Tesla nonetheless has no plan to make issues proper for hundreds of thousands of automobile homeowners with its ‘HW3’ system, greater than 4 months after it lastly admitted that the {hardware} received’t help self-driving.
At this level, the automaker is simply hoping they purchase new automobiles.
We’re approaching the tenth anniversary of Tesla’s promise and sale of self-driving functionality that also doesn’t exist.
The Tesla FSD Timeline
In 2016, Tesla introduced that every one automobiles produced thereafter would turn out to be able to “Full Self-Driving” with future software program updates.
At the moment, Tesla was producing its automobiles with a brand new self-driving {hardware} suite referred to as “HW2.5” – consisting of cameras, a radar, and a self-driving pc.
CEO Elon Musk warned on the time that the system may want an eventual pc improve to realize full self-driving functionality, which he stated Tesla would offer without cost.
In March 2019, Tesla started constructing automobiles with a brand new “HW3” pc and began upgrading HW2.5 automobiles to the brand new system.
In early 2023, Tesla nonetheless hadn’t delivered on its self-driving guarantees, nevertheless it began producing new automobiles with a brand new HW4 suite, which included a way more highly effective pc and new cameras.
On the time, the automaker claimed that this new {hardware} suite would simply allow Tesla to push self-driving capabilities additional and that HW3 automobiles would nonetheless obtain “unsupervised self-driving capabilities” with upcoming software program updates.
Tesla HW3 reaching its restrict
A yr later, we began to report that Tesla gave the impression to be reaching the boundaries of the HW3 pc.
It took virtually one other yr earlier than Musk lastly admitted that HW3 won’t be able to help full self-driving capabilities and that Tesla might want to improve the computer systems.
Musk stated on January twenty ninth:
I imply, I believe the sincere reply is that we’re going to need to improve folks’s {Hardware} 3 pc for people who have purchased full self-driving, and that’s the sincere reply and that’s going to be painful and tough however we’ll get it completed. Now I’m form of glad that not that many individuals purchased the FSD package deal.
We at the moment are greater than 4 months after this assertion, and Tesla has but to disclose a plan to make issues proper for HW3 homeowners, a few of whom paid as much as $15,000 for the FSD package deal, and a few bought it so long as 9 years in the past.
As we beforehand reported, the HW4 pc, because it exists, can’t be put in in HW3 automobiles. It doesn’t have the identical digital camera connectors and total format.
Tesla has beforehand talked a couple of new HW5 pc for use within the Cybercab unveiled in October 2024, nevertheless it’s unclear if that new pc will have the ability to be retrofitted inside HW3 automobiles.
Electrek’s Take
I believe that if Tesla had deployed FSD with out promoting it as “full self-driving” and promising capabilities, it might be a celebrated main ADAS system.
As an alternative, it’s changing into one of the vital vital liabilities ever.
Tesla has delivered hundreds of thousands of automobiles with HW3, which it stated would all be able to self-driving, and tons of of hundreds of these automobile homeowners purchased the FSD package deal.
Musk claims that Tesla solely wants to switch the computer systems within the automobiles of those that purchased FSD. That’s not true as Tesla promised that every one automobiles delivered since 2016 could be able to attaining full self-driving, and now that this isn’t true, it negatively impacts the worth.
Both means, even for individuals who purchased FSD, Tesla has no plan for the retrofit but. It’s a multitude.
There are already a number of lawsuits associated to Tesla’s self-driving claims that now embrace this case with HW3, along with lawsuits particularly concerning the difficulty.
I believe we’re going to see billions of {dollars} in settlements over this, however it’s going to take years. Within the meantime, I doubt we are able to depend on Tesla to do the suitable factor.
HW3 automobiles are barely getting any FSD updates now, and the present model is gentle years away from what was promised: unsupervised self-driving. Making issues proper must be Tesla’s prime precedence, however as a substitute, Tesla is shifting its focus from delivering its promised capabilities in client automobiles to an inner fleet offering a ride-hailing service in a geo-fenced space with teleoperation help.
At this level, it’s changing into ridiculous to consider that Tesla will ship self-driving capabilities in virtually 10-year-old automobiles, with or with out {hardware} retrofit. It seems that Tesla is hoping that HW3 homeowners will change automobiles.
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