Toronto, Ontario — Oct. 15, 2019 — Tesla is staring down some serious software issues, with some repairs wracking up bills of more than $1,800 at the shop.
Teslas—which the company often refers to as “computers on wheels”—log massive amounts of information in the vehicle’s filesystem. The filesystem operates using an eMMC flash chip, a standard choice for automotive use that presents just one—albeit, serious—drawback; each memory bit on the chip can only be written to a limited number of times before the data becomes corrupt.
Flash memory is typically only used for some tens of thousands of write systems. After a certain number of write cycles, the chip can no longer receive data without corrupting it and fails to transmit information to the vehicle. When one block fails, other parts of the firmware may also become unreadable, leading to poor operation, or even complete failure of the main control unit (MCU).
The issue affects MCUv1, the automaker’s first version of its main control unit design. Tesla Model S and Model X units from 2018 and earlier are equipped with these chips. When the chip fails, the car simply stops, according to several Tesla forums.
For those still in warranty, Tesla will replace the MCU. However, those without coverage could face a $1,800 fee from the automaker.
Since September 1, Jason Hughes of 057 Technology, an American drive unit manufacturer, has completed more than a dozen repairs on MCUv1 units for customers suffering from the eMMC flash failure. He took to Twitter to voice his concerns–and Musk responded.
“In the past month I’ve done repairs/replacements on over a dozen Tesla MCUv1 units for customers suffering from eMMC flash failure,” he wrote, tagging Tesla and its CEO in the post. “Elon Musk, you really need to tell the engineers to fix the logging wear in /var. It’s literally killing a huge percentage of these units.”
“Should be much better at this point,” Musk tweeted back.
Hughes’ tests, however, were conducted on an MCUv1 equipped with the automaker’s latest software updates — and the flash drive issues were still present.
Several industry professionals are investigating the issue, including Robert Cotran and Jean-Claude Thibault from Candiac, Quebec’s Cotran Consulting.
Tesla has reportedly been aware of the eMMC flash drive issue since 2015 but has taken no steps to correct it. Instead, it has equipped Tesla’s 2019 models and beyond with the MCUv2, offering a larger flash memory.
The updated MCUv2, however, also features advanced functions like 3D gaming, YouTube, Netflix and max-size firmware images. In other words, Teslas are writing even more data to the logs today than ever before.
