Dispatch · · updated
FSD v14.3.7 Shipped. The Hardware 3 Version Did Not.
Two builds, two weeks, two very different rollouts — and the deciding factor is the computer in your car, not the date on your order. If you are weighing the referral FSD trial, this is the part nobody puts in the headline.
The referral benefit on a new Model 3 or Model Y in North America is three months of Full Self-Driving (Supervised). What almost nobody tells you is that "FSD" is not one piece of software right now. In the first two weeks of August 2026 it was at least two, on two different release tracks, and which one you get is decided by the computer in the car.
What shipped, and when
- 6 August 2026 — FSD v14.3.7. Released for AI4 (Hardware 4) cars. Its job was to fix regressions that had been introduced in v14.3.6. That is a bug-fix release for the current main line.
- Around 8–9 August 2026 — FSD v14.1 Lite (2026.21.6). Released to a limited early-access group of Hardware 3 cars, and deliberately kept there.
Why the Hardware 3 build is being held back
Owners running the earlier v14 Lite build on HW3 reported the Autopilot ECU overheating. v14.1 Lite is the reworked answer to that, and Tesla is holding it as a limited release while it collects data and feedback before deciding on a wider rollout. That is a cautious sequence rather than a broken one — but it does mean an HW3 owner cannot assume a build exists for them just because a version number is in the news.
What this actually means if you are about to order
A new Model 3 or Model Y ordered today is not a Hardware 3 car, so the HW3 hold does not apply to a new order — that part is straightforward. The reason it matters anyway is that most of what you will read about "what FSD can do" is written by people driving one specific build on one specific computer, and those accounts are not interchangeable.
So: the referral trial gives you three months of whatever build your car's hardware is on. It does not give you the newest version number you saw discussed online, and a three-month window is short enough that a build in limited release when you take delivery may still be in limited release when your trial ends.
The one practical takeaway
If the FSD trial is a real part of why you are using a referral link, ask what software version the car is delivered on rather than what version exists. Those have not been the same thing this month.
Sources
Everything above is checked against these before publishing, and again whenever the note is updated.
- Tesla Oracle — Tesla rolls out FSD v14.1 Lite after HW3 ECU overheating issues (11 Aug 2026)
- AutoPilot Review — Tesla FSD v14.3.7 and v14.1 Lite rolling out
- CBT News — Tesla updates FSD in older cars; full self-driving still absent
Independent field notes by Alex Marchetti. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by Tesla, Inc. If you order using the code in the site header or the bar at the bottom of the screen, a real Tesla owner may earn Tesla Credits — it costs you nothing and never changes your reward.