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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.
News
Tesla Model Y and Model 3 named safest vehicles tested by ANCAP in 2025
According to ANCAP in a press release, the Tesla Model Y achieved the highest overall weighted score of any vehicle assessed in 2025.
The Tesla Model Y recorded the highest overall safety score of any vehicle tested by ANCAP in 2025. The Tesla Model 3 also delivered strong results, reinforcing the automaker’s safety leadership in Australia and New Zealand.
According to ANCAP in a press release, the Tesla Model Y achieved the highest overall weighted score of any vehicle assessed in 2025. ANCAP’s 2025 tests evaluated vehicles across four key pillars: Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Vulnerable Road User Protection, and Safety Assist technologies.
The Model Y posted consistently strong results in all four categories, distinguishing itself through a system-based safety approach that combines structural crash protection with advanced driver-assistance features such as autonomous emergency braking, lane support, and driver monitoring.

This marked the second time the Model Y has topped ANCAP’s annual safety rankings. The Model Y’s previous version was also ANCAP’s top performer in 2022.
The Tesla Model 3 also delivered a strong performance in ANCAP’s 2025 tests, contributing to Tesla’s broader safety presence across segments. Similar to the Model Y, the Model 3 also earned impressive scores across the ANCAP’s four pillars. This made the vehicle the top performer in the Medium Car category.
ANCAP Chief Executive Officer Carla Hoorweg stated that the results highlight a growing industry shift toward integrated safety design, with improvements in technologies such as autonomous emergency braking and lane support translating into meaningful real-world protection.
“ANCAP’s testing continues to reinforce a clear message: the safest vehicles are those designed with safety as a system, not a checklist. The top performers this year delivered consistent results across physical crash protection, crash avoidance and vulnerable road user safety, rather than relying on strength in a single area.
“We are also seeing increasing alignment between ANCAP’s test requirements and the safety technologies that genuinely matter on Australian and New Zealand roads. Improvements in autonomous emergency braking, lane support, and driver monitoring systems are translating into more robust protection,” Hoorweg said.
News
Tesla Sweden uses Megapack battery to bypass unions’ Supercharger blockade
Just before Christmas, Tesla went live with a new charging station in Arlandastad, outside Stockholm, by powering it with a Tesla Megapack battery.
Tesla Sweden has successfully launched a new Supercharger station despite an ongoing blockade by Swedish unions, using on-site Megapack batteries instead of traditional grid connections. The workaround has allowed the Supercharger to operate without direct access to Sweden’s electricity network, which has been effectively frozen by labor action.
Tesla has experienced notable challenges connecting its new charging stations to Sweden’s power grid due to industrial action led by Seko, a major Swedish trade union, which has blocked all new electrical connections for new Superchargers. On paper, this made the opening of new Supercharger sites almost impossible.
Despite the blockade, Tesla has continued to bring stations online. In Malmö and Södertälje, new Supercharger locations opened after grid operators E.ON and Telge Nät activated the sites. The operators later stated that the connections had been made in error.
More recently, however, Tesla adopted a different strategy altogether. Just before Christmas, Tesla went live with a new charging station in Arlandastad, outside Stockholm, by powering it with a Tesla Megapack battery, as noted in a Dagens Arbete (DA) report.
Because the Supercharger station does not rely on a permanent grid connection, Tesla was able to bypass the blocked application process, as noted by Swedish car journalist and YouTuber Peter Esse. He noted that the Arlandastad Supercharger is likely dependent on nearby companies to recharge the batteries, likely through private arrangements.
Eight new charging stalls have been launched in the Arlandastad site so far, which is a fraction of the originally planned 40 chargers for the location. Still, the fact that Tesla Sweden was able to work around the unions’ efforts once more is impressive, especially since Superchargers are used even by non-Tesla EVs.
Esse noted that Tesla’s Megapack workaround is not as easily replicated in other locations. Arlandastad is unique because neighboring operators already have access to grid power, making it possible for Tesla to source electricity indirectly. Still, Esse noted that the unions’ blockades have not affected sales as much.
“Many want Tesla to lose sales due to the union blockades. But you have to remember that sales are falling from 2024, when Tesla sold a record number of cars in Sweden. That year, the unions also had blockades against Tesla. So for Tesla as a charging operator, it is devastating. But for Tesla as a car company, it does not matter in terms of sales volumes. People charge their cars where there is an opportunity, usually at home,” Esse noted.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk’s X goes down as users report major outage Friday morning
Error messages and stalled loading screens quickly spread across the service, while outage trackers recorded a sharp spike in user reports.
Elon Musk’s X experienced an outage Friday morning, leaving large numbers of users unable to access the social media platform.
Error messages and stalled loading screens quickly spread across the service, while outage trackers recorded a sharp spike in user reports.
Downdetector reports
Users attempting to open X were met with messages such as “Something went wrong. Try reloading,” often followed by an endless spinning icon that prevented access, according to a report from Variety. Downdetector data showed that reports of problems surged rapidly throughout the morning.
As of 10:52 a.m. ET, more than 100,000 users had reported issues with X. The data indicated that 56% of complaints were tied to the mobile app, while 33% were related to the website and roughly 10% cited server connection problems. The disruption appeared to begin around 10:10 a.m. ET, briefly eased around 10:35 a.m., and then returned minutes later.

Previous disruptions
Friday’s outage was not an isolated incident. X has experienced multiple high-profile service interruptions over the past two years. In November, tens of thousands of users reported widespread errors, including “Internal server error / Error code 500” messages. Cloudflare-related error messages were also reported.
In March 2025, the platform endured several brief outages spanning roughly 45 minutes, with more than 21,000 reports in the U.S. and 10,800 in the U.K., according to Downdetector. Earlier disruptions included an outage in August 2024 and impairments to key platform features in July 2023.