Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed the company lacks a clear path to grant Full Self‑Driving (FSD) to vehicles equipped with Hardware 3. The 2019‑2023 models, built with the earlier system, cannot run unsupervised FSD because the onboard computer lacks sufficient memory bandwidth. Musk said the hardware simply does not support the feature for owners today.

Hardware 3 was installed on roughly four million cars, but its 1/8th the memory bandwidth of Hardware 4 limits sensor processing. Musk plans to upgrade computers and cameras, yet no concrete rollout plan exists. He suggested building microfactories in major metropolitan areas to accelerate replacements and eventually convert all Hardware 3 cars to Hardware 4.

Tesla will ship FSD version 14 for Hardware 3 by the end of June, a software fix that may improve performance but cannot compensate for the hardware gap. Meanwhile, Musk announced the Fremont plant will shift from Model S production to assemble Optimus humanoid robots in late July or August, move that signals a pivot toward robotics.

Owners of the 4 million older Teslas face a costly upgrade path, as the company has yet to detail pricing or timelines for the Hardware 4 swap. Until microfactories materialize, many will rely on the June software update, which offers marginal gains but falls short of true autonomous driving. Tesla’s pivot to robotics underscores its long‑term strategy.