China's Zeekr Just Gave Older EVs a Brain Transplant: What About Tesla's HW3?

TL;DR: China's Zeekr is pulling a magic trick, offering a comprehensive hardware upgrade for older 2024 001 and 009 EVs to boost their ADAS to Nvidia-based G-Pilot H7 with 700 TOPS! This labor-intensive move leaves hundreds of thousands of Tesla HW3 owners wondering: when do we get a brain transplant for our cars?

Meta: Zeekr is offering a significant ADAS hardware upgrade for older 001 and 009 EVs, replacing Mobileye systems with Nvidia Drive Thor-based G-Pilot H7, raising questions about Tesla's commitment to HW3 upgrades.

Alright, alright, check this out! While some automakers are still figurin' out how to put wheels on their electric dreams, China's Zeekr is out here offerin' a full-blown brain transplant for their older EVs! That's right, owners of 2024 Zeekr 001 and 009 models can cough up a few grand to upgrade their ADAS hardware from Mobileye EyeQ5H to a beefy Nvidia Drive Thor-based G-Pilot H7 system, jumpin' from 48 TOPS to a mind-blowing 700 TOPS! That's like goin' from a flip phone to a supercomputer, baby!

Now, this ain't no simple software update; we're talkin' serious surgery here. Technicians gotta replace nearly 60 individual components – windshield, front bumper, cable harnesses, even tearin' apart most of the interior. We're talkin' over 20 hours of labor! Zeekr spent almost $28 million just developin' the solution, and they're still takin' a financial hit on each upgrade. But they're doin' it to make things right for their customers, especially since some of these cars ain't even a year old. They even offerin' ADAS Vouchers to offset the cost. Now that's customer service!

The Lingering Tesla Question

But here's the kicker, the question that's louder than a drum solo at a rock concert: What about Tesla? Hundreds of thousands of Tesla owners are out there, still rockin' Hardware 3 (HW3) in their vehicles. And while the newer Teslas come with Hardware 4 (HW4), those older cars ain't gettin' the full FSD experience. Elon Musk and the Tesla gang have been sayin' for years that HW3 owners wouldn't be left in the dark, that an upgrade would happen. But folks, where's the timeline? Where's the plan?

HW4 and HW3 are different animals – connectors, dimensions, cooling requirements. It ain't a simple swap, sure. But Zeekr is proving that it can be done, with major effort. This isn't just about a chip; it's about a company's commitment to its existing customer base when technology moves at warp speed. While Zeekr is performin' miracles for its customers, Tesla owners are still just waiting for a sign. It's like being promised a concert by your favorite band, but they keep pushin' the date back, indefinitely!

What's Next?

Zeekr's move sets a new standard for how automakers handle rapid hardware evolution in the ADAS space. It puts serious pressure on Tesla to deliver on its long-standing promise for HW3 upgrades. As autonomous driving technology advances, the divide between older and newer hardware becomes more significant, impacting both capability and perceived value. The industry will be watching to see if this trend of comprehensive retrofits takes hold, and if Tesla will finally step up to the plate. The people want their brains upgraded, baby, and they ain't playin'!

In the tech world, if you ain't upgradin', you fallin' behind. And nobody wants to be yesterday's news!