News
Tesla owner upgrades Autopilot 2.5 to 3.0 Hardware: Cost, results, and more
Back in October 2018, Elon Musk stated on Twitter that Tesla owners with HW2.5 vehicles who purchased the Full Self-Driving suite will be receiving a free upgrade to the company’s custom-designed, homegrown HW3 Autopilot computer. Today, Tesla appears to be staying true to the CEO’s word, as recently shared by a Model X owner from Canada.
A Tesla Model X P100D owner who runs the Electric Dreams channel on YouTube recently received the company’s latest iteration of its V10 software. Being equipped with Hardware 2.5, the Model X was not able to take advantage of some new features that were rolled out by the electric car maker, such as the company’s updated driving visualizations improvements.
This was a bit disappointing for the Model X owner, especially since his vehicle was equipped with Tesla’s Full Self-Driving suite. With this, the owner-enthusiast opted to schedule a home visit from a Tesla Mobile Service technician. The request: to conduct a retrofit that would replace the Model X P100D’s HW2.5 computer with Tesla’s newer, more powerful, custom-designed HW3 FSD unit.
Commenting on the experience, the Tesla owner noted that he was not really expecting Tesla to respond to his request, but much to his pleasant surprise, an appointment was indeed processed. After signing some documents, it did not take long before a member of Tesla’s Mobile Service Team drove over to the Model X owner’s house to conduct a HW2.5 to HW3 retrofit on the all-electric SUV.

Unfortunately, the Model X owner was informed that no videos were allowed during the entire HW3 retrofit process. Nevertheless, images taken by the Electric Dreams host during the new Autopilot computer’s installation show that Tesla’s HW3 does seem more robust than the NVIDIA-powered HW2.5, with its large radiators and somewhat heftier look. It took around an hour and a half for the installation to be completed and an additional two hours for the necessary firmware to be loaded into the vehicle.
After this was completed, the Model X P100D was updated once more with Tesla’s latest software. And sure enough, features that were unavailable prior to the HW2.5 to HW3 retrofit, such as V10’s driving visualizations improvements, were now enabled. Overall, it appears that Tesla’s HW3 retrofits for Model S and Model X owners who purchased the FSD suite seem to be ongoing now, and true to Elon Musk’s words, the process is completely painless. The entire upgrade was free as well, as indicated by the $0 charge for the HW3 installation.
Yet, perhaps the best thing here really is the sheer convenience of the entire retrofit process. Back in September, Tesla owner-enthusiast Sofiaan Fraval noted on Twitter that his Model S received a HW3 retrofit when he paid a visit to the service center. If the Electric Dreams channel host’s video is any indication, it appears that retrofits are now being conducted by Tesla’s Mobile Service team, and they are also available on demand.
This ultimately bodes well for Tesla’s rollout of its Full Self-Driving suite. Musk, after all, has stated that the company will push HW3 retrofits when FSD features actually warrant the additional computing power of the custom-built Autopilot unit. This was explained by Musk in a tweet back in March. “Retrofits will start when our software is able to take meaningful advantage of the Tesla FSD computer, which is an order of magnitude more capable. For now, it’s slightly disadvantageous to have Tesla FSD computer as our software is more refined for HW2,” Musk wrote.
Considering the company’s rollout of new FSD features such as Smart Summon, it appears that HW3’s additional computing power is now becoming more useful for Tesla’s advanced capabilities.
Watch Electric Dreams‘ video about his Model X P100D’s HW2.5 to HW3 retrofit in the video below.
Cybertruck
Tesla Cybertruck undergoes interior mod that many owners wanted
Tesla Cybertruck is significantly different from traditional pickups on the market in a lot of ways. However, one feature that was recently modified with its interior was a highly requested characteristic that is present in other trucks, but was void from Cybertruck.
Tesla went with a five-seat configuration with Cybertruck: two in the front and three in the back. The spacious interior is matched with plenty of storage, especially up front, as a pass-through, center console, and other storage options, but some Tesla fans wanted something different: bench seating.
Bench seating is popular in many full-size pickups and allows three passengers to sit up front. The middle seat is usually accompanied by a fold-down storage unit with cupholders.
Tesla decided to opt for no bench seating up front, despite the fact that it equipped bench seating in the unveiling in 2019. Interior photos from the unveiling event from nearly six-and-a-half years ago show Tesla had originally planned to have a six-seat configuration.
This was adjusted after the company refined the design:

(Tesla Cybertruck interior configuration in 2019)
Despite Tesla abandoning this design, it does not mean owners were willing to accept it. One owner decided to modify their Tesla Cybertruck interior to equip that third seat between the driver’s and passenger’s thrones.
The fit is snug, and while it looks great, it is important to remember that this does not abide byregulations, as it would require an airbag to be technically legal. Please do not do this at home with your own Cybertruck:
- Credit: @blueskykites
- Credit: @blueskykites
- Credit: @blueskykites
The Cybertruck is a popular vehicle in terms of publicity, but its sales have been underwhelming since first delivered to customers back in 2023. It’s hard to believe it’s been out for two-and-a-half years, but despite this, Tesla has not been able to come through on its extensive order sheet.
This is mostly due to price, as Cybertruck was simply not as affordable as Tesla originally planned. Its three configurations were initially priced at $39,990, $49,990, and $69,990. At release, Cybertruck was priced above $100,000.
This priced out many of those who had placed orders, which is the main reason Cybertruck has not lived up to its expectations in terms of sales. The adjustments to the specific features, like the removal of the bench seat, likely did not impact sales as much as pricing did.
This modification shows some creativity by Tesla owners, but also shows that the Cybertruck could always be the subject of a potential refresh to include some of these features. Tesla routinely adjusts its vehicle designs every few years, so maybe the Cybertruck could get something like this if it chooses to refresh its all-electric pickup.
Elon Musk
Tesla CEO Elon Musk drops massive bomb about Cybercab
“And there is so much to this car that is not obvious on the surface,” Musk said.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk dropped a massive bomb about the Cybercab, which is the company’s fully autonomous ride-hailing vehicle that will enter production later this year.
The Cybercab was unveiled back in October 2024 at the company’s “We, Robot” event in Los Angeles, and is among the major catalysts for the company’s growth in the coming years. It is expected to push Tesla into a major growth phase, especially as the automaker is transitioning into more of an AI and Robotics company than anything else.
The Cybercab will enable completely autonomous ride-hailing for Tesla, and although its other vehicles will also be capable of this technology, the Cybercab is slightly different. It will have no steering wheel or pedals, and will allow two occupants to travel from Point A to Point B with zero responsibilities within the car.
Tesla shares epic 2025 recap video, confirms start of Cybercab production
Details on the Cybercab are pretty face value at this point: we know Tesla is enabling 1-2 passengers to ride in it at a time, and this strategy was based on statistics that show most ride-hailing trips have no more than two occupants. It will also have in-vehicle entertainment options accessible from the center touchscreen.
It will also have wireless charging capabilities, which were displayed at “We, Robot,” and there could be more features that will be highly beneficial to riders, offering a full-fledged autonomous experience.
Musk dropped a big hint that there is much more to the Cybercab than what we know, as a post on X said that “there is so much to this car that is not obvious on the surface.”
And there is so much to this car that is not obvious on the surface
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 2, 2026
As the Cybercab is expected to enter production later this year, Tesla is surely going to include a handful of things they have not yet revealed to the public.
Musk seems to be indicating that some of the features will make it even more groundbreaking, and the idea is to enable a truly autonomous experience from start to finish for riders. Everything from climate control to emergency systems, and more, should be included with the car.
It seems more likely than not that Tesla will make the Cybercab its smartest vehicle so far, as if its current lineup is not already extremely intelligent, user-friendly, and intuitive.
Investor's Corner
Tesla Q4 delivery numbers are better than they initially look: analyst
The Deepwater Asset Management Managing Partner shared his thoughts in a post on his website.
Longtime Tesla analyst and Deepwater Asset Management Managing Partner Gene Munster has shared his insights on Tesla’s Q4 2025 deliveries. As per the analyst, Tesla’s numbers are actually better than they first appear.
Munster shared his thoughts in a post on his website.
Normalized December Deliveries
Munster noted that Tesla delivered 418k vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2025, slightly below Street expectations of 420k but above the whisper number of 415k. Tesla’s reported 16% year-over-year decline, compared to +7% in September, is largely distorted by the timing of the tax credit expiration, which pulled forward demand.
“Taking a step back, we believe September deliveries pulled forward approximately 55k units that would have otherwise occurred in December or March. For simplicity, we assume the entire pull-forward impacted the December quarter. Under this assumption, September growth would have been down ~5% absent the 55k pull-forward, a Deepwater estimate tied to the credit’s expiration.
“For December deliveries to have declined ~5% year over year would imply total deliveries of roughly 470k. Subtracting the 55k units pulled into September results in an implied December delivery figure of approximately 415k. The reported 418k suggests that, when normalizing for the tax credit timing, quarter-over-quarter growth has been consistently down ~5%. Importantly, this ~5% decline represents an improvement from the ~13% declines seen in both the March and June 2025 quarters.“
Tesla’s United States market share
Munster also estimated that Q4 as a whole might very well show a notable improvement in Tesla’s market share in the United States.
“Over the past couple of years, based on data from Cox Automotive, Tesla has been losing U.S. EV market share, declining to just under 50%. Based on data for October and November, Cox estimates that total U.S. EV sales were down approximately 35%, compared to Tesla’s just reported down 16% for the full quarter. For the first two months of the quarter, Cox reported Tesla market share of roughly a 65% share, up from under 50% in the September quarter.
“While this data excludes December, the quarter as a whole is likely to show a material improvement in Tesla’s U.S. EV market share.“


