I gave frustrated Tesla owners a place to go, 1.250 showed up in 24 hours — Building Products [Mischa Sigtermans](https://mischa.sigtermans.me) [ Thoughts ](https://mischa.sigtermans.me/thoughts) [ Books ](https://mischa.sigtermans.me/books) [ About ](https://mischa.sigtermans.me/about) [← Thoughts](https://mischa.sigtermans.me/thoughts) April 15, 2026 · Building in Public Personal I gave frustrated Tesla owners a place to go, 1.250 showed up in 24 hours ========================================================================= I built the HW3 Claim website over a weekend, posted one tweet, and 1.250 Tesla owners from 21 countries signed up in a day. Over a million euros in documented FSD purchases. Zero budget. ![Picking up my Model 3 at the Tesla showroom, 2019](/images/hw3claim-1250-owners-in-24-hours.jpg) I posted [one tweet](https://x.com/mischamartijn/status/2043952622470668751). Twenty-four hours later: 1.250+ registered Tesla owners from 21 countries. Over €1 million in documented FSD purchases. Zero advertising budget. Zero PR firm. One tweet. Friends asked if I realise who I'm up against. I do. So does everyone who stopped waiting. The backstory in 30 seconds --------------------------- In March 2019 I ordered a Tesla Model 3 Performance. In September 2019 I bought the Full Self-Driving package for €6.400. Tesla promised at the time that every Tesla had the hardware needed for full autonomy. On 10 April 2026, the [RDW approved FSD](https://www.rdw.nl/nieuws/2026/toelichting-rdw-op-europese-typegoedkeuring-tesla-met-voorlopige-geldigheid-in-nederland) in the Netherlands, first in Europe. Exclusively for AI4 hardware. My car, with Hardware 3, doesn't qualify. I sent two formal notices to Tesla. Both rejected. So I built the [HW3 Claim](https://hw3claim.nl) website over a weekend and posted about it. The responses haven't stopped. Over half a million views ------------------------- The tweet hit over half a million views. The site was ready. Ten evidence pages with primary sources, two formal notices on record, a clean build, and a sign-up flow that worked. The database kept getting new rows. The build year peak in the data is 2019. That's when Tesla was most aggressively selling FSD as a forward-looking investment in a software-defined car. Most of the people who signed up were sold the same promise at the same time and are looking at the same outcome now. The [live statistics page](https://hw3claim.nl/en/stats) shows the full breakdown: participants per country, vehicles per model, FSD expenditure per currency, sign-ups over time. The numbers update every minute. I wanted everyone to be able to see where things stand. 21 countries is not a Dutch problem ----------------------------------- The Netherlands is the largest group. That makes sense. RDW approval happened here first, so the gap between 'approved for AI4' and 'nothing for HW3' landed here first too. But the list doesn't stop at the border. France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Italy, the UK, Austria, Denmark, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Ireland, Finland, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Hungary, Bulgaria. Twenty-one countries in 24 hours. The question I keep getting asked is whether this is a Dutch initiative or a European one. Based on who is showing up, it's European. The regulatory trigger happened in the Netherlands first, but the product was sold the same way everywhere. The promise was the same. The hardware limitation is the same. The outcome is the same. The Wall Street Journal called, and Business Insider ---------------------------------------------------- [HW3 Claim](https://hw3claim.nl) is a collection initiative, not a lawsuit. Owners submit their vehicle details, their FSD purchase price, and their country. The site aggregates that into a collective record. What happens next legally is a question for the lawyers who have been reaching out, not for me to pronounce on from a dashboard. Dutch national press [picked it up within the first day](https://www.ad.nl/tech/nederlandse-tesla-eigenaar-gaat-viraal-met-schadeclaim-vrienden-zeggen-besef-je-wel-tegen-wie-je-het-opneemt~aa6ded92/). Then Wall Street Journal and Business Insider reached out. That tells me something: this story has legs. Over a million euros in documented FSD expenditure from hundreds of vehicles. That's euros alone. The Swiss francs, British pounds, and Nordic currencies add to it. The people who haven't signed up yet add to it. Nobody invented that number. It's what real people typed into a form. One frustrated owner is noise, 1.250 is a dataset ------------------------------------------------- I started this as a single consumer with a specific grievance and a weekend to build something. That's still what I am. But the site isn't a personal grievance anymore. 1.250+ owners from 21 countries showed up in 24 hours. They needed somewhere to go. If you own an HW3 vehicle and paid for FSD, anywhere in the EU: [HW3 Claim](https://hw3claim.nl). The [statistics page](https://hw3claim.nl/en/stats) shows exactly where things stand. That number started at zero when I posted the tweet. ![My Model 3 wrapped as Lightning McQueen](/images/hw3claim-1250-owners-in-24-hours-mcqueen.jpg) I once had my Model 3 wrapped as Lightning McQueen from Cars. I still miss that wrap. Wasn't worth the fines though. *thanks for reading* Hi, I'm [Mischa](https://mischa.sigtermans.me/about). I've been *shipping products* and *building ventures* for over a decade. First exit at 25, second at 30. Now Partner & CPO at [Ryde Ventures](https://ryde.ventures), an AI venture studio in Amsterdam. Currently shipping [Stagent](https://stagent.com) and [Onoma](https://askonoma.com). Based in Hong Kong. I [write](https://mischa.sigtermans.me/thoughts) about what I learn along the way. [More about me](https://mischa.sigtermans.me/about). Keep reading: [How I secured funding for my startup](https://mischa.sigtermans.me/thought/how-i-secured-funding-for-my-startup). [← Thoughts](https://mischa.sigtermans.me/thoughts) Connect ------- [X](https://x.com/mischamartijn) [LinkedIn](https://linkedin.com/in/mischasigtermans) [GitHub](https://github.com/mischasigtermans) © 2026 · [RSS](feed:https://mischa.sigtermans.me/feed)