Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

To MCU2 or not to MCU2?

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Just an interesting fact I wanted to throw into this discussion. I just upgraded my MCU1 Tesla to 2020.48.37.1 and while I am not crazy abou the new speed indicator, or gear indicator moving to the left (it used to be on the right, and it made sense and the gear stalk is on the right), I must say the MCU1 seems to have gotten a major speed boost. I have replaced me emmc, but latest updates bogged down the MCU1 quiet a bit, while this latest one seems to have lifted the curse! This might be my last update I accept for a long while, as long as it doesn't crash often or kill the touch screen. Crossing my fingers (and refusing any more updates for now).
 
Just an interesting fact I wanted to throw into this discussion. I just upgraded my MCU1 Tesla to 2020.48.37.1 and while I am not crazy abou the new speed indicator, or gear indicator moving to the left (it used to be on the right, and it made sense and the gear stalk is on the right), I must say the MCU1 seems to have gotten a major speed boost. I have replaced me emmc, but latest updates bogged down the MCU1 quiet a bit, while this latest one seems to have lifted the curse! This might be my last update I accept for a long while, as long as it doesn't crash often or kill the touch screen. Crossing my fingers (and refusing any more updates for now).
Dang, that’s great! Wish I’d have had the chance to experience that. I’m thrilled with MCU2 though, and the Theater stuff has already come in handy a couple of times with the kiddos. We’ve been enjoying caraoke too.
 
Just an interesting fact I wanted to throw into this discussion. I just upgraded my MCU1 Tesla to 2020.48.37.1 and while I am not crazy abou the new speed indicator, or gear indicator moving to the left (it used to be on the right, and it made sense and the gear stalk is on the right), I must say the MCU1 seems to have gotten a major speed boost. I have replaced me emmc, but latest updates bogged down the MCU1 quiet a bit, while this latest one seems to have lifted the curse! This might be my last update I accept for a long while, as long as it doesn't crash often or kill the touch screen. Crossing my fingers (and refusing any more updates for now).
Just FYI, 2020.48.3x featured the smaller font size and rearranging indicators, but later updates enlarged the font size again. Chances are that in the later updates you will still see performance improvements, but also improved readability.
 
  • Like
Reactions: whitex
Just an interesting fact I wanted to throw into this discussion. I just upgraded my MCU1 Tesla to 2020.48.37.1 and while I am not crazy abou the new speed indicator, or gear indicator moving to the left (it used to be on the right, and it made sense and the gear stalk is on the right), I must say the MCU1 seems to have gotten a major speed boost. I have replaced me emmc, but latest updates bogged down the MCU1 quiet a bit, while this latest one seems to have lifted the curse! This might be my last update I accept for a long while, as long as it doesn't crash often or kill the touch screen. Crossing my fingers (and refusing any more updates for now).
Thanks for that info on 2020.48.37.1. I've been getting that one pushed at me in recent days. I've been running year old software because it works ok and I didn't want Tesla to break anything else. [For eight months Tesla was pushing known-defective 12.5 at me.]

Mulling over making the change to this latest.
 
I had 2 issues with the upgrade that I wanted to share:
1. For some reason games didn't (and wouldn't) update, even with a software push. This required another day in the Service Center to resolve.
2. I ended up with a small "bump" in the trim at the top of the screen. I pointed this out to the SC. They had someone come out and explain that this is an issue with the trim in my 2015 - it is almost impossible to remove the dash to do MCU work without introducing a small bump here. Photo below. I'm not OCD, and can probably ignore it, but is this something I should push?
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1899.jpeg
    IMG_1899.jpeg
    387.3 KB · Views: 110
I had 2 issues with the upgrade that I wanted to share:
1. For some reason games didn't (and wouldn't) update, even with a software push. This required another day in the Service Center to resolve.
2. I ended up with a small "bump" in the trim at the top of the screen. I pointed this out to the SC. They had someone come out and explain that this is an issue with the trim in my 2015 - it is almost impossible to remove the dash to do MCU work without introducing a small bump here. Photo below. I'm not OCD, and can probably ignore it, but is this something I should push?
My SC damaged that trim when they did my upgrade in January. I sent the SA a picture and they sent a ranger out to assess the damage. Soon as he saw it, he ordered a new dash pad and it was replaced 2 weeks later. Damage to the trim isn't SOP for a MCU swap.

Food for thought.
 
2. I ended up with a small "bump" in the trim at the top of the screen. I pointed this out to the SC. They had someone come out and explain that this is an issue with the trim in my 2015 - it is almost impossible to remove the dash to do MCU work without introducing a small bump here. Photo below. I'm not OCD, and can probably ignore it, but is this something I should push?
I would not accept that paying for this upgrade means damage to the dashboard “because it’s a 2015” ... or any other excuse.
 
I had 2 issues with the upgrade that I wanted to share:
1. For some reason games didn't (and wouldn't) update, even with a software push. This required another day in the Service Center to resolve.
2. I ended up with a small "bump" in the trim at the top of the screen. I pointed this out to the SC. They had someone come out and explain that this is an issue with the trim in my 2015 - it is almost impossible to remove the dash to do MCU work without introducing a small bump here. Photo below. I'm not OCD, and can probably ignore it, but is this something I should push?

I have the same bump now. If they were _REALLY_ careful, it could possibly have been avoided, but is it worth pushing? How many more days do you want your care in the SC for something like that? Totally your call.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SmartElectric
So, I dropped off my car on Wednesday here in San Diego to have the MCU upgrade, seems like things were pretty busy, they had the car for a few days, picked it up on Saturday and very happy with the results.....only thing that bugged me was the expired certificate for google sign in, but found a workaround, now able to sign into youtube with credentials, so pretty happy....It is very much like having a new car at least from that aspect. The smoothness with the navigation and spotify keeping up when changing songs is refreshing.....
 
  • Like
Reactions: Akikiki
Also, this is Tesla, they could raise the price again or more likely just stop offering the upgrade after the whole Tegra recall mess is done.

AbSoFreakinLutely !!!
Try to get a Ludicrous Upgrade on a P85D now. NOPE. Tesla stopped offering it ~ 4 years ago... and installed the last one ~ January 2018.

I honestly don't think the MCU2 upgrade option will be going away anytime soon, or ever.

Tesla stopped offering the Ludicrous upgrade for P85D because they were worried about the additional stresses on the motor and increased drivetrain warranty claims for a car that was never designed for Ludicrous mode. And/or it just wasn't profitable any longer or they wanted you to upgrade to P90DL or P100DL instead (the most likely reason). Whatever the reason, the Ludicrous upgrade is a completely different low-volume animal than the MCU2 upgrade which they are clearly doing by the thousands. They even lowered the price so they could do more, perhaps to get the older MCU1 fleet up to date and decrease the number of deprecated MCU1s out there for future firmware updates.
 
I honestly don't think the MCU2 upgrade option will be going away anytime soon, or ever.

Tesla stopped offering the Ludicrous upgrade for P85D because they were worried about the additional stresses on the motor and increased drivetrain warranty claims for a car that was never designed for Ludicrous mode. And/or it just wasn't profitable any longer or they wanted you to upgrade to P90DL or P100DL instead (the most likely reason). Whatever the reason, the Ludicrous upgrade is a completely different low-volume animal than the MCU2 upgrade which they are clearly doing by the thousands. They even lowered the price so they could do more, perhaps to get the older MCU1 fleet up to date and decrease the number of deprecated MCU1s out there for future firmware updates.

You may be correct about Tesla not discontinuing the MCU2 upgrade option since it solves a problem unlike the Ludicrous Upgrade which likely created expensive problems (broken drive components & failed 85kW batteries).

Was it you or another TMC user who got their Insane P85D upgraded to a P100D+ by a 3rd party company? If so how has it worked out?
 
Last edited:
I honestly don't think the MCU2 upgrade option will be going away anytime soon, or ever.

Tesla stopped offering the Ludicrous upgrade for P85D because they were worried about the additional stresses on the motor and increased drivetrain warranty claims for a car that was never designed for Ludicrous mode.

Why would they offer an upgrade for the battery that results in significantly more power through the drive units if they're worried about motor stress????????

By offering the MCU2 upgrade, they are extracting more money for an operation they'd have to do for free if the customer decided just to get the free eMMC upgrade AND have to maintain the NHTSA safety requirements in the MCU1 for life.
 
Was it you or another TMC user who got their Insane P85D upgraded to a P100D+ by a 3rd party company? If so how has it worked out?

Yes, it was me. My P85D was already a +, so it was first upgraded to P90D+ , and then later a P100D+. It's freakin' awesome.




Why would they offer an upgrade for the battery that results in significantly more power through the drive units if they're worried about motor stress????????

Because they shot first and asked questions later? That was several years ago, and in typical Tesla fashion back then, they likely didn't know, or fully test, the stress it would cause on the older drivertrain. Once it was installed and they got some real-world data (and warranty claims), they changed their mind and stopped the upgrade offer. Or marketing stepped in and decided to force people to upgrade to P90DL or P100DL. Or a combination of both.