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Tesla FSD buyers in Europe request HW3 clarity after multiple retrofit delays
Austria-based Raffael Helmhart was one of the Tesla Model 3’s early adopters in his area. Placing his reservation for the all-electric sedan back in April 2016, Helmhart waited over three years before he could get behind the wheel of his Model 3. Such a wait was long, but it was somewhat expected considering Tesla’s challenges in producing and delivering the vehicle.
Helmhart ultimately took delivery of his 2019 Model 3 Long Range Dual Motor AWD in May 2019. His vehicle came loaded with the Full Self-Driving suite, which includes some features and the promise of more advanced automated capabilities over time. Perhaps due to his early reservation, Helmhart’s Model 3 came with Hardware 2.5, the iteration of the company’s Autopilot computer that preceded Hardware 3, a custom computer unveiled on Autonomy Day.
Similar to fellow Model 3 buyers in the United States who also purchased the Full Self-Driving suite, Helmhart and his fellow Tesla owners in Europe were promised a HW3 retrofit. Reports of initial Hardware 3 retrofits for Model S and Model X owners in the US were reported by members of the electric vehicle community in the third quarter of 2019. Model 3 owners with HW2.5 were provided the promised HW3 retrofit soon after.
For Model 3 owners in Europe, the story unfortunately turned out quite different. Initially, Tesla’s official website noted that HW2.5 to HW3 retrofits in Europe would be initiated in early March 2020. This date was eventually updated to the end of March 2020, before being moved once more to July 2020. Much to the chagrin of Tesla owners with HW2.5 Model 3s, the date on Tesla’s site for the promised retrofit was later updated to October 2020, and later, to the end of October 2020.
Recently, Tesla’s site was updated once more, and it noted that HW3 retrofits for Model 3 owners with HW2.5 in Europe were expected in Q2 2021.
Needless to say, Tesla Model 3 early adopters in the region who purchased the FSD suite are getting their patience tested. This became particularly notable in Autumn 2020, when Tesla owners in Norway, the Netherlands, and Switzerland received their HW3 upgrade. Model 3 owners in the rest of Europe only received an updated expected retrofit date.
https://twitter.com/tesla_adri/status/1370828412382760960?s=20
As for Helmhart, he eventually opted to sell his 2019 Model 3 to Denmark a few months ago. He opted to switch to a 2021 Model 3, which featured refresh elements like new headlights, a new center console, a heat pump, and of course, HW3. In a statement to Teslarati, the Tesla owner stated that while it is often claimed that the HW3 upgrade doesn’t really do anything in Europe considering the region’s regulations, his experience with his 2021 Model 3 suggests that this may not really be the case.
For one, there are already a number of key features requiring HW3 that are pertinent for Europe-based Tesla owners. One of these is traffic sign recognition, which works even with basic Autopilot. FSD-specific features such as Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control, a key Full Self-Driving feature and a pivotal part of Tesla’s inner-city driving system, is also allowed in Europe despite the region’s strict regulations. The FSD Preview visualizations are now accessible as well. Ultimately, it appears that the HW3 upgrade does provide a number of improvements to the Tesla ownership experience, and it is one that Tesla Model 3 owners with HW2.5 in Europe continue to wait for until today.
Hopefully, Tesla could straighten out its HW3 retrofit rollout strategy for the majority of Europe. Elon Musk, after all, has always maintained that Tesla’s success is in no small part due to the faith of early adopters who chose to take a chance on a company with little experience building cars. As Tesla grows into one of the world’s most formidable carmakers and the market’s dominating EV force, there is very little reason why perennial delays on after-sales programs such as the HW3 retrofit are still happening.
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Tesla has finally clarified the situation regarding the viral crash in Texas where a Model 3 slammed into a home.
CEO Elon Musk replied to reports on Monday that stated the crash was due to the company’s Full Self-Driving or Autopilot suite, which seemed unlikely to those who are familiar with it. Video showed the car slamming into a house at an excessive rate of speed, making it highly unlikely the crash was due to the suite’s operation, as it does not travel at those speeds in residential areas.
Musk said:
“This makes no sense. FSD drives slowly through neighborhood streets, and this was a high-speed crash!”
Tesla’s Head of AI, Ashok Elluswamy, added context, revealing that the company’s data shows the driver “manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100%.”
He revealed the speed reached by the car was 73 MPH, and the accelerator was still pressed “even after the crash.”
Yup. In this case, the driver manually overrode self-driving by pressing the accelerator all the way to 100% of the accel pedal in this residential area. They reached a speed of 73 mph during the crash, and had the accelerator pressed even after the crash.
— Ashok Elluswamy (@aelluswamy) June 22, 2026
Authorities are reportedly investigating “whether Tesla’s Autopilot system played a role after a Model 3 left the roadway…slammed through a brick house at high speed and fatally struck Matha Avila as she sat inside,” the New York Post reported.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is now investigating the crash. Tesla will work with the agency to provide them with whatever information they need in order to clarify the cause of the crash.
Similarly, Tesla had claims of a fatal accident in Harris County, Texas, a few years ago. Early reports indicated that Full Self-Driving was the cause of the crash. After the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) worked with Tesla, the agency proved there was “no use of the Autopilot system at any time during this ownership period of the vehicle, including the time frame up to the last transmitted timestamp on April 17, 2021.”
Tesla alleged “driverless” crash in Texas: What is known so far
“Application of the accelerator pedal was found to be as high as 98.8 percent,” the NTSB said in their findings. The highest recorded speed in the five seconds leading up to the impact was 67 miles per hour. The area where the crash occurred is residential, and Texas State laws have default speed limits of 30 MPH in residential streets.
This appears to be a similar situation. However, an investigation will prove what happened for sure.
SpaceX announced today that it commenced its first-ever public bond offering, marking a significant step in the newly public company’s capital markets strategy.
The company announced an offering of senior unsecured notes expected to raise at least $20 billion.
The move comes just a short time after SpaceX completed one of the largest initial public offerings in history. In mid-June, the company priced shares at $135 and raised more than $85 billion, propelling founder Elon Musk’s net worth past the trillion-dollar mark and giving the firm substantial liquidity.
🚨 SpaceX has announced its inaugural offering of senior unsecured notes.
The net proceeds will be used to repay outstanding loans under its bridge loan facility in full.
This inaugural debt offering represents a financing milestone for SpaceX, which previously depended… pic.twitter.com/pcOZuVbTRv
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 22, 2026
According to the company’s SEC filing, the net proceeds from the notes will be used primarily to repay in full the outstanding borrowings under its existing bridge loan facility, cover related fees and expenses, and fund general corporate purposes. The offering is being conducted under Rule 144A, as well as Regulation S, targeting qualified institutional buyers and non-U.S. investors. Notes will be unsecured obligations ranking equally with other unsubordinated debt.
The $20 billion bridge loan was used to refinance approximately $17.5 billion in higher-cost “junk” debt tied to X and xAI. SpaceX had merged with xAI in February 2026 in an all-stock deal. The bridge facility, which matures in September 2027, had represented the bulk of SpaceX’s long-term debt.
SpaceX officially acquires xAI, merging rockets with AI expertise
In connection with the bond launch, SpaceX disclosed it held approximately $100.8 billion in cash and cash equivalents as of June 19. Investor calls began on the announcement date, with pricing and launch expected shortly thereafter. Rating agencies have assigned investment-grade ratings to the proposed bonds, reflecting confidence in SpaceX’s dominant position in commercial launches and the growth trajectory of its Starlink internet offering.
The debt raise also allows SpaceX to optimize its balance sheet by replacing short-term, higher-cost bridge financing with longer-date, lower-cost fixed-income securities. This provides greater financial flexibility to support capital-intensive initiatives, including the development of Starship, the expansion of the Starlink constellation, and the integration of AI capabilities following the xAI combination.
SpaceX shares (NASDAQ: SPCX) fell sharply on the news, dropping over 16 percent overall on the market on Monday. The stock had surged initially after debuting but pulled back amid profit-taking and broader market dynamics.
Overall, the bond offering underscores SpaceX’s transition to a mature public company with access to diverse funding sources. It positions the firm to pursue its long-term vision of multiplanetary expansion and AI infrastructure, while maintaining a disciplined approach to its capital structure in a high-growth but capital-heavy industry.
SpaceX confirmed today that it has officially signed its third massive compute deal, providing compute at its Colossus data center in Southaven, Tennessee.
Reflection AI will gain immediate access to NVIDIA GB300 chips at SpaceX’s Colossus 2 data center. In return, Reflection will pay SpaceX $150 million per month starting on July 1, with total payments reaching approximately $6.3 billion if the contract runs through its duration, which is until 2029. Either party can terminate the agreement with 90 days’ notice after the initial three-month period.
CNBC first reported the deal.
🚨 SpaceXAI has agreed to a new compute deal with Reflection AI.
Reflection gets access to NIVIDIA GB300s, and will pay $150M per month to SpaceXAI for the compute. pic.twitter.com/bNPare8U5u
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) June 22, 2026
This latest partnership highlights SpaceX’s strategy of commercializing its massive Colossus supercomputing infrastructure, originally developed to power Elon Musk’s Grok AI models. The company has rapidly expanded its customer base in the AI sector following its February 2026 merger with xAI, a transaction that valued the combined entity at $1.25 trillion.
SpaceX has previously signed significant compute deals with other major players.
It granted Anthropic exclusive access to the full capacity of its Colossus 1 data center, which exceeds 300 megawatts and includes over 220,000 NVIDIA GPUs. Details from SpaceX’s IPO filings indicate Anthropic will pay $1.25 billion per month through May 2029, potentially generating around $45 billion over the term of the deal.
Additionally, Google agreed to pay SpaceX $920 million per month for compute capacity from October 2026 through June 2029. This 32-month period will provide Google access to roughly 110,000 NVIDIA GPUs, along with supporting processors and memory. Capacity ramps up through September at a reduced fee, with termination options after the first year.
SpaceXA also established arrangements for computing power with Cursor, an AI coding startup. SpaceX acquired them in a $60 billion all-stock deal.
These arrangements position SpaceX’s collective position as an AI infrastructure powerhouse with high-margin revenue potential. The Google deal alone could generate nearly $29.5 billion over its term, while the Reflection contract adds another $6.3 billion.
Combined with the Anthropic arrangement, SpaceX stands to realize tens of billions in revenue from compute leasing in the coming years, which diversifies beyond SpaceX’s traditional rocket launches and Starlink operation.
The deals underscore growing demand for advanced AI training and inference capacity amid chip shortages and surging model development needs. Reflection, valued at $25 billion and focused on “American open intelligence” with government and national security ties, cited recent restrictions on closed models as validation for open-source approaches.
For SpaceX, the partnerships transform capital-intensive data centers into flexible revenue sources while supporting its broader AI ambitions after the company has gone public.
Tesla finally clarifies fatal Texas crash, confirms driver manually overrode acceleration
SpaceX makes $20 billion move to optimize its balance sheet
