Tesla has been promising cars capable of driving without human intervention for nearly ten years. But a recent admission from Elon Musk completely changes the situation. And millions of users risk never seeing their car keep this promise.
Since 2016, Tesla has been selling its vehicles with a strong promise: fully autonomous driving, activated later by a simple software update. At the time, the manufacturer assured that all models delivered after this date would be compatible with unsupervised driving. For many drivers, this justified an additional investment, sometimes up to €14,000 for the Full Self-Driving (FSD) option. But almost ten years later, this promise has still not been kept. And even today, the manufacturer has not offered any solutions for the affected models. The problem stems from the onboard hardware in the cars. Tesla first equipped its models with the HW2.5 system, then HW3, which is supposed to be powerful enough to handle autonomous driving in the future.
However, in January 2025, Elon Musk admitted that this would not be the case: vehicles equipped with HW3 hardware will never be able to drive fully autonomous. Despite this admission, no concrete solution has yet been announced for affected drivers. And the affected models number in the millions worldwide.
These Teslas sold as autonomous may never be
In theory, only users who purchased the FSD option should receive a free hardware upgrade. But Tesla has always presented all vehicles delivered since 2016 as being compatible with autonomous driving. Today, the HW4 hardware has taken over in new models, and a future HW5 is in preparation for robotaxis. In reality, the manufacturer seems to be banking on the fact that drivers will renew their cars, without offering a real replacement plan. The gap between old and new vehicles is only widening.
Faced with this situation, several class action lawsuits are already underway. Some users believe they have been misled, especially since updates for HW3 are increasingly rare. The system remains far from the promised autonomous driving, and the affected vehicles are losing value. The brand continues to promote its advances in future models. For many, the idea of a self-driving Tesla remains an unfinished project... or even a big disappointment.
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