Tesla marketing
Tesla promised the hardware was enough. It's on their own website.
In 2019, tesla.com/nl_NL/model3 told every buyer, unconditionally, that their Tesla's hardware would enable full self-driving in the future. No disclaimer about hardware replacement. No asterisks. Just a promise.
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Date
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9 December 2019
Every Tesla is equipped with the hardware needed in the future to make the car fully self-driving under nearly all circumstances, at a level of safety we believe is twice as safe as the average human driver.
The words on the page
On tesla.com/nl_NL/model3 in 2019, a section titled 'Hardware voor volledig automatische besturing' (Hardware for fully automated steering) said this. It didn't change across multiple Wayback Machine snapshots:
"Every new Model 3 comes standard with advanced hardware that provides today's Autopilot features and in the future will make the car fully self-driving. Through software updates, the functionality of the system is continuously improved over time."
And, under the heading 'The future of Autopilot':
"Every Tesla is equipped with the hardware needed in the future to make the car fully self-driving under nearly all circumstances, at a level of safety we believe is twice as safe as the average human driver."
(Original Dutch: "Elke Tesla is uitgerust met de hardware die in de toekomst nodig is om de auto volledig zelfrijdend onder vrijwel alle omstandigheden te maken, wat volgens ons twee keer zo veilig is dan de gemiddelde menselijke bestuurder.")
Why this is the strongest piece of evidence
Under Dutch consumer law (article 7:17 of the Dutch Civil Code), what the buyer reasonably expected at the time of purchase is what the seller has to deliver. Tesla's product page was the contractual context for every Dutch consumer who ordered a Tesla in 2019 or bought a separate Full Self-Driving package.
Three things make this promise exceptionally hard to wiggle out of:
- It's unconditional. Nowhere on the product page is there a reservation saying the hardware might need replacement later, or that some features would be exclusive to newer hardware generations. The text says 'every Tesla' and 'needed in the future'. Full stop.
- It was there for months. Three separate Wayback Machine snapshots across nine months (March 2019, November 2019, December 2019) show the same text, unchanged. Tesla can't argue it was added later or modified for specific customers.
- It's specifically about hardware. Tesla took an explicit position about the suitability of the hardware. Not software. Not abstract future features. Whether the hardware in every Tesla at that time would be sufficient. That's the promise.
The disclaimer that wasn't there
The separate configurator page (see evidence item 2) did include a disclaimer, but about something else entirely: activation and use of features depend on reliability (to be proven through billions of miles driven) and legal approval. Both of those have now been fulfilled. On 10 April 2026, the Dutch RDW approved the new Full Self-Driving (Supervised) functionality.
The hardware question, whether the computer in a specific vehicle can physically run the features, is never mentioned as a reservation. Tesla didn't contractually exclude that risk. They just didn't bring it up.
Verification
The Wayback Machine snapshots are publicly accessible. For legal proceedings, they can be hardened by notarial confirmation: a notary draws up a protocol confirming that on a given date, the relevant URL displayed the same text.
Relevant Wayback URLs:
- https://web.archive.org/web/20190323170135/https://www.tesla.com/nl_nl/model3 (23 March 2019)
- https://web.archive.org/web/20191111224211/https://www.tesla.com/nl_nl/model3 (11 November 2019)
- https://web.archive.org/web/20191209143127/https://www.tesla.com/nl_nl/model3 (9 December 2019)