TESLA FORCED TO FIX ONE ISSUE IN 4 MILLION VEHICLES THAT COULD COST $10 BILLION
Following a recent court decision against the cars' self-driving technology, Tesla may have to pay billions of dollars. It may be necessary for Elon Musk's automaker Tesla to replace the computers in millions of cars, and this won't be cheap. The corporation might be compelled to pay the car owners or replace the "self-driving" computer in around 4 million vehicles.
This all stems from the fact that back in 2016, Tesla claimed that all its vehicles in production going forward have ‘all the hardware necessary for full self-driving capability'. Musk stated that Tesla owners would eventually receive a software update that would transform their vehicles into "robotaxis" capable of level-4-5 self-driving, which means unsupervised autonomous driving—even when no one is in the cars. It is true that the company's use of the term "full self-driving" has evolved.
Nearly ten years later, though, this doesn't seem to be the case and isn't anticipated to change anytime soon. A judge established a precedent back in 2022 when he ordered Tesla to provide a free upgrade for a client's self-driving computer so that the consumer may sign up for Tesla's Full Self-Driving program at no extra cost.
According to Tesla's earlier claim that all 2016 models will "already contain the necessary hardware for full self-driving capability," owners of those cars must possess all the gear required to access these functions. Furthermore, Musk acknowledged in January of this year that HW3 computers lack the capacity necessary to accomplish unsupervised self-driving capabilities. So, the judge’s actions ultimately benefit the individuals who own the 4 million Tesla vehicles in the world with HW3 computers.
Additionally, the corporation will incur significant costs in replacing these computers. The HW3 computer is compatible with a wide range of Tesla vehicles, including the Model 3 and Model X. According to industry estimates cited by the International Business Times, each replacement would require exact engineering to integrate new hardware, costing up to $10 billion or more.
