Tesla was forced to update the “old” Model 3 due to false advertising around Autopilot

When that happens, like fortune teller into The Adventures of Asterix and Obelixhour if you force it to predict good weather, it won’t come. After announcing the arrival of FSD (Full Self Driving) to their cars since 2016, the latter has indeed become a reality in the US, only legislation still limits the possibility of driving without a steering wheel (and a pilot).

By the way, in Marques Browlee’s video of the day (above), we can see how the car works almost flawlessly on a complex route (urban + suburban), although certain moves have this young YouTuber specializing in technology breaking out in a few cold sweats. It’s not perfect yet, but the authorities are really waiting zero risk we’ll probably have to wait a few more centuries before we let robots into traffic. I don’t know about you, but by me When I reach a respectable age, I dream of being able to take myself to the doctor without driving. If I can get my car running on the freeway by then that would be great.

Tesla was forced to “retro-fit” the old cars

The problem with big promises is that you can’t keep them. Elon Musk, who claimed in 2016 that every Model S would have the necessary hardware for FSD, surely knew it wouldn’t be that simple. It actually required Hardware 3.0 (Appeared in 2020/2021 Model 3/S/X) Be good enough for FSD to take Madame Michou to the bakery without her arms (or legs).

Here comes the whole genius of Elon Musk (and I quote): the man understood from the beginning that he had to be able to. improve equipment after purchase. For just $1,500 (the price of a good computer) it was possible to take advantage of the latest system at the time, is able to offer precious sesame to FSD. Many former owners who want to keep their equipment as long as possible have taken this step, even if they sometimes have to pay up to $15,000 (current price) for a software update for 100% autonomous driving.

But before the judge, some customers (rightly) complained that a key promise was not fulfilled: Model 3s sold in 2019 did not have the necessary equipment for FSD (Equipment 2.5 vs 3.0). Therefore, the court ordered Tesla to update the plaintiff’s cars (at no cost).it even prompted vice to attack Tesla on another element: moving from MCU1 to MCU2 (multimedia system), intending to lose AM radio (longwave widely used in the US).

Tesla remains the retrofit champion

Although the forums are full complaints from Tesla customers who are concerned about updates that sometimes disable certain features or whose promises are not always fulfilled (as with Apple, by the way), this is still a frequent question rich man problems.

In effect, Just look at the German premium side to understand how far the American manufacturer has come in the hardware/software pairing.. Recently, for example, we tested a Mercedes EQA priced at over €80,000, which did not have a reversing camera (the part seems to be out of stock). It was a priori when discussing with the brand impossible to add it after purchase – take it or leave it, even if the customer has paid for the feature.

As far as software is concerned, OTA update systems are still very new and you often have to go to dealers for major updates (e.g. Audi, Porsche or Volkswagen). For example, we have a big Christmas update, adding features over time, etc. with a far cry from the usual Tesla-style upgrades. It’s not much better on the hardware side : I remember a few years ago a French manufacturer convinced me that we could upgrade their on-board computers on the next platformsand as far as I know, no manufacturer (besides Tesla) currently offers such capabilities, except for aftermarket replacements.

In short, while legitimately these customers are certainly right to mock Elon Musk, they may not always realize how lucky they are to be able to take advantage of so many features almost 10 years after purchasing the car!