Tesla MCU1 — overview, specs, differences & faults

The system

MCU1 is Tesla’s first-gen infotainment in Model S/X (up to early 2018). It uses an NVIDIA Tegra 3 with an 8 GB eMMC on the VCM board. It drives the central display, audio, navigation and vehicle UI. (Autopilot/FSD is a separate computer.)

Specifications (summary)

• CPU: NVIDIA Tegra 3 (ARM)
• Storage: 8 GB eMMC (service upgrade to 64 GB available)
• Models: Model S/X up to ~March 2018

Differences vs. previous generation

Introduced the wide touchscreen as central control. Compared to later MCUs it has less compute and modernization.

Common faults & our solution

• Wearing 8 GB eMMC: black screen, slow UI, camera loss. We repair professionally (board repair, eMMC upgrade, data preservation when possible).
• General instability: we test storage, power and thermals and fix accordingly.

Upgrades and retrofit

Retrofit MCU1 → MCU2 is possible on many S/X models (VIN/hardware dependent). We advise on costs and functionality.