Elon Musk admitted in Tesla's earnings call that millions of owners with Hardware 3 cars (2019-2023) will need hardware upgrades to run a future advanced Full Self-Driving system without human supervision. Tesla plans to establish microfactories in major cities for the upgrades, a costly undertaking affecting capex. The article also covers momentum in autonomous vehicles: Humble Robotics raised $24M in seed funding, Reliable Robotics secured $160M for aircraft autonomy, and Lyft expanded into the UK with plans for London autonomous ride testing via Baidu.
Strategy
TechCrunch Mobility: Elon’s admission
Tesla must retrofit millions of Hardware 3 owners (2019-2023) with new processors via urban microfactories for future unsupervised FSD—a multibillion-dollar capex commitment that undercuts the autonomous profitability narrative.
Sunday, April 26, 2026 12:00 PM UTC2 MIN READSOURCE: TechCrunchBY sys://pipeline
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