Tesla infotainment system upgradeable from MCU1 to MCU2

[Akikiki]

A reminder to those complaining: You don’t actually have to buy the upgrade. Even for FSD, the only features you’ll be missing are some additional visualizations on the IC; something that was never promised to be part of it. You can feel free to keep your MCU1 if FM/AM/XM are that important to you.

Yep, you are right, we do not. But I see it as prevention. There's a bunch of cars out of warranty and their eMMC has a specific life before it fails. MCU2 uses a different eMMC chip so its not only kicking the can down the road, its kicking it over the hill, around the corner and out of sight. We've seen the cost of the MCU1 repair cost as much as this upgrade. And incidentally, we have heard reports that recently the MCU1 repair from Tesla has dropped to $1300-$1400. So, folks can wait til their MCU1 eMMC fails then decide if they wish to spend $$ for the MCU1 eMMC fix or $$ for the MCU2 upgrade.

 

[Silicon Desert]

Wow, I never would have guessed that my $3.00, 1960s crystal radio kit would become so important in a 2017 $130,000 car

 

[kavyboy]

For me the situation is the following, if I will upgrade:

things I will get:
- more games (never played a game in the car, I'm not interested)
- netflix and streaming (again, totally not interested in this feature, a complete waste of time)
- a more responsive touchscreen (mildly interested, MCU1 is slow but works anyway)
- a working browser (slightly more interested, waze and abetterrouteplanner would be interesting to have)
- probably a slightly inferior FSD (if and when I'll get an HW3 upgrade, because of the greyscale cameras)

thing I will not get:
- RGB cameras, therefore no real color sentry + recording

thing I will lose:
- FM radio (I listen to FM about 40-50% of the time, and NO, my favourite station is not available through streaming)
- $2500 + tax

All in all for me the deal is: a new browser for $2500. It's way overpriced, IMHO.

Thanks for the perspective. I was all "YAY!" for the upgrade, but you're right. It's not actually all that great for me personally. Now I'm sort of between "Yay, I guess" and "Meh".

 

[MIT_S60]

Can you get those stations on a phone app and then stream to your car?

Except for states where it's illegal to use your phone while driving, thus it would be illegal to be fumbling on the phone to change stations.

Have you tried the TuneIn service that's in the car? Has a lot of nationwide FM channels broadcasting through TuneIn

I checked yesterday, none of the stations I listen to are available in TuneIn (it seems like iHeartRadio took the licensing from TuneIn a while back ago).

 

[jlv1]

For people lamenting the loss of AM/FM radio..
Just get this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07P9F61RX/
plus this: https://www.amazon.com/TaoTronics-Bluetooth-Transmitter-Receiver-Simultaneously/dp/B01EHSX28M/

If you then pair the car with this BT transmitter, don't you then lose the ability to have the car talk to your phone?

 

[daviddavid]

For me the situation is the following, if I will upgrade:

things I will get:
- more games (never played a game in the car, I'm not interested)
- netflix and streaming (again, totally not interested in this feature, a complete waste of time)
- a more responsive touchscreen (mildly interested, MCU1 is slow but works anyway)
- a working browser (slightly more interested, waze and abetterrouteplanner would be interesting to have)
- probably a slightly inferior FSD (if and when I'll get an HW3 upgrade, because of the greyscale cameras)

thing I will not get:
- RGB cameras, therefore no real color sentry + recording

thing I will lose:
- FM radio (I listen to FM about 40-50% of the time, and NO, my favourite station is not available through streaming)
- $2500 + tax

All in all for me the deal is: a new browser for $2500. It's way overpriced, IMHO.

One thing you will "get" that is not listed and IMHO the most important, is the fix for the flash memory that will eventually brick your car once the read/writes hit their max. This whole thing is aggravating to me because in my opinion, Tesla should be fixing this design flaw on their dime. Instead they are tricking us into spending our own $2,500 for a list of "features" that really don't match the cost. All the while, mitigating their exposure on an item that should have been recalled because of some engineers inability to see into the future and when cheap on a part.

/vent off

 

[AustinP]

The key takeaway imho is that Tesla delivered this very much requested upgrade, against classic financial business logic.
I don’t know each and every car manufacturers, but the ones I know about do not provide much update, software or hardware to older cars.
That is against their business’ mission (i.e. make money), against potential new sales.

This is Tesla being true to their mission: sustainability transition also means extending lifespan of cars.

So kudos to Tesla to listening and delivering. It will be less painful to replace failed Mcu1.

Note: my mcu1 died last October, so yes I had to shell out the 2k for a refurbished one. Still happy Tesla finally proposes this upgrade path.

 

[Dutchie]

Still not clear

HW2.5/MCU1 has DashCam or sentry mode. When upgrade to FSD only they will have HW3.0/MCU1. I assume they still have DashCam and sentry Mode

HW2.0/MCU1 has NO DashCam and Sentry Mode. When upgrade to FSD only they will have HW3.0/MCU1. This is exactly the same configuration as the upgrade HW2.5 to HW3.0. So these cars will have DashCam and Sentry mode too???

 

[MP3Mike]

Still not clear

HW2.5/MCU1 has DashCam or sentry mode. When upgrade to FSD only they will have HW3.0/MCU1. I assume they still have DashCam and sentry Mode

Buy that won't likely support all cameras. Just like currently only MCU2 users get the rear camera included.

 

[zanary]

Except for states where it's illegal to use your phone while driving, thus it would be illegal to be fumbling on the phone to change stations.


I checked yesterday, none of the stations I listen to are available in TuneIn (it seems like iHeartRadio took the licensing from TuneIn a while back ago).

How about using the internal browser to access the stations from your new MCU2 from this link: RADIO.COM: Listen to 500+ Live Radio Stations, Free

 

[Joelgjr]

despite paying for xm every month, I have yet to use anything except streaming audio. So for me its a win.

 

[Dbox95]

Have you tried the TuneIn service that's in the car? Has a lot of nationwide FM channels broadcasting through TuneIn

Does the TuneIn service blackout live sporting events? It was my understanding that any streaming service blacked out games. Hard to test until I have a chance to try it on an actual game. I haven't checked to see if the stations I'd us are on the app - but it's a moot point if they don't broadcast live events through the app as this is the specific use I have for a radio...

 

[nimrooz]

Wonder how and when it will be presented/executed here in Norway,
We do not have FM anymore, moved on to DAB.
So I'm curious to see if the DAB tuner will make it over...

 

[scottf200]

How about using the internal browser to access the stations from your new MCU2 from this link: RADIO.COM: Listen to 500+ Live Radio Stations, Free

Haha, I attempted to test that on my MCU1 but it was acting up and wouldn't attempt to even bring up the page. I did a 2 finger reboot but no luck with the web browser after that either. I've had luck on earlier FWs but latest ones don't work well (or my eMMC is going).

 

[brkaus]

How about using the internal browser to access the stations from your new MCU2 from this link: RADIO.COM: Listen to 500+ Live Radio Stations, Free

I don’t believe the browser has sound output. I’ll try on our 3 tonight. Plus, steering wheel & voice controls not supported.

 

[SmartElectric]

in case of national or weather emergency, road blockage announcements

I use twitter for these. Up to the second and provides entertainment value too (citation : recent Toronto area nuclear alert first broke on twitter and local radio had no clue).

 

[HankLloydRight]

I use twitter for these. Up to the second and provides entertainment value too (citation : recent Toronto area nuclear alert first broke on twitter and local radio had no clue).

True, these days social media trumps most other traditional media sources for emergencies, etc.. (pun partially intended! LOL).

But in a real national disaster or weather event with local power and utility outages, having the internet available isn't always a given.

 

[SmartElectric]

flash memory...tricking us into spending our own $2,500 for a list of "features"

"tricking", are you serious?!

The key takeaway imho is that Tesla delivered this very much requested upgrade, against classic financial business logic...Note: my mcu1 died last October, so yes I had to shell out the 2k for a refurbished one. Still happy Tesla finally proposes this upgrade path.

+1
^ And there you go, sanity resumed.

Personally, the fact Tesla have provided a hardware update for a key component of the vehicle is beyond my expectations. The price is very reasonable considering the engineering cost to do this for a limited number of vehicles in the fleet that is growing at a rate where the quarterly sales are greater than the number of cars with MCU1.

Our ancient 2013 Tesla S85 upgraded with a new MCU2 would be like a new vehicle, there are precious few cars with 250 miles range, 90 kW fast charging and 2020 infotainment with 4g unlimited data available for $40K CAD (current car value on the market, plus $3K CAD for the MCU upgrade).

 

[Bigriver]

How about using the internal browser to access the stations from your new MCU2 from this link: RADIO.COM: Listen to 500+ Live Radio Stations, Free

Tried that in my model 3. It works while parked but stops when put in drive or reverse.

Would also note that the web browser with MCU2 works, but isn’t exactly fast by any standards.

 

[GWord]

I don’t believe the browser has sound output. I’ll try on our 3 tonight. Plus, steering wheel & voice controls not supported.

Doesn't the browser have support for Hulu, Netflix, YouTube etc?