News
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.
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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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Lifestyle
Tesla’s driverless Cybercab just passed a big test with State Governor
Florida’s governor rode Tesla’s Cybercab at a closed test track and called the experience impressive.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis rode in a Tesla Cybercab on a closed test track this week and came away impressed, posting on X that the vehicle “successfully navigated all hazards — a kid running into the street, a crash with police stopping traffic, a Model S cutting us off, etc.” He called the ride “impressive.”
The stop was part of a broader event Monday at SunTrax, a 775 acre state owned proving ground in Auburndale that Florida built specifically to test autonomous and connected vehicles before they reach public roads. Standing next to a gold Cybercab, DeSantis described the car in plain terms: “You go in there and you just sit. You have a screen. There’s no steering wheel, no pedals. Clearly these things could be very beneficial.”
We took a ride on a robotaxi on the Suntrax course and it successfully navigated all hazards — a kid running into the street, a crash with police stopping traffic, a Model S cutting us off, etc.
Impressive! https://t.co/FVAkzFLz3r
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) August 11, 2026
DeSantis paired the praise with a caveat that has followed autonomous vehicles since the category existed. “You don’t want to be in an autonomous vehicle and it drives you into a ditch. That would not be good,” he said, framing safety validation as the gate before wider deployment.
SunTrax, the 2.25 mile oval which the state calls the only high speed autonomous vehicle test track in the Southeast, can simulate rain, pedestrian crossings, hills and crowded urban conditions at highway speeds, letting companies push a car past what an early public rollout would risk. Tesla, Waymo and Beep all use the facility, and Florida’s regulatory approach, among the most permissive for autonomous vehicles in the country, doesn’t require a human operator inside a fully autonomous car.
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Tesla has reason to want the blessing of Florida and states beyond, as the Cybercab entered volume production at Gigafactory Texas this spring and has since self certified as SAE Level 4 under Texas law. Public road testing so far has kept a safety monitor in the passenger seat, and Florida is where Tesla has been expanding its existing Model Y based Robotaxi service instead, adding Miami in July and then Orlando and Tampa two weeks later. A closed track endorsement from a sitting governor doesn’t change any of that, but it does put Tesla’s newest hardware in front of a state that has already shown it will move fast on rules.
Sweden’s IF Metall union has announced that it is ending all protests against Tesla, effective immediately.
The union said in a statement this morning:
“There seems to be no limits to the length Tesla would go to keep unions out of their operations. Unfortunately, they have managed to pay their way out in Sweden. At least that has given the former IF Metall members more money in their pocket, but the insecurity of not having a union or a collective agreement still remains.”
IF Metall has been after Tesla in Sweden for the past three years, attempting to push unionized operations into its factories. Tesla, on the other hand, has given its employees the chance to unionize in various markets. However, the organization says that Tesla has “bought out all of its striking members.”
🚨 NEW: IF Metall has decided to end all industrial action against Tesla in Sweden, effective immediately.
“IF Metall has decided to end all industrial action against Tesla’s Swedish operations, after the company bought out all of its striking members. With no members remaining… pic.twitter.com/blne8iC6hV
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 13, 2026
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“Today, we end our industrial action against Tesla. We do so because it can no longer have an effect – not because our principles have changed,” a written statement said.
Over the past three years, IF Metall has definitely been a thorn in the side of Tesla and its operations in Sweden. The primary strike started in October 2023, when IF Metall members at Tesla’s Swedish Service Centers refused to work.
IF Metall chair to Elon Musk: “Give us a chance” as Tesla Sweden strike hits 2 years
Strikes extended to blockades and work stoppages at non-Tesla-owned repair shops that service Teslas. This limited and stopped anything related to warranties, transport damage, and other work on Teslas ending, eliminating work arounds for customers.
Sympathy strikes followed, as postal workers, dock workers, electricians, and other tradesmen stopped working. Add in lawsuits and other pressures, and you get the full scope of what strategies the union has used against Tesla over the past several years.
But now, it’s all over.
“We will continue to defend the right of workers to organize. We will continue to fight for collective bargaining. And we will continue to stand in solidarity with workers and trade unions facing similar challenges elsewhere – just as you have stood with us,” IF Metall said.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that flying cars will be coming to the market, something that his own company has hinted at previously.
Musk said on X, in response to a post that read, “We were promised flying cars and all we got is infinite superintelligence for everyone,” “You will get flying cars.”
You will get flying cars
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2026
The post rang back to when Musk teased flying and hovering capabilities for the Tesla Roadster, the company’s supercar that has been delayed more times than anyone cares to count. It was set for an unveiling earlier this year, but it was then pushed back to August. There is still no sign of it coming.
However, that does not mean it won’t. But one of the biggest features of the Roadster that was teased was a SpaceX package that featured cold gas thrusters on the rear end that would help with white-knuckle acceleration. Another set would face the ground and would help the Roadster gain small bits of altitude, potentially helpful to jump over obstacles.
Elon Musk hints at Tesla Roadster’s “hovering” abilities in SpaceX package
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But it is not a straightforward thing for Musk. As a serial entrepreneur, he tends to spend his time on major disruptors; currently, his largest projects are artificial intelligence and compute power, as well as SpaceX’s launches that will eventually make life multiplanetary.
In the past, he has been critical of flying cars and has been in favor of tunnels, one of the big reasons he started the Boring Company. In 2017 at a TED talk, he said:
“There is a challenge with flying cars in that they’ll be quite noisy. The wind force generated will be very high. Let’s just say that if something’s flying over your head, if there are a whole bunch of flying cars all over the place, that is not an anxiety-reducing situation…You’re thinking, ‘Did they service their hubcap? Or is it going to come off and guillotine me as they’re flying past?’”
However, he’s never been against them. He has also said he’s in favor of both tunnels and flying cars.
Contrary to press reports, I’m not against flying cars. Just said it was important to consider both pros and cons.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2015
Most recently, Musk said that anyone who wants a flying car should be able to get one. This was stated last October on the Joe Rogan Experience:
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“My friend Peter Thiel once reflected that the future was supposed to have flying cars, but we don’t have flying cars… I think if Peter wants a flying car, we should be able to buy one.”
Whether the Roadster will be Tesla’s flying car or potentially another one remains in the mind of Musk. Of course, the Roadster will have to make its way to production lines before we find out.
Tesla’s driverless Cybercab just passed a big test with State Governor
Tesla wins three-year standoff against Sweden’s IF Metall union
