Tesla’s Hardware 4 (HW4) self-driving computer has been experiencing a number of failures in recently delivered vehicles, leaving new owners without features such as navigation, cameras, and safety systems.
The failures are reportedly linked to a short circuit in the HW4 computer. According to numerous reports from owners on Reddit, these problems often arise within the first few hundred kilometers after taking delivery. Owners describe a cascading failure of features inside their vehicle, including GPS inaccuracies, unresponsive displays and cameras, and disabled driver-assistance features.
“My 2024 Model Y’s navigation is stuck at home, and the cameras don’t work,” one owner complained.
Tesla has yet to issue a formal recall or service bulletin. Employees are doing their best to diagnose the issue, but the only solution thus far has been a complete replacement of the computer, although some owners have reported experiencing the same issue on their second HW4 computer.
Adding to the frustration, the timeline for these fixes has been long for many, with some service appointments being delayed for weeks, while others have been told to wait up to two months. Employees are reportedly telling other owners they will not be replacing the computer, and Tesla will be attempting to fix the issue with a software update, but that is not expected for another 2-3 weeks.
“Tesla has stopped replacing the computers until they find the root cause, and my service appointment has been pushed back by nearly two months,” another owner said.
According to a report from Electrek, the specific issue is tied to HW4 computers in recently delivered cars, which feature a newer version of the self-driving computer referred to internally as HW4.1.
While some owners have speculated that the problem is isolated to Fremont-built models, the issue has arisen outside of North America, with owners in Europe reporting similar failures. Others have noticed the issue may be exacerbated by cold weather, with some owners suggesting the low voltage battery might drop below operational voltage in cold conditions, leading to the failures.
Have you experienced a HW4 failure in your newly delivered Tesla? Let us know in the comments below.
