Older Tesla Model Y with HW3 to get FSD 14 Lite update in 2026 release

The majority of Tesla cars on the road are still kitted with the old HW3 set of computer and cameras for autonomous driving and can't run the latest FSD 14 version.

Tesla is now teasing that it hasn't forgotten about all the legacy Model Y owners out there and, instead of retrofitting their cars with a HW4 (or AI4) set, it will release a "light" FSD 14 version that will be able to run on the HW3 computer.

Previously, Elon Musk promised to retrofit the older vehicles with AI4 hardware if the automaker can't make HW3 run the unsupervised FSD version that is powering Tesla's Robotaxi platform and is now being rolled out as FSD 14 to newer Teslas.

According to Tesla's head of AI Ashok Elluswamy, however, the team has found a way to make FSD 14 run on a HW3 computer, but is focused on the expansion of the Robotaxi platform and the unsupervised FSD updates at the moment. After Tesla's Robotaxi service has reached most major metro areas in the US, the AI team will refocus on shoehorning FSD 14 into the HW3 computing power.

It remains to be seen what features and abilities will be cut from the FSD 14 Lite update for HW3 vehicles, but its release will likely coincide with the mass Cybercab production start in Q2, 2026, tipped Ashok. Tesla's CFO was also quick to assure all owners of HW3 vehicles regarding the FSD 14 update:

We've not completely given up on Hardware 3. However, over the last year, we've offered the customers the option to transfer FSD to their new vehicle, which at times we've been running some promotions. If they got FSD, they could get better preferential rates. So we've been definitely taking care of this, but we do want to solve autonomy first, and then we'll come back with a way to take care of these customers. These customers are very important. They were the early adapters. For what it's worth, my daily commuter is a Hardware 3 car, which I use FSD on a daily basis. So we will definitely take care of you guys.

With FSD 14, Tesla is shipping to customers largely what its autonomous Robotaxis use while roaming the streets of Austin and other cities in the form of Model Y units running unsupervised FSD. "Obviously, customers have some more features like they can choose where the car wants to park in a spot... which is not super relevant for Robotaxi," added Ashok, "but there are only a few minor changes like these."

Still, the FSD 14 Lite update for HW3 vehicles might not arrive with all the unsupervised FSD bells and whistles due to hardware limitations, so it remains to be seen if older Model Ys will be able to get them on the Robotaxi platform, if and when it opens it to the general Tesla owning public some time in 2026, as promised.

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