China Issues Warning To Tesla After Customers Complain Of Hardware Bait-And-Switch

The good old fashioned boondoggle continues, this time with the age old “bait and switch”.

Recall, it was just days ago that we reported on Tesla putting old computer chips into new cars and using the coronavirus outbreak in China as a scapegoat. 

Last week we found out Tesla was “downgrading” hardware on its Chinese made Model 3s due to “supply chain status amid the epidemic” and it then promising free upgrades to its customers. Instead of just doing the right thing, which would be suspending production until you can make the product properly, Tesla chose to do what it does best: half-ass it. 

The report last week pointed out that some Chinese consumers were noticing that the hardware in their newly delivered Tesla vehicles was inconsistent with their orders.

And now, the Chinese government has taken notice. And they’re not amused. 

The country’s industry minister said on Tuesday that it was urging Tesla to keep its China-made vehicles consistent after some customers complained about the bait and switch. 

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology urged Tesla to ensure not only consistency, but quality and safety, according to Reuters. Good luck with that.

Customers continue to state on social media that the control units in their cars are running on Hardware 2.5 chips, which are less advanced than Tesla’s Hardware 3.0 chips – which happen to be the chips listed on the car’s spec sheet. The Hardware 3.0 chips are necessary for the Full-Self Driving mode in Tesla’s Autopilot.

You know, the one that keeps ramming Teslas into inanimate objects on various roads across the world.

Tesla issued a perfunctory statement last week and admitted Hardware 2.5 had been installed in some vehicles that were promised Hardware 3.0.

As usual, we’re sure regulators will do nothing about the problem and Musk will escape from this unscathed and dancing on stage at his next “carrot on a string” style Tesla live event.