 couldn't dream of.
- Confidence: Testers are calling v13 "unbelievable," though—and this is a big though—it still has those "edge case" bugs that keep it at Level 2.
The "Appreciating Asset" Myth is Dying
Remember when Elon Musk said a Tesla with FSD would be worth $100,000 because it could work as a robotaxi while you slept?
Yeah, about that.
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Gordon Johnson over at GLJ Research recently pointed out that Tesla’s shift to a subscription-only model for FSD basically kills the "appreciating asset" thesis. If it’s a monthly fee, it’s an expense. It’s not equity. This has caused a bit of a stir in the retail investor community. People who paid $12,000 or $15,000 upfront are looking at the new $99/month (or even lower) subscriptions and doing some frustrated math.
Currently, only about 12% of the Tesla fleet are actually paying for FSD. That’s a low number for a "must-have" feature. It suggests that while the tech is cool, the price-to-value ratio hasn't quite hit the sweet spot for the average Joe commuting to a 9-to-5.
Safety: The Perception Problem
Here is where the Tesla FSD consumer sentiment survey data gets really sticky.
A significant chunk of the public—nearly 48% according to some reports—actually thinks FSD should be illegal. They don't trust the "vision-only" approach. They want LiDAR. They want more sensors.
Tesla’s own safety reports try to counter this by showing that FSD-engaged vehicles have significantly fewer collisions than the national average. But the public doesn't always buy the "miles per collision" stats. They see a viral video of a car missing a bollard and that sticks.
Interestingly, Consumer Reports recently moved Tesla up eight spots in their reliability rankings. The Model 3 and Model Y are now topping the charts for EV reliability. The hardware is solid. The software? That's still the "Schrödinger’s cat" of the auto world—it’s both brilliant and terrifying depending on who you ask.
Breaking Down the Skepticism
- Liability: 66% of consumers believe Tesla should be 100% responsible for any crash involving FSD.
- Education: 78% of people want stricter regulations on how the tech is advertised. They hate the name "Full Self-Driving" because, well, it still requires supervision.
- Demographics: Younger, high-income urbanites are the biggest fans. Older drivers (65+) are the most skeptical. No surprise there.
Is the "AI Chapter" Failing or Just Starting?
Despite the mixed sentiment, Wall Street is still bullish. Or at least, the "Bulls" are very loud. Dan Ives from Wedbush is looking at a $3 trillion valuation for Tesla in 2026, fueled by the "AI chapter" and the Cybercab.
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The goal for 2026 is 10 million active FSD subscriptions. To get there, Tesla has to do more than just improve the code; they have to win the PR war. They have to convince the 35% of people who are "put off" by FSD that it’s actually a safety feature, not a parlor trick.
Actionable Insights for Current and Prospective Owners
If you're looking at these survey results and wondering if you should tick that FSD box on your next order, keep these reality-based points in mind:
- Try the Monthly Route First: Don't drop thousands upfront. The sentiment shift toward subscriptions means you can test v13 for a month for about the price of a nice dinner. If you hate it, you're only out $99.
- Hardware Matters: If you’re buying used, ensure the car has Hardware 4 (HW4). The newest v13 builds are being optimized specifically for the newer compute suites, and HW3 cars might start seeing a "feature gap" soon.
- Watch the Regulatory Shift: The "SELF DRIVE Act of 2026" is currently moving through the U.S. legislature. If it passes, it could allow for up to 90,000 truly autonomous vehicles (no steering wheels) per manufacturer. This would drastically change the resale value of existing "supervised" FSD cars.
- Don't Expect an "Asset": Treat FSD as a convenience feature, like premium audio or a sunroof. The days of expecting your car to double in value because of a software update are effectively over.
The Tesla FSD consumer sentiment survey trends show a world that is curious but cautious. We are in the "messy middle" of the transition to autonomy. It's not perfect, it's not fully driverless yet, but for the 12% who use it every day, it's already changed how they think about the road. For everyone else? They’re still waiting for the car to prove it won’t make a mistake when the rain starts pouring.