Tesla Says It Will Need To Build Micro Factories To Retrofit Old Cars For FSD

Tesla has announced that millions of its vehicles sold between 2019 and 2023 will require hardware upgrades to achieve unsupervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) capabilities. During the Q1 2026 earnings call, CEO Elon Musk indicated that these vehicles, which were initially sold with the promise of full autonomy, lack the necessary hardware to support FSD. To address this issue, Tesla is considering the construction of "microfactories" in urban areas specifically to retrofit these vehicles with upgraded computers and cameras. This initiative may incur high costs for Tesla, which is already facing profitability challenges. Musk also provided an update on the timeline for unsupervised FSD, stating that it is unlikely to be available for consumer vehicles until at least the fourth quarter of 2026. This announcement marks yet another delay in the rollout of FSD, following years of previous promises that have not materialized. When asked about the timeline, Musk admitted that he was "just guessing" regarding the fourth-quarter estimate. In addition to the FSD updates, Musk mentioned that the unveiling of the long-awaited next-generation Tesla Roadster has been postponed once again, with a new potential debut set for "maybe in a month or so." This marks at least the eighth time the timeline for the Roadster has been adjusted since its prototype reveal in November 2017. Furthermore, Musk confirmed that production of the Optimus robot will begin at the Fremont factory in late July or August, although he cautioned that initial output would be slow due to the complexity of the production process.