The Self-Driving Computer in Brand New Teslas Is Failing

This is extremely embarassing.

New and Unimproved

It seems that Tesla's self-driving efforts have hit another snag, because the computers built into its cars that run its semi-autonomous driving software are failing, Electrek reports, adding to the Elon Musk-owned automaker's track record of dodgy quality control.

The issue has been apparent for several weeks but has not received significant attention until now. According to complaints that Electrek says it's received from owners, it's brand new Teslas that are experiencing the hardware failures within just several hundred — and sometimes just several dozen — miles of driving.

When the computers malfunction, it disables not only the Autopilot and Full Self-Driving modes, but more commonly used features like the vehicle's extensive suite of cameras, its GPS, navigation features, and active safety features, the site found.

Quiet Coverup

Per Electrek's investigation, the issue is related to the newest version of Tesla's onboard self-driving chips, dubbed HW4, which are reportedly "short-circuiting."

An Electrek source speculated that the computer's built-in battery may be responsible for the apparent electrical error, and according to other sources inside the automaker, only Tesla models built within the past several months that are equipped with HW4 are experiencing the issue.

From the outside, the breadth of the issue is difficult to gauge. But two of the anonymous insiders said that Tesla is "currently receiving a high number of complaints about this issue," though the automaker is yet to release a service bulletin.

Another source alleges that Tesla service has been instructed to "play down any safety concerns related to this problem to avoid people believing their brand-new cars are not drivable." This is a serious claim to make, but the automaker has a history of misrepresenting its own capabilities and obfuscating crash reports that would be damaging to its image.

According to Electrek, Tesla should have reported the issue to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration because a broken rear-view camera violates federal safety regulations, which would mandate the vehicles be recalled.

One Step Backward

Even by Tesla's ever-lowering standards, this sounds like an embarrassing blunder. Recall that CEO Elon Musk, not that long ago, made it sound like this new line of vaunted HW4 chips would finally provide a hardware platform powerful enough to enable cars to fully drive themselves.

The solution is as yet unclear. If a software update can fix the issue, it could soon fade into memory. But the main fix being discussed at the company is a total computer replacement, according to Electrek.

It's safe to say that in that case, the fallout will be costly, and the swamped status of Tesla service will likely mean that it could be months before owners could get their high-tech EVs repaired.

"I am owning such a car," wrote on Electrek commenter, who claims to own a Model 3 delivered this September. "Driving computer broken after 1 month [and] 1500km of use. Still not repaired due to missing spare part."

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