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.”

The comments sparked a number of additional comments from Musk, including letting the Twitterdom know that by the end fo March Tesla would release more FSD features.

Musk had hoped that the final piece in the FSD puzzle – navigation of traffic lights and roundabouts and other typical medium-speed street obstacles – would be released by the end of 2019 to join the high-speed Navigate on Autopilot (NoA) and low-speed car park navigation features known as Smart Summon.

This did not eventuate, and Musk subsequently announced a “super fun” AI hackathon inviting developers to take a fresh look at the software in February.

Details about what exact FSD features would be released this month were not in the offing, but could either include some form of traffic light and stop sign recognition, or a level of “automatic driving on city streets”, both features listed on the Tesla website as “coming later this year”.

As with Smart Summon, the new features would be released first to Tesla’s Early Access Program with a rollout to US FSD customers to follow.

The release of more FSD features will also unlock more deferred revenue for Tesla from customers who have ordered FSD as it approached the end of the first quarter of 2020 – potentially boosting what is typically a quiet quarter for sales.

In addition to the comments made about the FSD chip and feature release, Musk also responded to a question regarding approval to use certain FSD features in Europe.

In 2019, Tesla had to pull back on certain Autopilot features for the Model S and X at the behest of European lawmakers. While a resolution has yet to be reached, Musk confirmed that progress is being made in negotiations with the EU standard committee and that he hopes the situation will be “better in a few months”.