Tesla FSD V14 Lite fails to detect log on road

A viral video has highlighted safety concerns regarding Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) V14 Lite software when running on older Hardware 3 (HW3) vehicles. Dashcam footage shows a Tesla driving at 32 mph on a rural road and striking a large log without braking or swerving.

FSD V14 Lite is a compressed version of the more advanced HW4 model, designed to function within the memory and bandwidth constraints of the older AI3 computer. While intended to improve performance on legacy hardware, reports from owners indicate significant technical struggles. These include computers overheating—sometimes exceeding 90°C—triggering system disengagements, phantom braking, and brake stuttering.

The incident underscores the ongoing debate regarding Tesla’s ability to achieve unsupervised autonomy on older hardware. While the company has released software updates to accommodate older chips, the hardware limitations of the HW3 system continue to pose challenges for the more demanding end-to-end autonomous driving models.