Image: Tesla
Tesla has reportedly confirmed it has no plans to offer a front bumper camera retrofit for existing Model 3 owners, despite the feature now appearing on all new builds in the U.S.
Longtime Tesla watcher Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) shared on X that after double-checking with Tesla directly, the company “does not currently offer a front bumper camera retrofit for the Model 3, and they currently have no plans to offer a retrofit for existing Model 3 owners.”
This update comes after we previously reported that all new Model 3 orders in the U.S. — including the newly unveiled entry-level “Standard” trim — now ship with an additional front-facing camera on the lower bumper. This brings the total number of exterior cameras to eight, giving the vehicle what Tesla describes as “360-degree visibility.” The refreshed Model 3 also brings back physical turn signal stalks, another change that owners had been asking for.
While Tesla recently launched a $595 turn signal stalk retrofit for existing Model 3 owners in the U.S., there’s no similar option for adding a front bumper camera. That’s left many owners frustrated — especially those who recently took delivery of a Model 3 with visible cutouts for the front bumper camera, only to learn it can’t be installed.
On Reddit, some owners pointed out that without a front bumper camera, there’s still a blind spot directly in front of the car that the existing cameras can’t see, hindering parking performance. Others expressed concerns that the lack of an additional front camera could lock them out of future, more advanced versions of Full Self-Driving (FSD) or prevent affected vehicles from reaching true autonomy once Tesla achieves it.
Still, Tesla has changed course before, so it’s possible the company could reconsider in the future. For now, though, Model 3s without a front bumper camera appear to be out of luck.
