Home Modifications Dashcam to Pre HW2.5 Cars

Dashcam to Pre HW2.5 Cars

Ok, you really, really want the built-in Tesla dashcam feature, but you have an older pre-HW 2.5 car (those made before 21-Aug-2018).  Let’s break it down some of the considerations and issues:

  1. You’ll need HW2.5, estimated at about $3,000.  This can only be installed in the car with HW2.0 (no AP1 cars). In addition, some portion of the wiring harness may need to be replaced and/or added as well. If your car was manufactured after 21-Aug-2018, you likely have HW2.5.
  2. If you bought FSD, Tesla will install HW3.0 free of charge when FSD is available, so it seems a bit silly to upgrade to HW2.5 if you already bought FSD.
  3. V9 or later software is required, which everyone should have already.
  4. You’ll need a 16 GB flash drive or larger to store the dashcam video.
  5. You’ll have to replace the 7 monochrome cameras with color cameras.  No retrofit option is currently available to do this.