Will Tesla add a bird's eye view feature to newer vehicles?
@zzapcars
Tesla’s forthcoming hardware 4.0 computer reveals that Tesla will be able to connect up 12 cameras with its new FSD hardware suite, up from the current nine it uses today.
Earlier this week, Tesla owner and hacker Greentheonly leaked information and pictures of Tesla’s anticipated hardware 4.0. Green confirmed some big and subtle improvements to the hardware.
12 Cameras in Hardware 4
The new hardware's main board will accept up to 12 cameras, with one of them labeled as a spare. Tesla currently uses nine cameras in its current hardware and is expected to reduce the front-facing cameras by one. Based on this information and the labels on the camera connectors, it appears that Tesla will include three additional cameras with FSD hardware 4.0.
When Greentheonly revealed these hardware 4 details, Twitter user StayLameBro1 inquired about where the new cameras will be placed around the vehicle. “There are seemingly 3 bumper cameras,” Green responds. “One up front the other two are left and right so in the corners somewhere.”
Green adds that the addition of bumper cameras and HD radar will remove blind spots. This is a big deal alone. Lastly, Green added that these additional cameras could allow Tesla to incorporate a real bird’s eye view into its vehicles, a feature many Tesla owners have been requesting.
There's currently a large blind spot in front of the vehicle
Munro
Bird’s Eye View
Bird's eye view is a feature that many other automakers have had for a while now, including Toyota, Honda, BMW, and Lucid. It allows for drivers to see a top-down view of their vehicle and surroundings, increasing safety and spatial awareness.
Last fall, Tesla announced they’re transitioning their fleet to their own Tesla Vision. The company added that vehicles built in October 2022 and beyond would no longer include ultrasonic sensors (USS). This sent confusion around the Tesla community given the blind spots, but hardware 4 will seemingly address these concerns.
The removal of the USS saves Tesla approximately $114 per vehicle. This is in line with “Project Highland,” a cost-cutting project for the upcoming revamped Model 3.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk told investors that upgrading hardware 3 to hardware 4 is difficult and expensive.
“The cost and difficulty of retrofitting hardware 3 with hardware 4 is quite significant,” Musk said. “So, it would not be, I think, economically feasible to do so.”
After the leak of hardware 4, we now begin to understand Musk's statement. We're not only talking about a new computer with hardware 4, but higher-resolution cameras, additional cameras, possibly a new bumper design and an HD radar unit.
Musk has also reiterated that hardware 3 will be capable of driving safer than a human, however, it's not clear under which constraints that would be, such as specific roads and weather conditions, or whether a human driver would always be required to be attentive.
Update: We have now confirmed that FSD Hardware 4.0 will not include additional cameras in the bumper or elsewhere, which means that the vehicle will still have a blind spot. However, we have been told that the 'bumper' camera connectors on HW4.0 are for future expansion, but will not be used initially.
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In Tesla software update 2024.32 and onwards, Tesla has made a big—and unexpected—change to how its vehicles handle power sockets. This change impacts every vehicle except the Cybertruck, where you can already adjust how power sockets are handled on a case-by-case basis.
Power Socket Change
This change to the power sockets means that in 2024.32, Tesla vehicles will have their 12v sockets and USB ports turned off while in Sentry Mode. Previously, while the car was awake or Sentry Mode was active, the 12v sockets in the rear of the vehicle and any of the USB ports would all remain powered.
Now, owners will no longer be able to operate devices that rely on these ports once the vehicle falls asleep. This change renders some accessories almost useless, such as vehicle fridges. Owners previously relied on Sentry Mode coming on when their vehicle was parked, which kept the fridge in the vehicle’s sub-trunk powered. This change will also prevent owners from using Sentry Mode to keep USB ports powered to charge laptops and other devices.
Until further changes are made, owners will have to use Camp Mode to keep 12v sockets and USB ports powered. However, Camp Mode leaves the vehicle unlocked, making it insecure and unsuitable for things like sub-trunk fridges.
Cybertruck Power Interface
Tesla may be planning to integrate the Outlets & Accessories menu from the Cybertruck into the rest of its vehicles. The outlets menu in the Cybertruck allows you to keep the cabin (and bed) outlets in the vehicle active, even when the vehicle isn’t in use. These outlets remain powered for up to 12 hours after the Cybertruck is exited.
The Power Menu in the Cybertruck
Not a Tesla App
Sentry Mode Improvements
Drew Baglino, Tesla’s now former SVP of powertrains and energy, said back in February of this year that Tesla was looking at reducing the amount of power that Sentry Mode used. He stated that Sentry Mode power consumption needs to be improved and that the team was working on an update to reduce power by about 40%. According to Baglino, the improvements were expected to come in the second quarter of this year, but it’s not clear if this change in update 2024.32 is part of those changes that will lower Sentry Mode’s power consumption.
Even if these are planned changes, we hope Tesla makes them optional, and lets owners choose when to keep outlets powered and when to conserve energy.
Tesla has issued an OTA recall for the Cybertruck – unsurprisingly, one that has already been fixed for customer vehicles. We’ll expand on the recall a little later, but more importantly, the recall filing revealed that Tesla has now built and sold 27,185 Foundation-Series Cybertrucks for customers.
OTA Recall
The OTA recall – which was issued in update 2024.32.5.2 and above, covered an issue that could delay the rearview camera being displayed on the dashboard.
This would occur if the Cybertruck was powered on, and then quickly shifted to reverse. The rearview camera would not come up on screen within the prescribed 2-second timeframe.
According to the NHTSA filing, Tesla has already fixed this via the OTA update, and the rearview camera will now display within that 2-second timeframe as required going forward. This was another easy OTA fix for Tesla.
Not a Tesla App
27k Cybertrucks
The filing also revealed that Tesla has produced and delivered approximately 27 thousand Foundation-Series Cybertrucks through September 14th. Tesla has been producing the Cybertruck for approximately 11 months now, with the 12-month anniversary coming up on November 13th.
Elon Musk previously mentioned that Tesla intends to produce approximately 375,000 trucks per year to compete with the ICE pickup market. Today, Tesla produces 1.7 million Model 3 and Model Y vehicles per year, and about 80,000 Model S and Model X vehicles a year.
Overall, that 27 thousand over a year is only the start of production, and as Tesla expands and improves its production lines, we can expect that number to continue growing at a rapid pace. With the Foundation Series ending and Tesla opening up invites for reservation holders to configure their non-FS Cybertruck, that number is only expected to increase. The non-FS Cybertruck is priced at $79,990, $20k less than the Foundation Series. The Cybertruck will also become eligible for the Canadian iZEV Heavy EV Rebate.
This puts the Cybertruck in an excellent spot in the future—and it has already outsold its EV competitors in the same market. We’re looking forward to seeing how fast Tesla meets the upcoming demand for non-Foundation Series Cybertrucks.
