Teslas with AP 2.0 to need camera upgrades for FSD

October 22, 2021

By Nuno Cristovao

Tesla entered into the car industry with their first EV, the original Tesla Roadster. It was more of a proof of concept as Tesla had bigger plans. Tesla's plan to enter the automobile market was to build an expensive, electric sports car that would have high margins and prove to the world what EVs could do.

Tesla planned to minimize their effort by focusing only on the electric components of the car, such as the drivetrain and battery. They would try to leverage other parts from existing auto manufacturers such as Lotus.

However, in the end Tesla ended up creating most of the parts themselves. The final Roadster utilized as little as 7% of the same parts as the Lotus Elise.

Tesla to replace cameras on Tesla AP 2.0 cars

Tesla to replace cameras on Teslas with AP 2.0

Tesla didn't make the same mistake again. When they manufactured the Model S in 2012 they decided to build the car from the ground up themselves. The original Model S didn't have any driver assist features. It's hard to say whether Autopilot wasn't something Tesla had started developing yet, or whether they planned to start small and add to the car in later years.

In September 2014, Tesla introduced their first version of Autopilot. Tesla built the hardware, but left driver assist software up to MobilEye, a company that still focuses on creating driver assistance systems today.

With the introduction of Autopilot 2.0 in 2016, Tesla decided to ditch MobilEye and take their platform in-house. It was a sudden and messy breakup, but in the end it was the right decision for Tesla. Autopilot 2.0 took several years before catching up to the capabilities of AP 1.

Since the introduction of AP 2.0, Tesla has offered a FSD package. Many features were not available out of the gate, but Tesla has slowly developed more features that fall into their FSD package.

Although many features have come out as part of the package such as lane keeping, lane changing, Navigate on Autopilot, Smart Summon, Autopark and more, Tesla is still developing its true self driving system. The problem has been more difficult to solve than anybody in the industry realized. Tesla is now making great progress with their latest FSD Beta releases.

Since AP 2, Tesla has used different hardware such as cameras and processors, but camera placements have remained the same. Tesla wanted to keep camera placement consistent across their product lines. From the beginning Tesla developed these cameras and processors to be easily swappable when better technology comes along.

AP 2 Cameras to be Swapped

Autopilot 2.0 cameras had a filter that made it able to absorb more light but it reduced colors captured. At the time Tesla thought this trade off would be worth it, but they now realize that it's better to bring the cameras in line with the ones used today. Since the cameras were made to be swappable if needed, Tesla can go in and swap them out for the same cameras that are used today.

Don’t worry, Tesla prepared for this.

The cameras just pop right off and can be replaced with the latest model.

Super smart, right? @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/DTRoGSnHhx
— Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) October 22, 2021

This is exactly what Tesla is doing. Any Tesla that has FSD and AP 2.0, Tesla will be replacing the camera modules with cameras in 2021 vehicles. The FSD computer will also be replaced with the FSD HW 3.0 computer.

Tesla is planning on introducing a HW 4.0 FSD computer with the introduction of the Cybertruck, but this computer is not meant for FSD 3.0 vehicles. Tesla beleives they can achieve FSD on 3.0 hardware, but 4.0 will give them some extra processing power to increase safety even more.

Yeah, although early production cars will need camera upgrades, as well as FSD computer (all included in the price)
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 22, 2021

The same will be true if Tesla realizes that 4K or wide-angle cameras are needed in the future. These cameras are relatively inexpensive and Tesla can swap out the hardware if needed in order to achieve FSD.

Elon confirmed on Twitter that all vehicles with FSD and AP 2.0 will indeed need to have their cameras replaced in order to get FSD on city streets. The amount of vehicles released with AP 2.0 was relatively small as Tesla soon moved to AP 2.5 roughly a year later.

Elon didn't mention any timeframe on when Tesla will be updating these cars but Tesla may be waiting for Tesla service demand to be reduced. The demand for Tesla service is at an all time high as the world starts to get back to some form of normal and there has been pent up demand for service as people are addressing issues from the past year.

When Tesla gets to updating these vehicles with newer cameras and FSD computers, there will be no cost to owners as the replacement will be completely free.

Tesla Gains Support for Australian Battery Recycling Facility

June 6, 2025

By Karan Singh

Electrek.co

Tesla’s recent focus on expanding and vertically integrating its battery production is beginning to take global steps, starting with a battery recycling and service center in South Australia. In Marion, a suburb of Adelaide, the council recently voted in favor of a proposal that would see contaminated public land developed and leased to Tesla.

The move promises local jobs and environmental remediation but has garnered a lot of public debate focused on Elon’s moves outside his role as CEO.

The proposal involves a site that’s currently unusable for recreation due to chemical contamination. A local developer plans to acquire and remediate the land, constructing a new facility specifically for Tesla. This site would reportedly serve two purposes: recycling old lithium-ion batteries and serving as a Tesla Service Center.

Tesla’s Commitment to Recycling

Tesla recently announced its intention to ramp up its battery recycling and repurposing efforts. During the Q1 2025 Earnings Call, Tesla’s executives highlighted substantial progress. Tesla had recycled enough materials in Q1 2025 to build approximately 21,000 Model Y RWD vehicles, representing a 136% year-over-year increase from Q1 2024.

Dedicated regional hubs like this one would be a logical next step in expanding the recycling loop and furthering Tesla’s vertical integration while also reducing its reliance on new materials. In addition, local sources also mentioned that Tesla could be repurposing older lithium-ion batteries for other purposes, including their inclusion in stationary battery storage systems like Powerwall or Megapack.

Of course, the facility also has major benefits for the local community, including creating around 100 local jobs, as well as injecting approximately $56 million into the local economy. Further, developing the contaminated land as a renewable facility is one of the safest ways to use the land that’s been sealed off from the public for nearly a decade.

Elon’s Image

The proposal isn’t without its critics. Local opposition was voiced during community consultations, with most of the negative sentiment directed towards Elon rather than the facility itself. Despite these complaints, the local council elected to proceed, arguing that tangible economic and environmental benefits far outweigh any perceived geopolitical or symbolic harm that shutting down the project could cause.

With the council’s endorsement on record, the proposal now moves to the South Australian state government for approvals regarding the change in land classification.

Tesla Update 2025.20 Lets You Delete Multiple Dashcam Videos at Once

June 6, 2025

By Karan Singh

max_bracco/X

Tesla’s software updates often hide some undocumented features alongside the official release notes, and software update 2025.20 is no exception. With this update, Tesla has introduced a welcome quality-of-life improvement for the in-vehicle Dashcam Viewer. Users now have the ability to select and delete multiple clips at once (thanks, Max!). However, this addition is limited to the updated Dashcam Viewer for Ryzen-based vehicles.

While it may seem a small change, if you wanted to clear out your Dashcam clips, you’d have to either delete them one by one in the vehicle or remove your Dashcam USB drive and take it to a computer to erase all the clips at once. For those who frequently see Sentry Mode notifications or often record clips with their Dashcam, this is a useful addition.

While the Tesla app now also supports viewing videos from your Dashcam and Sentry Mode, it still doesn’t support the two B-pillar cameras or deleting multiple clips at once. However, you can swipe on a clip to delete it.

How to Delete Multiple Videos

Using this new feature is straightforward.

Open the Dashcam Viewer in your vehicle while parked.
Bring up the menu that shows your various clips and press the three dots at the top right corner of the clip list.
You can now check off each video you’d like to delete before tapping the delete button underneath.

#Undocumented Feature in 2025.20
- You can now delete multiple Dashcam Clips at once by selecting the ones you want to delete. pic.twitter.com/QFVL7xMkQo
— Max Bracco (@max_bracco) June 5, 2025

Feature Availability

This feature is currently limited to vehicles that have received the updated Dashcam viewer - which means vehicles equipped with AMD Ryzen processors (how to tell if you have Intel or AMD). This includes all Model 3 and Model Y vehicles with AMD Ryzen, as well as the 2021+ Model S and Model X vehicles.

Unfortunately, since the Cybertruck does not yet have access to the updated Dashcam viewer or support for the additional two cameras in Sentry Mode, it has not received this feature yet either.

This undocumented feature is a very welcomed addition for many users who carefully manage their Dashcam and Sentry Mode videos.