Close-ups of the Cybertruck frame and seats reveal several bits of information
Tesla
Tesla's Cybertruck transitions from concept to reality, and a buzz of excitement and speculation surrounds this revolutionary vehicle. The Cybertruck, with its audacious design and promises of unrivaled performance, is steadily approaching its first deliveries.
With the recent roll-off of the first production unit at the Gigafactory in Texas, many are left wondering about the remaining unknowns, particularly its pricing and features. As we inch closer to the release date, every tweet from Elon Musk or leak from the Tesla factory adds another piece to the puzzle. This article seeks to piece together all the recent clues we've garnered about the Tesla Cybertruck, from potential price points to exclusive design features.
Anticipated Pricing for the Cybertruck
Tesla's anticipated beast, the Cybertruck, has been under a shroud of mystery since its unveiling in late 2019, especially regarding its pricing. However, CEO Elon Musk's recent comment on the Ford F-150 Lightning could be a hint towards the Cybertruck's price point. Yesterday he tweeted:
The Ford Lightning is a good vehicle, just somewhat expensive, especially given the high interest rates these days for any kind of loan.
This comment came after Ford dropped the price of the truck by $10,000; it now starts at $49,995.
Cybertruck Ventilated Seats
A recent video from Tesla showcases its rigorous seat testing procedures (video below). But it didn't take long for viewers to spot the seats from the Cybertruck. With their distinctive angular control buttons and design, these seats were designed to match the truck's futuristic look. The seats appear to be ventilated, a feature currently exclusive to the Model S and Model X, although it's rumored to be available on the refreshed Model 3 as well. As Tesla prepares for the Cybertruck's initial deliveries, this video hints at the comfort and luxury potential owners can expect.
Our seat testing robot performs 50k ingress/egress cycles, equivalent to a lifetime of use ? pic.twitter.com/qnW3AEjaGA
The Cybertruck has been the subject of much speculation due to its unique exoskeleton design. Photos from the Gigafactory in Texas reveal the inner structure of the pickup and confirm it is not an exoskeleton. Sandy Munro, who goes by teardown titan on Twitter, confirmed as much in a video he posted. He believes the exoskeleton attempt may have been why the truck was so delayed and also speculated that the company likely went with a different design for safety reasons.
A Notable Omission - The Missing Midgate
The Cybertruck production line images reveal another unexpected detail - the absence of a midgate or cargo tunnel. This eliminates the potential for extended hauling lengths and may disappoint those looking to use the pickup as an overlander for camping.
No Right-Hand Drive Variant in Sight
Detailed photos of the Cybertruck's frame seem to confirm a key detail - the all-electric pickup truck's firewall is asymmetrical, indicating that it might only be available in Left Hand Drive variants, at least initially. This would mean reservation holders in RHD countries will have to wait a bit longer to get their hands on this game-changing pickup.
As the Tesla Cybertruck inches closer to its final reveal and first deliveries, these emerging details hint at what potential owners can expect from this highly anticipated electric pickup. With the official reveal expected this quarter, we're eagerly waiting to see one with our own eyes!
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As a continuation of our series on Tesla’s patents, we’re taking a look at how Tesla optimizes the performance of AI - FSD, in this case - in autonomous vehicles and robots. Patent WO2024073115A1 goes over efficiently running complex AI models on specialized hardware.
Before we dive into this article, we recommend reading our article on How FSD Works and our other article on Tesla’s Universal Translator for streamlining FSD deployments. While they’re not necessary, the background knowledge will help you appreciate all the details behind how Tesla does their optimization.
Just like before, we’ll be breaking this down into sections and making them as easily understandable as possible.
AI Subnetworks
FSD isn’t a monolithic entity - it is composed of smaller, specialized sub-networks, each dedicated to a specific aspect or function of autonomous operation. This modular design means that Tesla can work on improving one or all sections through training. When one section is improved, the end-to-end nature of the AI also means that the other sections will learn to adapt to the improvements and, therefore, perform better. It also allows for more efficient processing and adaptability during deployment and initial platform training.
These sub-networks might be responsible for tasks such as:
Recognizing and interpreting traffic signals
Detecting and tracking moving objects including vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, and more
Maintaining lane position and navigating roads
Generating 3D maps of the surrounding environment
Planning paths and making real-time driving decisions
This division of labor allows FSD to handle the complexities of autonomous driving with greater efficiency and precision
Tailored Compilers
Different hardware components are good at different things - and they also require different types of instructions. CPUs, GPUs, and specialized AI accelerators (NPUs) all have unique architecture and capabilities.
Tesla uses a compiler toolchain to translate FSD into machine code that is specifically tailored to each hardware component. This ensures that instructions are executed optimally on each processor, maximizing performance and efficiency.
Strategic Assignment
To further optimize performance, Tesla employs a system that intelligently assigns each FSD sub-network to the most suitable hardware component. This ensures that computationally demanding tasks are handled by the most powerful processors while simpler tasks are delegated to more efficient units.
This strategic assignment of tasks maximizes the overall efficiency of the system, ensuring that each component operates within its optimal performance range.
Optimized Scheduling
The order in which the hardware executes instructions also plays a crucial role in performance. Tesla's system includes an "execution scheduler" that determines the most efficient sequence of operations, minimizing delays and maximizing real-time responsiveness.
This optimized scheduling ensures that the FSD can react quickly and make informed decisions in dynamic driving situations - or quick-response situations with Optimus - like catching a ball.
While the demo here has been confirmed to be teleoperated, Tesla has said they’re working to let Optimus do this autonomously in the future.
To reduce the computational burden and power consumption of FSD, Tesla employs a technique called "quantization-aware training." This involves training FSD to work with lower-precision numbers, which require less processing power and memory. Essentially - rounding.
This approach allows the AI to operate efficiently without significantly compromising accuracy, striking a balance between performance and resource utilization.
Clock Synchronization
In hardware systems with multiple chips, maintaining precise timing is crucial for accurate and synchronized operation. Tesla's system incorporates mechanisms to synchronize the clocks of all processing units, preventing timing errors and ensuring seamless coordination between different components.
This precise clock synchronization is essential for FSD to make accurate real-time calculations and respond effectively to changing conditions.
Redundancy and Failover
To ensure reliability and safety, Tesla's system supports redundant hardware configurations. This means that if a critical component fails, a backup component can seamlessly take over, preventing disruptions in operation.
This redundancy and failover capability is crucial for maintaining the safety and integrity of autonomous systems, especially when driving. Tesla has built-in both physical and software redundancy to FSD, ensuring that it maintains a minimum standard of safety when operating autonomously.
In Simpler Terms…
Imagine a large company (FSD) with different departments (sub-networks) responsible for specific tasks. Each department has its own specialized tools and equipment (hardware components). Tesla's system acts like an efficient management structure, assigning the right tasks to the right departments, providing them with the appropriate tools, and coordinating their efforts for optimal productivity and performance.
Tesla takes the good old motto of reuse, reduce, and recycle quite seriously. In this case, they’ve decided to upcycle an old Shell gas station into a beautiful new Supercharger site.
This isn’t a new move by any means—companies like St1 Nordic and Circle K have already started transitioning their gas stations in EV-heavy nations like Norway into pure EV chargers—but it is still truly inspiring. It’s a clear sign that the world is transitioning toward cleaner energy and shifting toward EVs.
That shift has definitely been happening faster in Europe, where the adoption of EVs has been greatly assisted by the reduction of gasoline and diesel subsidies, and the more tight-knit and closer-placed communities tend to make EV ownership a far easier transition than in North America.
Gas Station Turned Supercharger
In the heart of Córdoba, Spain, a transformation has taken place that really demonstrates what the future looks like. A once unremarkable Shell gas station has been reimagined and now proudly displays the iconic Tesla logo, illuminated with the same energy that fuels the Supercharger stations below.
An inspiring and futuristic transformation
TheEVuniverse
While the design remains much the same, Tesla’s small but subtle changes have already moved it from the usual gas station with a dimly lit sign to a futuristic place to charge your EV.
There are a total of eight V4 stalls set up utilizing a V3 Supercharger cabinet, capable of the usual 250kW. These are not yet powered by the upcoming V4 cabinets that will be capable of charging at 500kW.
It’s a bold move by Tesla to repurpose a gas station into a Supercharger, but it is also a testament to the company's commitment to accelerating the world's transition to sustainable energy. While Tesla believes in adding Superchargers at locations with plenty of amenities that will aid drivers during road trips, this makes a clear statement that electric cars are the future.
It is super exciting to see Tesla do this, and we’re hoping to catch even more of this in the future. This isn’t a one-off phenomenon. We’re going to see more and more gas stations get converted into futuristic charging stations as more people embrace electric vehicles around the world, so take this as a hint of more to come.
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