Elon Musk famously thought that automating the entirety of driving would be a pretty easy job, and he’s been steadily and continually surprised when it turns out to actually be difficult. This trend carries over to the tech installed in Tesla’s cars, which has required update after update, each time accompanied by Musk saying that this one, totally, is the one that’ll solve autonomy. Now, we’re seeing it again: Tesla’s now-outdated HW3 hardware can’t handle autonomy, and only the new HW4 cars can.
If this story sounds familiar, it’s because the same thing happened back when Tesla introduced the HW3 kit. The company had sold its “Full Self-Driving” software to owners with older HW2.5 cars, then had to upgrade them to HW3 at dealers. According to The Verge, that’s the plan this time too:
“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.”
...
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.)
This means that if you purchased the FSD package on a HW2.5 car — back when Tesla promised you that doing so would allow your car to drive itself — your dealer upgrade still isn’t enough, and you’ll have to go through the whole rigamarole again. This time, though, things may be far tougher than upgrading to HW3. The HW4 computer’s form factor is different from HW3, meaning there’s no simple plug and play upgrade. And don’t forget that FSD in its current form is just a Level 2 hands-free system that still requires the driver to pay attention and be in control — it’s not actually “self driving.”
It should be clear by now that Musk and Tesla continually promise features that simply aren’t possible, reap the stock benefits, then quietly shuffle things around later to keep sycophant customers happy. This time, though, the hardware will totally work out just like the company says. Right?