Elon Musk plays down self-driving chip controversy, says more features coming in March

Elon Musk plays down self-driving chip controversy, says more features coming in March

Tesla CEO and co-founder Elon Musk says the auto-maker will release more Full Self-Driving (FSD) features in March, at the same time playing down a switch of the car maker’s autonomous computer hardware.

There has been controversy this week over the delivery of “Made-in-China” (MIC) Model 3s, kitted out not with the top-of-the-line Hardware 3.0 chip (HW3.0) that is needed for FSD but with the earlier Hardware 2.5 version (HW2.5).

According to Chinese media, some customers who did not order the ¥56,000 ($A8,500 in Australia) FSD add-on when buying their MIC Model 3s discovered that their vehicles did not include the HW3 computer despite it being listed on their vehicle’s online order details, resulting in a number of official complaints.

Tesla has cited “supply issues” due to coronavirus as the reason for the swap, with Musk further downplaying the controversy on Twitter this morning adding that if FSD were ordered, the FSD chip would be upgraded automatically and at no extra cost.

“Oddly, those who complained didn’t actually order FSD,” Musk said in response to Third Row Podcast’s Sofiaan Fraval who noted that the chip downgrade did not equate to a downgrade in car function for those who hadn’t ordered FSD.

“Perhaps they weren’t aware that the computer is upgraded for free if the FSD option is ordered even after delivery.”

read more : https://thedriven.io/2020/03/05/elon-musk-plays-down-self-driving-chip-controversy-says-more-features-coming-in-march/