Tesla Has Slashed The Price Of Its Infotainment System Update

Tesla has announced a significant reduction in the infotainment system upgrade price for older Model S and Model X vehicles. The cost of the MCU1 to MCU2 retrofit is now priced at $1500, a 40 percent discount from its previous price. The upgrade brings a more advanced and smoother experience for the media control units inside the vehicles.

The $1500 infotainment system update is for pre-March 2018 Model S and Model X owners. The update will add some of the infotainment system's newest features, including a suite of video streaming apps. The discounted price comes after Tesla has been criticized for infotainment systems on older vehicles that have begun to malfunction. The infotainment upgrade fixes the screen issues owners of those older vehicles sometimes encounter.

The update isn't something that owners can do themselves. They're able to schedule an appointment for the retrofit using the Tesla app. The $1500 price does include installation, but taxes do apply. Owners who purchase the retrofit also have to buy a Premium Connectivity subscription to access some new features like Netflix or YouTube streaming.

In addition to new features and a smooth user experience, buyers of the upgrade will also receive new security features like DashCam and Sentry Mode. One significant caveat to the upgrade is that owners would lose access to their AM, FM, and Sirius XM radio, requiring a separate Radio Upgrade to get those features back.

The older MCU units inside Tesla vehicles have been under scrutiny by the NHTSA. The organization has advised Tesla to recall 158,000 units over a potential fault in the NAND flash memory chips. Failure of the memory chips could lead to users losing access to backup cameras and other features.