In 2016, Tesla published a blog that said all EVs it produces have the hardware necessary to achieve “Full Self-Driving,” meaning owners of those Teslas could look forward to autonomous rides and could eventually send their cars out as money-making robotaxis when not in use. Tesla later deleted that post, and now we can see why. Since that post published, Tesla has shipped millions of updated Hardware 3 (HW3) computers to replace the older HW2.5 ones because they couldn’t achieve FSD. Now, Musk says those new chips will need to be replaced, as well.
“The truth is that we’re gonna have to upgrade people’s Hardware 3 computer for those who have bought Full Self Driving, and that is the honest answer,“ Musk said during yesterday’s earnings call, adding that it will be “absolutely painful and difficult.”
Musk said this while interrupting Tesla’s head of Autopilot and AI software, Ashok Elluswamy, who was in the middle of explaining how the company wasn’t giving up on HW3. Elluswamy said the company is working on the latest FSD software (v13) designed for newer HW4-equipped vehicles but will also release “baby” versions compatible with HW3. HW4 is shipping with the facelifted Model 3, the just-released redesigned Model Y, and 2023 and newer Model S and X vehicles.
In 2018, Tesla said it would give customers free upgrades to HW3, so long as they had purchased FSD, which has ballooned in price to as high as $15,000 from a starting price of $2,000. Electrek notes that a Tesla owner had once sued the company (and won) for not honoring the promised free HW3 upgrade since the owner did not pre-purchase FSD. The owner had cited the now-deleted 2016 Tesla post promising FSD capabilities to customers.
Although millions of Tesla vehicles on the road have HW3 installed, only FSD purchasers will get whatever upgrade Musk is now promising. “I’m kind of glad that not that many people bought the FSD package,” Musk quipped. It remains unclear if Tesla will now engineer a new retrofit upgrade. (Musk previously said they wouldn’t.)
The HW3 computers Tesla is looking to replace are also susceptible to shorting out, a problem that has already sparked massive recalls in the US and China for collateral symptoms such as inoperable rearview cameras. Now, the company is focusing on its HW4 development, and Musk has finally admitted to at least one of his false promises.
