{"id":300884,"date":"2025-04-17T03:07:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T10:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sftarticles.wpenginepowered.com\/en\/?p=300884"},"modified":"2025-07-01T14:51:35","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T21:51:35","slug":"teslas-500-million-dilemma-upgrade-or-compensate-4-million-drivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/teslas-500-million-dilemma-upgrade-or-compensate-4-million-drivers\/","title":{"rendered":"Tesla&#8217;s $500 Million Dilemma: Upgrade or Compensate 4 Million Drivers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tesla is facing mounting pressure as it must replace or retrofit the \u2018self-driving\u2019 computers in approximately 4 million vehicles,<a href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/the-terrifying-experience-of-a-tesla-driver-highlights-the-flaws-of-autonomous-driving\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\" or compensate owners who purchased the Full Self-Driving (FSD) package.\"> or compensate owners who purchased the Full Self-Driving (FSD) package.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The admission from CEO Elon Musk that the HW3 computers do not support the promised capabilities of unsupervised driving has raised legal and ethical concerns about the company\u2019s previous claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since 2016, Tesla has marketed its vehicles as equipped with &#8220;all the hardware necessary for full self-driving capability&#8221;. However, as <strong>Musk recently acknowledged, this assertion is false for many models fitted with the HW3 computer<\/strong>, which does not meet the required specifications for level 4 or 5 autonomous driving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">? Elon Musk honestly answered that Tesla is \u201cgoing to have to upgrade HW3 computers for those who have purchased FSD\u201d.<br><br>\u201cThat&#39;s going to be painful and difficult, but we&#39;ll get it done. Now, I&#39;m kinda glad that not that many people bought the FSD package.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/6JUDYL3gC5\">pic.twitter.com\/6JUDYL3gC5<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Tesla Newswire (@TeslaNewswire) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TeslaNewswire\/status\/1884744503979921659?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 29, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Potential $500 Million Cost Looms as Tesla Scrambles to Address Vehicle Upgrades<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This situation has triggered comparisons to the largest automotive recalls in history, potentially costing the company in excess of $500 million just for the hardware replacements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The ramifications extend beyond just financial concerns. <\/strong>Tesla&#8217;s credibility is at stake, following years of promises <a href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/tesla-is-going-to-unveil-its-robotaxi-cybercap-is-a-big-gamble\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"from Musk about delivering robotaxi capabilities through software updates.\">from Musk about delivering robotaxi capabilities through software updates.<\/a> With an estimated 4 million HW3 vehicles in circulation, the potential implications for consumer trust and brand loyalty are significant. Legal precedents already exist that could compel Tesla to act in favor of owners who feel misled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"What&#039;s the Difference Between Tesla Hardware 4 and 3 computer?\" width=\"840\" height=\"473\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bR6f2hdWDpg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Musk\u2019s acknowledgment that the computer upgrades will be &#8220;painful&#8221; reflects the complexity of the task ahead. The ongoing strain on Tesla\u2019s service operations, coupled with growing legal challenges\u2014evidenced by multiple lawsuits claiming misleading advertising\u2014suggests an uphill battle not only in rectifying these issues but also in restoring confidence among consumers and investors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>In a twist, Musk has hinted that Tesla may encourage vehicle owners to upgrade or repurchase vehicles as a solution rather than replace HW3 computers. <\/strong>This strategy, while potentially financially expedient for the company, may only deepen the discontent among current HW3 owners who now find themselves locked out of the capabilities they were sold.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tesla is facing mounting pressure as it must replace or retrofit the \u2018self-driving\u2019 computers in approximately 4 million vehicles, or compensate owners who purchased the Full Self-Driving (FSD) package. The admission from CEO Elon Musk that the HW3 computers do not support the promised capabilities of unsupervised driving has raised legal and ethical concerns about &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/teslas-500-million-dilemma-upgrade-or-compensate-4-million-drivers\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Tesla&#8217;s $500 Million Dilemma: Upgrade or Compensate 4 Million Drivers&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9317,"featured_media":298331,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":0},"categories":[1015],"tags":[8319,1471],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[6849],"class_list":["post-300884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-ev","tag-tesla","content-category-lifestyle"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9317"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=300884"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300884\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":307757,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300884\/revisions\/307757"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/298331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=300884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=300884"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=300884"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=300884"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=300884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}