In the last decade, no company has changed the automotive landscape more than Tesla. From making electric vehicles cool to pioneering semi-autonomous driving features to over-the-air software updates that freshen up old cars over and over again. But there’s only so much you can do for a computer over the Internet — so Tesla is going into the business of upgrading its cars’ hardware, too.
According to Car and Driver, starting in the next couple months, U.S. owners of Tesla Model S sedans and Model X crossovers built before March 2018 will be eligible to have the guts of the cars’ computers replaced with newer, faster versions that deliver 3D rendering support. This means these older Teslas should have the ability to run some of the newer software-based features Tesla has been rolling out to the Model 3 and late-build Model S and X vehicles, such as Sentry Mode — as well as whatever new software-based features the Silicon Valley-based carmaker dreams up in the near future.
Of course, while the best things in life are free, few things are when it comes to improving your car. The hardware upgrade costs $2,500, according to C/D; not cheap, but considering that it’s likely to keep you rolling in new features for years to come (and boost the resale value of your car, to boot), it seems like an obvious move.
That is, unless you really like listening to the radio. While the upgrade giveth many new features, according to C/D, it also taketh away SiriusXM satellite and conventional AM/FM radio. Guess you could always just leave a tabletop radio in the backseat?
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