Tesla will likely start upgrading its computer chips this year – TechCrunch

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company would "very likely" begin upgrading its old electric vehicles with its new custom chip later this year, a huge task that will involve the modernization of hundreds of thousands of S, X and 3 models.

Musk tweeted Sunday night that upgrades will most likely begin at the end of the fourth quarter.

End of Q4, most likely

– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 8, 2019

Musk did not provide any further details. He previously said that the upgrade would be free for homeowners who have purchased the full-featured standalone feature, a package that costs $ 6,000.

Tesla offers customers two advanced advanced driver assistance packages: Autopilot and Unattended Driving or FSD. The autopilot is ADAS, which combines adaptive cruise control and lane direction. It is now a standard feature on new cars. The FSD includes Summon as well as Navigate on Autopilot, an active guidance system that directs a car from a ramp to a freeway ramp, including interchanges and lane changes.

Although Tesla charges the FSD package, the vehicles are not fully autonomous. Musk promised that advanced driver assistance capabilities on Tesla vehicles would continue to improve until this high end of automation was finally achieved.

Anyone who has purchased the complete self-driving will get the free computer update from the FSD. This is the only change between Autopilot HW2.5 and HW3. In the future, "HW3" will simply call FSD computer, which is accurate. No modification of the sensors of the vehicle or cable harness required. This is important v. https://t.co/lICMpT7xnX

– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 29, 2019

The custom chip unveiled in April was designed as a hardware upgrade necessary to achieve this goal. Since March, the new vehicles models X and S are equipped with the chip. Model 3 followed a month later.

The custom chip has been a milestone for the company. However, the considerable challenge is to upgrade thousands of so-called "Hardware 2" vehicles, not to mention the continued development of the software.

Tesla began producing electric vehicles with a more robust suite of sensors, radar and cameras – called Hardware 2 – in October 2016, taking into account the principle and promise of having the necessary equipment to be able to drive autonomously without human intervention. At that time, the company also began selling the fully self-contained upgrade package that, according to Musk, would eventually reach this ambitious goal.

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