Tesla is already including HW3 in all of their inventory vehicles. Elon's goal is to have a huge fleet of self-driving vehicles, he's going to want his cars that CAN have FSD hardware to get FSD Hardware. For those remaining vehicles that are out there without HW3, once FSD rolls out to a level of a subscription level it's a revenue generator that first quarter. If people already have the HW3 installed, then they can just sign-up and FSD... No need to make an appointment, flood the service centers etc. If it's subscription based, it's a software toggle OTA. Just like many other pieces of technology, all the hardware is built in, you just have to buy the license to activate it.
So, based on the above, another thought is to sign up for FSD subscription service, which one could assume they would then upgrade your hardware, then cancel service if you decide you don't need FSD anymore.
We shall see. The % of cars that could FSD if only they had HW3 will keep shrinking as a % of the fleet until it is insignificant. Does it make sense for Tesla to retrofit them for a subscription use? I don’t know, but if I were them I’d only do it for customers who would sign up for say 24 months of FSD in advance.
My FSD upgrade was purchased 6/30/2020. A HW3.0 appt was requested using the app on 10/6/2020 for my HW2.5 2018 vehicle. It's now 2/3/2021 and the order is still "Pending" in Monterey, CA, with no other information. Am I an outlier? I don't see anyone still saying that they're continuing to wait 4 months or more.
There is no doubt in my mind you are an outlier. Shake things up. Suggestions: Cancel the appointment and reschedule in the app. Call a service advisor. Drive to the nearest service center, walk in and explain. Call roadside assistance and get a live person on the phone. At this point, surely any backlog for HW3 upgrades has long passed.
We were in this boat last summer ‘waiting’ for hardware. The emails about the parts finally stopped. I, as mentioned above, just submitted another appointment and it was accepted and the upgrade was done by mobile the next week. Sometimes things get stuck.
Haven't seen this thread pop up in awhile. I think you're an outlier, my first appointment was canceled because of lack of inventory. But I tried again a few weeks later and got installed without issue. I purchased FSD in 4/2020 and got installed the next month. On a somewhat related note, I thought the date of manufacture was interesting. My car was made on 4/1/2019 and upgraded to FSD just over a year later. But my HW 3.0 box was made the same month my car was… How could inventory be this much of a concern if my computer was sitting on the shelf for a year?