Musk Confirms Tesla Will Upgrade HW3 Vehicles for Free - If You Bought FSD

January 30, 2025

By Not a Tesla App Staff

Not a Tesla App

Tesla has been struggling to provide FSD updates for vehicles with Hardware 3 (HW3). What was once thought to be enough compute power to solve autonomy, is no longer able to handle the latest FSD updates.

Yesterday, Tesla finally confirmed that vehicles with HW3 will need to be upgraded to achieve Unsupervised FSD.

HW3 Upgrade Finally Confirmed

Musk had previously suggested that an upgrade might be necessary and Tesla would upgrade these vehicles if needed. However, during yesterday’s earnings call, Musk admitted that HW3 vehicles will, in fact, need to be upgraded. Tesla said that these upgrades will be performed free of charge for owners who have purchased the FSD package, leaving subscribers wondering what will happen to their cars.

Musk stated, “That's going to be painful and difficult, but we'll get it done. Now I'm kinda glad that not that many people bought the FSD package haha.” This appears to confirm that Tesla doesn’t plan on upgrading HW3 on vehicles that subscribe to FSD.

What About Subscription-Based FSD Owners?

While there are a lot of questions, one of the bigger ones is what happens to owners who have subscribed to FSD. Tesla didn’t touch on the topic, but if they’re not planning to upgrade HW3 subscribers, then they could potentially offer a paid retrofit. When the Model 3 was first released, it came standard with HW 2.5. At the time, Tesla said that you won’t need anything better unless you plan to buy FSD. Tesla ended up upgrading owners who had bought FSD for free, but non-FSD owners were required to pay for an upgrade.

Based on previous hardware upgrades—such as the HW2.5 to HW3 transition—a paid upgrade could cost between $1,000 to $3,000. However, it’s not clear what the upgrade to HW3 vehicles will be or how much it will cost even if a paid upgrade becomes available.

FSD on HW3

Musk also hinted that FSD was not selling as well as Tesla had hoped, which likely influenced the introduction of subscription-based FSD.

Meanwhile, Tesla continues to improve HW3-based FSD. FSD V12.6 offers major improvements in smoothness and is considered a “baby V13” with notable improvements over V12.5.4.2. Reverse capabilities are also expected to arrive in a future release for HW3 vehicles, so Tesla hasn’t stopped development just yet. However, Musk was clear that HW3 will continue to lag behind HW4 releases moving forward.

FSD V14 and the Future of HW3

Tesla has stated that FSD V14 will be another significant step toward achieving Unsupervised FSD. The increasing complexity of FSD models and their growing context sizes mean that HW3 is already not able to run the larger FSD V13 models, but according to Tesla, V14 will increase the AI model even further, making it nearly impossible to run on HW3. As AI models become increasingly larger and AI5’s impending arrival approaches, one wonders how long before HW4 can’t run the latest models.

However, Tesla appears confident that HW4 will be sufficient, given its plans to launch FSD-powered robotaxis later this year.

What Will the HW3 Upgrade Look Like?

While Tesla has confirmed the HW3 upgrade, specific details remain unknown. We know that it won’t just be an upgrade to hardware 4 since that computer consumes more power than HW3’s electrical harness can provide, and it also has a different form factor, making retrofitting difficult.

Instead, Tesla will likely have to develop a new FSD hardware unit tailored for the retrofit or modify existing components to fit HW3-equipped vehicles. The hardware will need to be at least as computationally capable as HW4, but use the power of a HW3 unit.

Tesla has also said that it has no plans to replace cameras during the upgrade, despite HW3 cameras having significantly lower resolutions than HW4’s. While Tesla appears confident that this won’t be an issue, owners have reasons to be concerned as Tesla recently increased video processing resolution on HW4 cameras to improve FSD performance.

Tesla’s confirmation of an HW3 upgrade certainly makes more owners comfortable. However, the lack of details leaves subscribers and others wondering what will happen to their vehicles. It also doesn’t do much to ease the frustration of dealing with slower and less capable FSD releases, especially when they pay the same amount as HW4 owners, who receive more features and a smoother ride.

While free upgrades will be available for those who bought FSD outright, subscription-based owners are left in limbo, with no details on potential paid upgrade options.

With FSD V14 on the horizon and HW3 vehicles already struggling with the latest models, this upgrade will be crucial to keep existing owners happy.

Tesla FSD in Europe: June Update

June 14, 2025

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

The road to bringing FSD to Europe has been a long and complex one and filled with regulatory and bureaucratic hurdles. Elon Musk, as well as other members of Tesla’s AI team, have previously voiced their grievances with the regulatory approval process on X.

However, it appears that there is finally some progress in getting things moving with recent changes to upcoming autonomy regulations, but the process still seems slow.

Waiting on the Dutch

Elon commented on X recently, stating that Tesla is waiting for approval from Dutch authorities and then the EU to start rolling out FSD in Europe. Tesla is focusing on acquiring approvals from the Dutch transportation authority, which will provide them with the platform they need to gain broader acceptance in Europe. Outside of the Netherlands, Tesla is also conducting testing in Norway, which provides a couple of avenues for them to obtain national-level approval.

The frustration has been ongoing, with multiple committee meetings bringing up autonomy regulation but always pulling back at the last second before approving anything. The last meeting on Regulation 157, which governs Automated Lane Keeping Systems, concluded with authorities from the UK and Spain requesting additional time to analyze the data before reaching a conclusion.

Tesla, as well as Elon, have motioned several times for owners to reach out to their elected representatives to move the process forward, as it seems that Tesla’s own efforts are being stymied.

This can seem odd, especially since Tesla has previously demoed FSD working exceptionally smoothly on European roads - and just did it again in Rome when they shared the video below on X.

FSD Supervised testing in Rome, Italy

Pending regulatory approval pic.twitter.com/TXh3uQIfrx
— Tesla Europe & Middle East (@teslaeurope) June 12, 2025

DCAS Phase 3

While the approval process has been slow, Kees Roelandschap pointed out that there may be a different regulatory step that could allow FSD to gain a foothold in Europe.

According to Kees, the European Commission is now taking a new approach to approving ADAS systems under the new DCAS Phase 3 regulations. The Commission is now seeking data from systems currently operational in the United States that can perform System-Initiated Maneuvers and don’t require hands-on intervention for every request.

This is key because those are two of the core functionalities that make FSD so usable, and it also means that there may not be a need to wait years for proper regulations to be written from scratch. Now, the Commission will be looking at real-world data based on existing, deployed technology, which could speed up the process immensely.

What This Means

This new, data-driven regulatory approach could be the path for Tesla to reach its previous target of September for European FSD. While the cogs of bureaucracy are ever slow, sometimes all it takes is a little data to have them turn a bit faster in this case.

Alongside specific countries granting approval for limited field testing with employees, there is some light at the end of the tunnel for FSD in Europe, and hopes are that a release will occur by the end of 2025. With Europe now looking to North America for how FSD is performing, Tesla’s Robotaxi results could also play a role.

Tesla Launches 'TeslaVision' Contest With Big Prizes — See Last Year’s Winner [VIDEO]

June 13, 2025

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

Tesla’s marketing has always been relatively unconventional, relying on word-of-mouth rather than traditional advertising. The passion of the owner’s community is always massive, but it is especially high now with the launch of the Robotaxi network just around the corner.

Tesla is now tapping into that spring of fan creativity and announced the TeslaVision video contest, with some seriously impressive prizes up for grabs.

Announcing the TeslaVision fan video showcase

Tesla owners & supporters have always been able to see our products & mission for what they truly are.

Your word of mouth has made Tesla what it is today.

The OGs will remember that in 2017, we held our first video contest. 8 years… pic.twitter.com/6pPpkqmqOH
— Tesla (@Tesla) June 10, 2025

The Contest

The core of the contest is simple. Create a video that shows how your Tesla gives you more in life. Tesla is looking for submissions that highlight themes of freedom, safety, fun, and convenience.

Prizes

The prizes definitely make this contest worth entering if you’re good with a camera and have some basic video editing abilities.

For North America, the prizes include a brand new Model Y AWD Long Range, alongside an all-expenses-paid trip to Austin for a tour of Giga Texas. The grand prize winner will also be able to custom order their Model Y, allowing them to select their preferred wheels and color.

The two runners-up won’t get a Model Y, but they’ll also enjoy an all-expenses-paid trip to Giga Texas for a tour of the factory.

The travel and tour include lodging in Austin for 2 nights, as well as economy-class round-trip tickets from anywhere in North America. Tesla will also provide a vehicle for use during the trip.

Hopefully, these winners will also have the opportunity to experience the Robotaxi network while they’re in Austin, as it’s expected to be opened to the public later this month.

Project Loveday

For long-time followers of Tesla, this contest may feel familiar. The contest is a direct throwback to the 2017 Project Loveday contest, which was inspired by a letter to Tesla from a 10-year-old aspiring marketer. That contest was won by MKBHD, with his submission below:

How to Enter

If you’re ready to start filming, here are the key pieces of information you’ll need to know:

Video must be 90 seconds or less
Video must be uploaded to YouTube with a public URL
Make a post on X and Instagram tagging “@Tesla” and include the words “TeslaVision contest” in the post.
Provide links to both social media posts in your submission to Tesla’s form
Provide your personal details in the form
You have until July 17th, 2025, or until Tesla receives 10,000 entries, whichever comes first.

You can find the official submission form and all region-specific details on Tesla's website.