\n<\/p>\n
Tesla still doesn\u2019t have a solid pathway for how to give Hardware 3 cars Full Self-Driving (FSD) capabilities, based on what Elon Musk said during the company\u2019s latest earnings call<\/a>. The automaker has known for quite a while that its vehicles equipped with Hardware 3 aren\u2019t capable of unsupervised FSD, even though the company built the system specifically to give its cars the ability<\/a>. Tesla used Hardware 3 on cars manufactured from 2019 until early 2023 before Hardware 4 shipped.<\/p>\n During an earlier earnings call back in January 2025, Musk admitted that the company was \u201cgoing to have to upgrade people\u2019s Hardware 3 computer for those that have bought Full Self-Driving.\u201d At Tesla\u2019s latest earnings call, Musk said that Hardware 3 \u201csimply does not have the capability to achieve unsupervised FSD.\u201d Tesla thought it would be able to at one point, but Hardware 3 apparently has 1\/8th the memory bandwidth of Hardware 4. Musk explained that memory bandwidth is \u201cone of the key elements\u201d needed for unsupervised FSD.<\/p>\n Tesla will be offering to upgrade and replace the computers and cameras on older vehicles, but it doesn\u2019t have a concrete plan in place yet. \u201cI do think over time it\u2019s going to make sense for us to convert all Hardware 3 cars to Hardware 4,\u201d he said. To do so at service centers would be extremely slow, Musk has admitted. Around 4 million cars<\/a> or so have Hardware 3, though not everyone has paid for FSD. Still, to be able to replace its vehicles\u2019 hardware efficiently, Musk said Tesla is going to have to set up \u201cmicrofactories or small factories in major metropolitan areas.\u201d He didn\u2019t give any indication that Tesla has already started building those microfactories, though, or even that construction is already scheduled to begin. He did say that in the meantime, the company is going to be releasing FSD version 14 for Hardware 3 around the end of June.<\/p>\n Musk also said during the same earnings call that Tesla\u2019s Fremont factory will start manufacturing the company\u2019s humanoid Optimus robots in late July or August. The Tesla CEO is known for announcing highly optimistic and aggressive timelines. Tesla made the decision to kill off<\/a> its Model X and S cars earlier this year, so that it can convert its Fremont facility into an Optimus factory. The last Model S and X vehicles will be rolling off the production line<\/a> in May, which gives the company just a few months to dismantle the facility\u2019s current equipment and put new ones in place.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n