The partitions are closing on Tesla’s declare that hundreds of thousands of its automobiles with {Hardware} 3 (HW3) computer systems can be able to unsupervised self-driving.
Tesla wants to return clear earlier than the phrase “fraud” comes out.
Making a mistake is just not a fraud. If Tesla actually thought that it might ship unsupervised self-driving to automobiles geared up with HW3 and, at one level, it discovered that it couldn’t, it’s not fraud despite the fact that it used that as a promoting level for hundreds of thousands of automobiles for years.
Nonetheless, the second Tesla figures out that it could’t, it must cease promoting its Full Self-Driving bundle to HW3 automobile house owners and are available clear to house owners about what their automobile will and won’t be able to do, like a robotaxi service.
Has the second come?
Delivering self-driving on Tesla HW3/self-driving laptop
In 2016, Elon Musk introduced that every one future Tesla automobiles would come geared up with the mandatory {hardware} for self-driving capabilities, even specifying “degree 5 self-driving,” which means the power to function autonomously underneath any circumstances. Nonetheless, shortly after, Musk acknowledged that Tesla may require extra onboard computing energy than initially thought, resulting in the introduction of {Hardware} 3 (HW3), which Tesla additionally referred to as its “self-driving laptop”.
Musk assured that HW3 would allow full self-driving (FSD) capabilities, promising retrofits for earlier fashions that had bought the FSD bundle. After I purchased my very own Tesla Mannequin 3 in 2018, it was geared up with the unique laptop, however since I had bought the FSD bundle, Tesla upgraded my automobile with the brand new “self-driving laptop” in 2019.
Following this, Tesla launched {Hardware} 4 (HW4), a extra superior onboard laptop system, however didn’t supply retrofits for older fashions with HW3, sustaining that HW3 was ample for attaining self-driving by way of software program updates.
Musk stated that it wouldn’t be “economically possible” to retrofit HW3 automobiles with HW4, which not solely features a extra highly effective laptop but additionally higher cameras.
Initially, Musk claimed that FSD enhancements would first be optimized for HW3, suggesting that HW4 may lag behind by at the least “six months”. Nonetheless, Tesla reversed this strategy with the discharge of FSD model 12.5, which was first deployed to HW4 automobiles. Musk defined that optimizing the software program for the much less highly effective HW3 would take extra time.
This has raised a big purple flag hinting on the limitations of HW3 in dealing with the newest software program developments in the direction of unsupervised self-driving, a functionality Tesla promised to HW3 house owners since 2016.
The priority is particularly vital throughout the context that Tesla nonetheless has lots of work to do to ship its unsupervised self-driving capabilities.
Tesla has at all times gone out of its manner to not launch any information relating to its FSD program. Due to this fact, we have now to depend on crowdsourced information, which exhibits Tesla is presently at about 122 miles between important disengagement:
In response to most specialists, Tesla wants a ~1,000x enhance in miles between disengagement to ship on its unsupervised self-driving guarantees. As you may see, this information exhibits that Tesla achieved a ~2x enchancment during the last 3 years.
On high of this case, CEO Elon Musk bought individuals much more frightened in the course of the launch of the Robotaxi final week.
Whereas discussing his declare that “all Tesla automobiles can be able to self-driving,” somebody within the crowd requested him in regards to the Cybertruck, which Musk shortly answered with a “sure.”
Nonetheless, when somebody requested him about HW3 automobiles, as an alternative of merely responding “sure”, Musk stated “Let’s not get nuanced right here” after which shortly requested for the following slide:
Now, nonetheless on the Robotaxi occasion final week, some have been pointing to this interplay with Tesla executives Franz von Holzhausen and Lars Moravy saying once more that robotaxi-level self-driving is coming to “all automobiles” after being requested extra particularly about HW3 as proof that Tesla believes it’s nonetheless attainable to ship FSD unsupervised on HW3:
With all due respect to von Holzhausen and Moravy, they wouldn’t be one of the best individuals to ask. The previous is accountable for design and the latter of auto engineering, which you’d assume the FSD program would fall underneath, however no.
Ashok Elluswamy leads this system at Tesla and stories on to CEO Elon Musk.
That’s evidenced by some errors made even on this quick interplay like Moravy saying that Tesla introduced its self-driving effort in 2014 when it was in 2016 and him asking if a 2018 Mannequin 3 has HW4, which has by no means been obtainable on early Mannequin 3 automobiles.
Talking of the Robotaxi occasion, Musk stated that the brand new Robotaxi is supplied with a brand new {hardware} suite, particularly a brand new on board laptop referred to as AI5. He didn’t elaborate on the capability of the brand new laptop. The automobile additionally has a bumper digital camera, which solely the Cybertruck has and no different Tesla automobile on the street right this moment. The onboard compute energy is one factor, but it surely’s additionally not the one potential bottleneck for Tesla with older {hardware}.
One other vital piece of proof pointing to Tesla not with the ability to ship unsupervised self-driving on HW3 automobiles is the truth that it doesn’t have any compute redundancy anymore.
Electrek spoke with a well known Tesla hacker referred to as ‘inexperienced‘ who usually reveals details about Tesla by way of his deep dives into the automaker’s software program. He really launched the primary HW3 pictures again in 2019.
Inexperienced stories that beginning in late 2023, Tesla began to make use of each nodes for its FSD program on HW3 – operating some new neural nets on the additional node. Initially, the concept was to have one for redundancy, which is critical for larger ranges of autonomy like ranges 4 and 5, however arguably additionally degree 3.
Now, inexperienced says that if one of many nodes fails, FSD doesn’t drive anymore. It will possibly nonetheless produce FSD visualizations, however that’s about it. That alone principally kisses goodbye to robotaxi-level self-driving on HW3.
It’s additionally value noting that shortly after inexperienced seen this modification occurred, Tesla began to shift its precedence from releasing new software program on HW4 first relatively than HW3.
Tesla is lowering its legal responsibility
Tesla has been attempting to actively cut back its authorized legal responsibility relating to HW3 by encouraging individuals who purchased FSD to improve to newer automobiles.
For years Tesla house owners have been asking Tesla to permit them to freely switch their FSD bundle to a brand new automobile. It is sensible. Tesla hasn’t delivered the product they’ve paid for. It’s the naked minimal to permit them to switch it to a brand new automobile.
After years of refusing, Musk ultimately agreed to FSD switch final 12 months, however he referred to as it a “one-time amnesty” and stated to make the most of it.
That turned out to not be true. Tesla introduced again the FSD switch twice extra since – with final quarter Musk saying “yet one more time”. After which, certain sufficient, Tesla introduced it again for a fourth time this quarter.
This pretend incentive to improve your older automobile with FSD to a more moderen one now as a result of it’s the “final time” has a constructive impact on Tesla’s legal responsibility relating to HW3.
When Tesla resales these used HW3 automobiles with FSD, they use their new language referred to as “(Supervised) Full Self-Driving”, which opens the door for Tesla to say that they’re solely promoting you self-driving that must be “supervised” by a driver.
However curiously, for HW2 automobile house owners who by no means bought FSD, Tesla continues to be promoting them a $1,000 HW3 laptop improve and $2,000 FSD software program bundle ($2,000 you probably have Enhanced Autopilot) with nonetheless the previous language within the improve web page:
That’s the place Tesla can be including legal responsibility as it will be “upgrading” a automobile to a 5-year-old laptop that’s already lagging behind on updates to its newer 2-year-old laptop (HW4).
Electrek’s Take
Let’s be trustworthy. Tech is never supported with software program updates after 5-7 years. Tesla {Hardware} 3 is getting into that zone. It’s turning into out of date and usually, it wouldn’t be an issue, however Tesla offered a Full Self-Driving functionality bundle for as much as $15,000 primarily based on this {hardware} that it by no means delivered.
On the minimal, it must reimburse that, however house owners may even argue that they purchased the automobile as a result of Elon Musk informed them it will grow to be self-driving over time and grow to be an “appreciating asset.”
This might shortly grow to be a really massive legal responsibility for Tesla, and the way in which it handles additionally it is vital.
Musk stated that retrofits usually are not economically possible from HW3 to HW4. It’s true that it will be fairly costly and likewise possible create an insurmountable quantity of labor for Tesla’s already overworked service groups. The HW4 laptop doesn’t have the identical energy harness or digital camera harnesses because the HW3, and it doesn’t share a kind issue that matches in the very same spot.
Additionally, the cameras have been upgraded with HW4, which raises the query, “Is the computing energy the one drawback, or does the digital camera additionally want to enhance?”
If it’s simply the computing energy, Tesla might doubtlessly design a brand new laptop that could possibly be extra simply retrofitted in HW3 automobiles, however even then, that’s one thing that must be disclosed.
As I stated, if Tesla is aware of that it could’t ship unsupervised self-driving on HW3, it must let house owners know proper now and cease promoting the software program bundle to HW3 house owners with out a clear plan to make issues proper. In any other case, this shortly turns into fraudulent.
The truth that Elon and Tesla have been incorrect so many occasions about self-driving is already not a terrific confidence builder for them delivering on HW4 automobiles and even on the brand new AI5 (Robotaxi), but when they’re additionally actively deceptive house owners, then Tesla turns into untrustworthy.
I’m critically involved that Tesla goes to depend on the “company puffery” protection to border Elon’s guarantees as “mere puff”.
After I first introduced up the potential of Tesla reaching the boundaries of HW3 earlier this 12 months, many Elon superfans began to make claims that Tesla and Elon by no means promised robotaxi-level self-driving capabilities on HW3 automobiles, which is apparent ridiculous.
Tesla might additionally blame regulators as that is the brand new language that you need to agree with when shopping for what’s now referred to as “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)”:
The presently enabled Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (Supervised) options require lively driver supervision and don’t make the automobile autonomous. Full autonomy can be depending on attaining reliability far in extra of human drivers as demonstrated by billions of miles of expertise, in addition to regulatory approval, which can take longer in some jurisdictions. As Tesla’s Autopilot and Full Self-Driving (Supervised) options evolve, your automobile can be repeatedly upgraded by way of over-the-air software program updates.
On the exact same day that Tesla introduced its new Robotaxi, Former President Donald Trump, who Tesla CEO Elon Musk is financially backing to grow to be the following president and who he says he’s “all-in” on, stated that he would “ban autonomous automobiles on American roads.”
This example is sort of a large number to say the least.
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