For several weeks, many Tesla buyers have reported failures in their vehicles’ computer systems, reports Electrek. In question: the new version of the HW4 on-board computer, sometimes called “AI4.1” internally. This essential component, supposed to manage functions such as autonomous driving, cameras and GPS, goes out of service, rendering several critical vehicle systems unusable.
Bad timing for Tesla
According to internal sources, the problem comes from a short circuit. One of the hypotheses put forward is that the low voltage battery would damage the computer during the camera calibration process. The result: drivers not only lose autonomous driving features, but also active safety systems, GPS navigation and even range estimates.
The phenomenon does not affect a few isolated cars, but a large portion of vehicles equipped with this new computer, manufactured in recent months. Faced with the influx of complaints, Tesla’s teams are struggling to keep up. Several internal sources indicate that after-sales service is saturated. The manufacturer even asked its technicians to minimize customers’ concerns about safety, in order to prevent them from considering their vehicles as unusable.
For the moment, the only solution offered by the manufacturer is the complete replacement of the defective computer. At the same time, Tesla is reportedly working on a software fix to try to temporarily circumvent the problem.
These outages come at a strategic time for Tesla. The manufacturer is targeting a record number of deliveries at the end of the year to avoid an annual decline for the first time in ten years. But this failure could complicate its objectives and harm its brand image.
Another sore point: Tesla has yet to issue a service bulletin to officially acknowledge the problem. Still, the failure of some rear cameras violates federal safety standards in the United States, which could theoretically result in a mandatory recall. For the moment, no public communication has been made to authorities such as the NHTSA.
These failures highlight the challenges of rapid hardware updates at Tesla. Unlike the previous HW3 version, the new HW4 computer was supposed to offer better performance for processing artificial intelligence calculations. But some critics believe that Tesla has pushed production savings a little too far with this new version, notably reducing RAM and increasing energy consumption.
Elon Musk had promised to upgrade old HW3 computers to HW4 models for free. An announcement seen as good news at the time, but which today takes on a completely different meaning in the face of the malfunctions of AI4.1.
In the meantime, affected owners will have to wait. Tesla, which is juggling a temporary fix with computer replacements, may well be forced to officially recall affected vehicles if the problem persists.
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