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Tesla MCU1 to MCU2 retrofit and FSD upgrade insights shared by Model S owner

2017 Tesla Model S. (Credit: YouTube | Zubair Hoque)

Published

6 years ago

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Tesla recently started offering the option of upgrading the company’s older MCU1 units to an MCU2, which provides access to new features such as Sentry Mode and Tesla Theater. The process involved in this upgrade was recently shared by an owner of a 2017 Tesla Model S, who recently opted to purchase the MCU2 retrofit together with a Hardware 3 update.

Akikiki of the Tesla Motors Club forum gave details of the experience and the changes in his vehicle’s performance and features thanks to the hardware upgrades. The addition of MCU2 and Hardware 3 gave the Model S new features from the Full Self-Driving (FSD) suite’s Navigate on Autopilot feature, as well as the vehicle’s capability to visualize traffic lights, stop signs, and on-road markings.

The 2017 Model S “now has visualization that includes traffic lights, showing red, changing to green at the intersection,” Akikiki wrote. “As I drove under the light, they got larger showing green, until they disappeared as I went under them.”

2017 Tesla Model S showing Driving Visualizations thanks to an HW3 Retrofit. (Credit: Tesla Motors Club | Akikiki)

The installation of the HW3 unit required for a recalibration of the Model S’ Autopilot system. The vehicle alerted Akikiki with a message on the vehicle’s Instrument Cluster (IC), stating, “CALIBRATION IN PROCESS.” The recalibration of Autopilot took ten miles total and allowed the driver to operate with Navigate on Autopilot, allowing the new visualizations to appear. The vehicle’s lane centering and steadiness while operating on Autopilot were reportedly improved with Hardware 3 installed.

Additionally, the Model S gained the ability to operate both Dashcam and Sentry Mode, both of which have been subjected to recent updates as recorded clips from both features can soon be viewed within the vehicle. Watching recorded clips in the car was previously not possible, but CEO Elon Musk and his team of engineers added the function with a recent update.

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2017 Tesla Model S with HW3 retrofit recalibrating the vehicle’s Autopilot system. (Credit: Tesla Motors Club | Akikiki)

Additional features included a new WiFi card in the MCU2 that supports both 2.4 and 5GHz internet speeds, along with the vehicle’s internet browser, Tesla Theater, and Tesla Arcade.

The invoice states that the upgraded features of the Model S required Akikiki to pay a total of $2,500, all of which can be attributed to the MCU2 upgrade. The HW3 upgrade was free of charge because Akikiki purchased the FSD suite, qualifying him for a free HW3 retrofit, as per Elon Musk’s tweet back in October 2018.

Initially, Akikiki considered merely replacing the MCU1 chip, but he found that the upgrade would be just $1,000 less than the full MCU2 upgrade. “Although under warranty, the MCUs eMMC would still have the same size chip and would likely have another short life,” he said. “Out of warranty MCU1 repair would cost by today’s cost at least $1700+ including Tax. MCU2 cost is only $1,000 more than the MCU1 replacement and, in my opinion, is worth double that difference for longer life, better performance of AP and NAV plus the addition of Tesla Dashcam and Sentry.”

Older Tesla vehicles are being upgraded, so owners can experience the newest pieces of the company’s technology without having to buy a whole new car. For the Model S owner, his 2017 sedan now runs on the same hardware that Tesla’s latest vehicles operate on, giving it full range to drive and maneuver with the help of the company’s FSD suite. Not only does this increase the value of an older car immediately for owners, but it also contributes to safer driving conditions for Tesla owners and other vehicles on the road.

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Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Investor's Corner

Lucid denies rumors of bankruptcy after over 40% stock drop

Published

3 hours ago

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July 14, 2026

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Credit: Lucid

Electric vehicle maker Lucid Group has denied rumors of an imminent bankruptcy after a report from this morning sent the stock on a dramatic drop on Wall Street, seeing losses of more than 40 percent during trading hours.

Lucid’s Director of Communications, Nick Twork, responded to the report from Eletric-Vehicles.com, which stated the company’s restructuring advisor, AlixPartners, was asked to review two decisions: taking Lucid shares private or filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The report also claims AlixPartners told the Lucid board to “concentrate on Gravity production while improving its quality, and to temporarily hold back the Lucid Air, the sedan that has defined the company since its launch.”

Twork said:

Shares rebounded after the response to the report, halving its losses as the trading day neared 3 p.m. Eastern.

Lucid has struggled to get its sales off the ground and into more respectable numbers, but the company is in its early years, when things are hard to begin with. It is also backed by several notable investors, including the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has nearly limitless money and likely would not ditch an investment of this size so soon.

Lucid shares were down just 14 percent at the time of publication, a far cry from the 55 percent its losses topped out at during the day.

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Tesla owner attempts resale of Model S Signature Edition for over $260k

Published

7 hours ago

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July 14, 2026

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Credit: Tesla

A Tesla owner who purchased a Model S Signature Edition, one of the final 250 units of the all-electric flagship vehicle that the company discontinued earlier this year, is attempting to sell the car despite a no-resale clause that prohibits reselling for the first year.

The car is being sold by J&S Autohaus in Ewing, New Jersey, and is priced at $260,490, well above the $159,420 that Tesla sold it for earlier this year.

To those who do not know, the Model S Signature was a highly exclusive, limited-run farewell variant of the Model S Plaid that was produced this year to mark the end of production of both the Model S and Model X, Tesla’s two flagship vehicles.

Limited to just 250 units with invite-only sales, it serves as a collector’s item celebrating the legacy of the Model S, which helped pioneer Tesla’s electric vehicle success since its 2012 launch.

It bundles top-tier performance with bespoke cosmetic and luxury upgrades, plus Tesla’s Luxe Package. Here’s what the Model S Signature has over the typical Model S Plaid:

  • Exclusive Exterior – Unique Garnet Red Paint, matching door handles, gold Tesla “T” badges upfront, gold Plaid and Signature badging at the rear.
  • Premium Interior – White Alcantara upholstery with gold piping/accents, gold Plaid seat badges, Signature-marked door sills, individually numbered dashboard plaque, gold puddle lights, special interior lighting sequence, and a custom Signature key fob.
  • Performance Upgrades – Carbon-ceramic brakes with gold calipers
  • Bundled Luxe Package – Full Self-Driving (Supervised), four years of Premium Connectivity, free lifetime Supercharging
  • Performance Metrics – ~1,020 horsepower, sub-2-second 0-60 MPH, ~390-mile range

Tesla quickly introduced a No Resale Agreement for the Signature Editions of the Model S and Model X, which would penalize the seller for “the amount of $50,000 or the value received as consideration for the sale or transfer, whichever is greater.”

The company continues:

“If you sell or otherwise transfer the ownership of your Model S or Model X, the remainder of the Recommended Maintenance, Wheel and Tire Protection Plan, and Windshield Protection Plan will transfer automatically to the buyer. The Full Self-Driving (Supervised), Free Supercharging and Premium Connectivity will not transfer with the vehicle and will terminate once the ownership of the Model S or Model X is transferred.”

Tesla will likely come after the seller, especially as it has been about two months since Tesla launched deliveries.

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Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.3.5 Early Impressions: new features and early performance

Published

10 hours ago

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July 14, 2026

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Credit: TESLARATI

Tesla rolled out Full Self-Driving (Supervised) v14.3.5 yesterday, and about fifty miles of driving on the new version has given me enough time to highlight what seems to be strong about the release and what is not.

Additionally, Tesla has added a few new features with this specific update, which we’ll highlight as well.

Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.3.5 Performance

The new update is business as usual. Things seem to be running completely normal and necessary, but there are a few things that we’ve seemed to pick up on based on our own experience with v14.3.5, as well as what other users are seeing.

Initially, it seems to be more aware of its surroundings, making moves that are incredibly courteous to other drives and operating just a tad more reserved than what the suite might have done previously.

We had two instances where it showed this, the first being FSD needing to pass a Flagger Force vehicle that was placing down signage for the day. Their work truck was right at the front corner of a right-hand turn; typically where most cars travel when they take that turn.

FSD v14.3.5 recognized this, slowed down, and took the turn wide with no issues:

Additionally, v14.3.5 backed up for a semi truck that was making a wide turn onto a road my car was on. This is not new, but it seemed to be backing up for courtesy; it didn’t seem completely necessary, but it might have put some peace of mind in the truck driver’s head:

X user Mike P, also a Pennsylvania native like myself, shared three clips of his Tesla running v14.3.5 performing similar maneuvers. He said:

“FSD turns right into a small alley that only fits one car at a time, sees oncoming car, reverses out of alley to make space, realizes oncoming car is actually parking, re-enters alley.”
Check it out here:

It seems like Speed Profiles are still in need of some tweaking; I am adjusting what Speed Profile I’m in frequently, constantly changing it to get it to travel at the correct speed. This was an issue for me on v14.3.4. It seems like they’re just a little inconsistent.

Terrible Parking

Parking attempts on v14.3.5 were not good. There are quite a few people who have said this:

David Moss, the Tesla owner who has taken multiple coast-to-coast drives without any interventions, also has had some issues with parking early on with v14.3.5:

New Features

Tesla has added the ability to open Camera Preview at any time. Previously, it was only available in Park. Here’s what that feature looks like in action:

Check back later this week for a longer review of what we’ve noticed on Full Self-Driving v14.3.5.

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