# hw3claim.nl

> Collective action of European Tesla owners with Hardware 3 and a purchased Full Self-Driving package. Tesla promised the hardware would be capable of fully self-driving. That promise is not being kept. We gather owners worldwide, with Europe at the core.

## Available languages

- Nederlands (nl): https://hw3claim.nl
- English (en): https://hw3claim.nl/en
- Deutsch (de): https://hw3claim.nl/de
- Français (fr): https://hw3claim.nl/fr
- Español (es): https://hw3claim.nl/es

## Evidence

- [Musk on Q1 2026 Earnings Call: 'Hardware 3 simply does not have the capability'](https://hw3claim.nl/evidence/musk-q1-2026-hw3-admission): On the Q1 2026 Tesla Earnings Call of 22 April 2026, Elon Musk publicly admitted that Hardware 3 cannot run Unsupervised FSD. Tesla announced plans to set up "micro-factories" to convert HW3 vehicles to HW4, including camera replacement, and is offering FSD buyers a "discounted trade-in". VP Autopilot Ashok Elluswamy confirmed that HW3 owners will receive a "distilled" v14 version by the end of June 2026. (2026-04-22)
- [Electrek: Tesla is facing $2.7 to $14.5 billion in lawsuits worldwide](https://hw3claim.nl/evidence/electrek-litigation-landscape): On 16 April 2026, Electrek published an overview of over twenty active lawsuit categories against Tesla, with total potential exposure between $2.7 billion and $14.5 billion. The European HW3 Claim is named explicitly, alongside an Australian class action and a US FSD class action certified in August 2025. Tesla has lost its 'corporate puffery' defence before a jury and has since quietly settled at least four Autopilot lawsuits. (2026-04-16)
- [Tesla's Dutch FSD page on 11 April 2026: misleading omission](https://hw3claim.nl/evidence/tesla-nl-fsd-page-april-2026): Immediately after the RDW type approval, Tesla updated its Dutch Full Self-Driving product page to announce the new availability. The page claims that 'every Tesla' receives the latest updates and that the system is '7x safer' than a human driver. Not a word about the hardware exclusion of Hardware 3. (2026-04-11)
- [Tesla already did this once. They replaced HW2.5 with HW3 for free.](https://hw3claim.nl/evidence/tesla-hw2-hw3-retrofit-precedent): When Tesla acknowledged in 2019 that the existing Full Self-Driving Computer (HW2.5) couldn't deliver full self-driving, they gave FSD buyers a free hardware upgrade. That's their own precedent that the hardware promise required a hardware solution; it supports the liability for HW3. (2026-04-11)
- [RDW European type approval Tesla FSD (Supervised)](https://hw3claim.nl/evidence/rdw-type-approval): On 10 April 2026, the Dutch RDW issued European type approval for Tesla's Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system, with provisional validity in the Netherlands. The Netherlands is the first European country to officially permit the system on public roads. (2026-04-10)
- [The performance gap between HW3 and AI4: reports from March 2026](https://hw3claim.nl/evidence/hw3-ai4-performance-gap): Independent technical reporting from March 2026 documents a measurable performance difference between HW3 and AI4 vehicles on critical disengagement metrics. HW3 performs approximately 3.75 times worse than AI4. That's a fundamental safety difference for the same product name. (2026-03-12)
- [Tesla US Patent US20260017503A1: 'the system inoperable'](https://hw3claim.nl/evidence/tesla-us-patent-hw3): Tesla filed a US patent application describing the mathematical workaround required to run Full Self-Driving on Hardware 3. In that same patent, Tesla acknowledges that this method can render the system 'inoperable' for perception in autonomous driving. (2026-01-21)
- [Tesla Q3 2025 Earnings: Tesla partly retracts the retrofit commitment and announces 'v14 Lite' for HW3](https://hw3claim.nl/evidence/tesla-q3-2025-walkback): Nine months after Musk's firm January 2025 commitment, Tesla changed course. On the Q3 2025 Earnings Call in October 2025, Tesla announced that HW3 owners would receive a stripped-down 'v14 Lite' version instead of a full hardware upgrade. (2025-11-03)
- [Musk said it himself. 'We will need to replace all HW3 computers.'](https://hw3claim.nl/evidence/musk-q4-2024-earnings): Tesla's own CEO publicly acknowledged during the Q4 2024 Earnings Call that Hardware 3 computers in vehicles where FSD was purchased must be replaced. The top executive confirmed exactly what this initiative is about. (2025-01-29)
- [Tesla deleted the blog post that documented the hardware promise. No explanation.](https://hw3claim.nl/evidence/tesla-deletes-blog-post): In August 2024, while lawsuits against Tesla were building, the company quietly deleted the 2016 blog post that stated all Tesla cars have full self-driving hardware. In October 2025, Tesla changed the wording in its Q3 2025 shareholder letter to the legally meaningless "designed for autonomy". A pattern of deliberate evidence removal. (2024-08-24)
- [Tesla's own VP said it. HW3 runs a 'smaller model'.](https://hw3claim.nl/evidence/elluswamy-smaller-model): Tesla's VP of Autopilot publicly admitted on X that Hardware 3 vehicles run a 'smaller model' than vehicles with the newer AI4 hardware. Tesla's top FSD engineer confirmed product differentiation himself. (2024-08-21)
- [Musk on X, March 2024. "All training is for Hardware 3." Two years later, it's all HW4-only.](https://hw3claim.nl/evidence/musk-tweet-march-2024): On 30 March 2024, Elon Musk stated on X that all FSD training was for Hardware 3 and that HW4 was running in emulation mode. Two years later, FSD was approved by the Dutch RDW, exclusively for AI4. The March 2024 promise was never kept. (2024-03-30)
- [The configurator said 'later this year'. That was 2019.](https://hw3claim.nl/evidence/tesla-2019-configurator): The Dutch Tesla configurator in 2019 sold 'Volledig zelfrijdende besturing' (Full Self-Driving Capability) as a paid option, listed specific features, and promised delivery 'later this year'. The only disclaimer mentioned regulation and reliability. Not hardware. (2019-10-10)
- [Tesla promised the hardware was enough. It's on their own website.](https://hw3claim.nl/evidence/tesla-2019-product-page): 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. (2019-12-09)

## Updates

- [This is the claim, and this is the next step](https://hw3claim.nl/updates/this-is-the-claim): We're opening up the claim: what it covers, what you may be able to recover per vehicle, and a new calculator on the homepage. In the preparation we're supported by a renowned law firm, with a litigation funder and a foundation in preparation. The claim starts in the Netherlands; based on the purchase contracts you upload, we're investigating expansion to other European countries. (2026-06-18)
- [Tesla's own CEO: "Hardware 3 simply does not have the capability"](https://hw3claim.nl/updates/teslas-own-ceo-hardware-3-simply-does-not-have-the-capabi): On the Q1 2026 earnings call of 22 April, Elon Musk publicly admitted that HW3 cannot achieve Unsupervised FSD. Plus: sign-ups open outside the EU, privacy and terms updated. (2026-04-23)
- [One week. 4,000 owners. 40 media. Tesla's answer: "be patient"](https://hw3claim.nl/updates/one-week-4000-owners-40-media-teslas-answer-be-patient): One week after launch: 4,000 verified owners from 29 countries, 40+ media across 16 countries, Hart van Nederland coverage, and expansion to Australia, New Zealand and Canada. (2026-04-20)
- [2,000+ sign-ups, and we're just getting started](https://hw3claim.nl/updates/2000-sign-ups-and-were-just-getting-started): Over 2,000 sign-ups from 33 countries in less than three days. VIN is now optional and non-FSD owners are welcome to join. (2026-04-16)
- [1,250+ owners in 24 hours](https://hw3claim.nl/updates/1250-owners-in-24-hours): 1,250+ owners from 21 countries have signed up in 24 hours. And you can now follow along live. (2026-04-15)
- [Sign-ups now open across the EU](https://hw3claim.nl/updates/eu-signups-open): HW3 Claim now accepts sign-ups from all EU countries. The hardware limitation isn't Dutch. It's European. (2026-04-14)
- [HW3 Claim is live](https://hw3claim.nl/updates/hw3-claim-is-live): Today we launch HW3 Claim. After two rejected demand letters to Tesla EMEA NL, it's time to find every Dutch HW3 owner with a purchased FSD package. (2026-04-12)

## Jurisdictions

Per country, we map what is happening locally (class actions, regulators). Signing up with us does not create an attorney-client relationship.

- [Netherlands](https://hw3claim.nl/jurisdictions/nl): The Netherlands is the first EU country where Tesla FSD (Supervised) has been approved by the RDW. The approval covers only FSD V14, which cannot run on HW3. On HW3 vehicles the promise is not being delivered. This initiative started here.
- [United States](https://hw3claim.nl/jurisdictions/us): In August 2025 a federal class action was certified in Northern California regarding Tesla's FSD promise. US owners can register directly with class counsel. We record their registration in the worldwide register.
- [Germany](https://hw3claim.nl/jurisdictions/de): Germany is the largest Tesla market in the EU. No certified class actions around HW3 are known, but consumer proceedings through specialist firms are possible. We register German owners in the worldwide register and for EU-level negotiations.
- [Austria](https://hw3claim.nl/jurisdictions/at): In Austria, the Vienna-based firm fokus Rechtsanwälte is gathering HW3 cases at kein-autonomes-fahren.at for a planned collective action against Tesla. No lawsuit has been filed yet; the firm is actively building the case file. The initial assessment is free and non-binding. Austrian owners can register directly. We record their registration in the worldwide register.
- [Australia](https://hw3claim.nl/jurisdictions/au): A class action against Tesla over the FSD promises is ongoing in Australia. The case is run by Echo Law. Australian owners can register directly with Echo Law. We record their registration in the worldwide register.
- [Canada](https://hw3claim.nl/jurisdictions/ca): No certified class action specifically for the HW3 FSD issue is currently known in Canada. We track the situation; Canadian owners can still be counted in the worldwide register.
- [United Kingdom](https://hw3claim.nl/jurisdictions/gb): No specific class actions around HW3 are known in the UK. British owners are counted in the worldwide register. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 provides a solid basis for individual misrepresentation claims.

## Pages

- Evidence: https://hw3claim.nl/evidence
- Updates: https://hw3claim.nl/updates
- Jurisdictions: https://hw3claim.nl/jurisdictions
- Frequently asked questions: https://hw3claim.nl/faq
- About: https://hw3claim.nl/about
- Privacy: https://hw3claim.nl/privacy
- Terms: https://hw3claim.nl/terms
- Contact: https://hw3claim.nl/contact