At Tesla's AI Day event last summer, Elon answered some questions during the Q&A portion of the event that revealed Tesla's plans for FSD hardware.
Elon informally announced that Tesla is already researching the next major hardware revision for full self-driving.
Tesla's camera housing
Elon said that he expects the current hardware in today's vehicles to be capable of "super-human" driving, but Tesla will continue to update their cars to have the most powerful hardware available.
Elon guessed that Tesla may release FSD hardware 4.0 with the introduction of the Cybertruck. Since the Cybertruck won't be released until the end of this year at the earliest, we may even see new hardware before its arrival, although this is unlikely.
In another question related to new hardware, Elon also said that Tesla is looking into new cameras. He was clear that the current cameras aren't a hindrance, but if Tesla can do better, then they will.
Elon didn't go into details about whether the new cameras would be tied to the Cybertruck or hardware 4.0. He also didn't mention specifically whether the new cameras would be higher resolution, contain larger sensors, or possibly even be placed in different locations.
Tesla currently utilizes three separate front-facing cameras in the housing at the top of the windshield. The camera unit contains wide-angle, standard, and narrow view lenses with three separate CMOS sensors.
Each sensor has a resolution of 1280x960 or about 1.2 megapixels.
New Camera
According to Chris Zheng on Twitter, who has connections with some Tesla suppliers, Tesla is planning to use Sony's new IMX490 automotive sensor in their upcoming hardware 4.0 revision.
Wide-angle camera comparison
This new sensor offers many benefits over the current sensors that Tesla uses in their vehicles.
The new sensors support a much higher resolution of 2896x1876. That's 5.4 megapixels compared to the 1.2 megapixels that Tesla's current front-facing cameras support.
At more than four times the resolution of current sensors, these new sensors will allow Tesla to more accurately detect objects that are required for FSD.
Detecting road edges and lane markings that are further away are especially difficult. Due to the angle of the road and the current image resolution, Tesla often has to make assumptions based on just a few pixels.
The increased resolution will offer a more detailed image and should improve the accuracy in these situations.
The new wide-angle sensor may also allow Tesla to drop the number of cameras used in the front-facing module. Due to the higher resolution in these sensors, Tesla may be able to use this wide-angle sensor to interpret objects that previously required the use of the standard or telephoto lenses before. This may allow Tesla to reduce the number of cameras that are required in the front of the vehicle from three down to two or even a single lens.
The new camera sensor also supports HDR shooting at 10 bit and 40 FPS, offering better contrast and richer colors. It's not clear whether Tesla would take advantage of HDR as it would require more power to process, but it's something Tesla may consider depending on the compute power available.
LED flicker mitigation
More importantly, the new sensor will also support LED flicker mitigation. Camera sensors often have a hard time capturing the light emitted from LED lights in a constant fashion. Since LEDs are widely used in electronic signs and traffic lights this will be an important feature and should make it easier for Tesla to interpret such signs.
Tesla is working closely with Samsung to produce their next-generation chips that will be used in FSD hardware 4.0. Tesla will likely launch updated cameras at the same time they introduce a new FSD computer.
It makes sense for Tesla to introduce this new hardware in a new model first before retrofitting new camera modules into existing models.
Rimac, the company behind the Rimac Nevera electric hypercar, has announced that it intends to produce a robotaxi, and it looks quite similar to Tesla’s concepts. Much of what we’ve heard about Tesla’s upcoming robotaxi, the Cybercab, is featured in Rimac’s autonomous vehicle. From the two seats to the airy interior and the center-screen-focused interior, it’s all here, although there are significant differences as well. Rimac’s prototype, called Verne, was revealed on Wednesday, June 26th.
Verne Robotaxi
Verne will include a 43
MotorTrend
The Verne is expected to begin operation in 2026 and is a two-seater robotaxi using Mobileye’s LiDAR technology. The vehicle is expected to be a level 4 autonomous vehicle, which means it would still require remote support for handling complex situations, similar to Waymo’s work in San Franciso.
The Verne has a 43” display, and 17 speakers, and is supposedly designed to emulate “a room on wheels”, with an inside-out design concept. Interestingly, rather than regular doors, the Verne has doors that swing forward horizontally, along with a keypad-based entry system.
A smaller screen between the front seats lets you control certain aspects of the vehicle
MotorTrend
Rimac says they have signed agreements to launch in 11 cities in the EU, the UK, and the Middle East. They have also mentioned they are negotiating contracts with 30 more cities worldwide.
Rimac also showed off images of its robotaxi app and a concept building for its robotaxis – presumably a charging and service hub.
The verne will feature sliding doors, a lot like a minivan
MotorTrend
Comparing Rimac’s Robotaxi to Tesla’s
Although Tesla has yet to reveal the Cybercab, there are several things Tesla has already talked about for their upcoming robotaxi. One key difference between Rimac’s vision and Tesla’s is that Tesla appears to be chasing the cheapest possible transport, with Tesla previously touting ride prices that would rival bus ticket prices. While Rimac appears to focus more on an ideal experience. While everyone loves extra luxury, at the end of the day, price usually wins.
The Rimac robotaxi app
MotorTrend
One example is Tesla’s single center screen, compared to Rimac’s two screens. In addition to the viewable 43” center display, which presumably is not a touch-screen, Rimac has a separate screen and controls between both passenger seats. Tesla’s approach appears to focus on a single screen, with the user controlling much of the car’s control such as music and climate through Tesla’s robotaxi app.
Another example is Rimac’s idea of including an entry pad and screen on the outside of the vehicle for passenger to be able to unlock the vehicle. Tesla’s approach to unlocking a vehicle is expected to rely on temporary keys that are tied to user’s phones leveraging ultra wideband, a lot like how Tesla’s phone keys work today on newer vehicles.
Tesla’s approach to autonomy is also drastically different than Mobileye’s, which relies on radar, LiDAR and more cameras than Tesla’s Autopilot suite today.
Viability
This announcement from Rimac is a bit of an oddity. As a company, Rimac has produced less than 150 vehicles in their short lifespan – all hand-designed and hand-produced Rimac Nevara hypercars. Their ability to scale to produce more than a handful of these Verne robotaxis, while visually appealing, is questionable at best.
On the same front, Rimac recently received a $200M Euro grant from the EU as part of a package to develop an economic recovery plan for Croatia. Rimac has also received $80M Euros in funding from Hyundai and Kia – but that was to collaborate on a high-performance fuel cell electric vehicle, and a high-performance EV sports car.
The exterior of the Verne robotaxi
MotorTrend
Beyond that, Rimac has never done any work with autonomy – the self-driving tech that is running the Verne is entirely based on the outsourced work from Mobileye. It seems that the Verne will serve as Mobileye’s real-life test on whether its technology can be integrated into a Robotaxi platform on its own.
Tesla previously used Mobileye’s technology for its own autonomy during its inception years (AP 1) but quickly moved on towards using its own vision-based camera tech instead.
FSD v12.4 has been in the works for quite a while now, with Elon Musk previously suggesting that it would arrive near the end of May.
Musk has now given us an update on the state of v12.4, saying that FSD v12.4.2 will start rolling out to employees today.
FSD V12.4.2
FSD V12.4 initially launched with V12.4.1 to select customers on build 2024.15.5, bringing the much anticipated no-nag update alongside it. V12.4.1 had some issues according to Tesla’s early access customers who received the update in early June, with lane drifting and lane selection still being issues. On the flipside, V12.4 tends to be more assertive and less hesitant in intersections and parking lots.
Elon also mentioned that FSD 12.4.2 is much smoother, but the challenge is “keeping safety high, while also increasing ride comfort.”
Although v12.4 didn’t come with Banish Autopark and Park Seek, it did include the new vison monitoring that lets the vehicle not nag you under certain conditions.
Expected Release
We just need to confirm there are no safety regressions
-Elon Musk
So, now with the new confirmation that 12.4.2 is going to roll out to internal testers and employees soon, how far away is it for customers? It looks like it may be at least a few days away at the earliest for customers that are on FSD v12.4.1, and probably at least a week away from adding additional owners, assuming that testing goes well with this upcoming build.
When asked if V12.4.2 would come to customers on the July 1st weekend, Musk said “we just need to confirm there are no safety regressions”, which means it could be closer than we expect for ordinary customers.
FSD V12.5
So, with V12.4.2 on the horizon, what in the world is happening with V12.5? And what features will it bring with it?
In terms of features, Elon previously mentioned that V12.5 is supposed to bring Actually Smart Summon, along with fleet-based vehicle communications, and further reduce the likelihood of driver interventions. It’s also supposed to be the first iteration of Autopilot and FSD that the Cybertruck will be receiving.
It was previously supposed to arrive in early July, but that estimate is clearly out of the window given how delayed V12.4 has become. We could honestly expect FSD V12.5 to arrive alongside the 8/8 Robotaxi announcement, which would be fairly fitting.
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