Tesla FSD Hardware 4.0 Revealed: More Cameras, New Placements

Tesla's FSD hardware 4.0 is uncovered

@GreenTheOnly/Twitter

News and rumors have been heating up about Tesla's upcoming FSD hardware 4.0. Now, thanks to @GreenTheOnly, we have our first look at Tesla's latest FSD hardware, version 4.0.

The new hardware will not only include a faster computer and higher resolution cameras but it will include HD radar, additional cameras and new camera placements.

Cameras

It's been rumored for a while now that Tesla will use upgraded camera sensors with increased resolution. We reported last year that these new cameras are also expected to have LED flicker mitigration that will aid in reading digital signs. 

Tesla's current cameras produce 1.2 megapixels, and while we don't know for a fact what the updated resolution will be, numerous rumors have pointed at them having 5 megapixel sensors.

One of our sources says that while the increased resolution will be useful in certain scenarios, it won't be 'critical' because the higher resolution also comes with some downsides, such as more noise and will require additional processing power.

However, we expect that it will be useful in certain scenarios and Tesla may even be selective about when the increased resolution is used. The new cameras will also provide a better picture and will benefit non-FSD features such as Sentry Mode.

However, the increased resolution of the new cameras is only a small part of the upcoming camera changes.

Camera Placement

Tesla's hardware 4.0 features 12 camera connectors

@GreenTheOnly/Twitter

Tesla's hardware 4.0 has 12 camera connectors on board, with one being labeled spare. All current Teslas feature nine cameras in total. Three of them are forward-facing cameras and located underneath the windshield, two are on the fenders, two on the B-pillars, one in the rear and one for the cabin camera.

A leak last month revealed that Tesla plans to reduce the number of front-facing cameras to two, down from three. This is likely due to the higher-resolution cameras, making the third telephoto lens unnecessary.

That means there may be up to three additional cameras in hardware 4.0, or possibly four if you count the spare. According to Green, these three cameras appear to be destined for the vehicle's front bumper, although it's not clear in which direction they'll be aimed.

There have been various documented issues where Tesla has a blindspot when the vehicle is coming out of a secondary road that is obstructed by buildings or other objects. Having a camera that could look to the sides near the front of the vehicle would solve these situations, by giving it better than human vision since they'd be placed near the front of the vehicle.

FSD struggles with obstructed views like these

Cyber Owners/YouTube

According to the camera port names, it appears that Tesla may also be repositioning some of its cameras. The B-pillar cameras, which look forward, may be moved onto the vehicle's fenders to presumably help provide a better view as well.

Another leak last month revealed that Tesla is added a heater element to cameras in the B-pillar of the vehicle, which will help with fog build-up underneath the glass. 

Processing Power

Hardware 4.0 was previously rumored to be about 2-4x faster than hardware 3.0. Some of this power will undoubtedly go toward processing the new camera feeds and additional pixels the new cameras are providing. However, the additional power is crucial given that hardware 3.0 is nearing its processing limit.

Green provided the specs from the new hardware's chips, revealing it contains 20 cores, up from 12, and it maxes out at 2.35 GHz. Green also talked about the number of TRIP cores increasing from two to three and maxing out at 2.2 GHz.

While the number of cores and its frequency don't reveal how powerful this new hardware may be, Green says that the new hardware has 'a lot less improvement than many hoped for.'

It's not clear how much faster hardware 4.0 will be compared to hardware 3, but it sounds like the improvement may be toward the lower limit of the 2-4x speed bump we were expecting.

The hardware specs provided are per node, with the board having two nodes, which are expected to be used for redundancy.

Redundancy

Tesla's FSD hardware 4.0 is uncovered

@GreenTheOnly/Twitter

When Tesla introduced hardware 3.0, they also built it for redundancy in case of emergencies. Each board was built with two identical nodes. Both nodes could compute the same data and compare the outputs, letting the vehicle know if there was an issue. If one node failed, the vehicle could also continue driving itself long enough to pull over safely.

However, as Tesla's processing requirements increased, redundancy was removed on hardware 3.0 so that Tesla could leverage the processing power of both nodes.

With hardware 4.0, Tesla has once again added redundancy into their hardware, not only in terms of chips and processing but power redundancy as well.

Retrofits

During Tesla's earnings call last month, Elon talked a little bit about hardware 4.0, saying that it would not be economically feasible to perform retrofits.

However, given this look at Tesla's latest FSD hardware, it all but confirms that Tesla has no plans to offer any sort of retrofit.

Hardware 4.0 is also much more than just a faster computer. The power draw is much higher on hardware 4.0 than on hardware 3. The form factor is also completely different and will not fit in a previous model without modifications.

Tesla's previous FSD hardware upgrades were either camera upgrades or a computer upgrade, both of which were easily swappable. However, the hardware 4.0 suite now includes additional cameras, new camera placements, a new computer form factor, and an HD radar, making a retrofit unrealistic in every way.

There may be hobbyists that will dedicate their time and money to retrofitting their vehicles, but that's as far as we expect retrofits to go. The time and money Tesla would spend on retrofitting a vehicle would not make 'economical sense.'

Radar

Tesla's hardware 4.0 package augments vision with an HD radar.

Tesla started removing radar from their vehicles in 2021 with the Model 3 and Model Y. They later removed radar from their Model S and Model X vehicles as well in favor of a vision-only system.

However, with hardware 4.0, Tesla is reintroduced radar with a high-definition radar named Phoenix. HD radar is a step up from traditional radar, letting Tesla more accurately create an image with radar alone.

The inclusion of an HD radar isn't a surprise, as Elon Musk has previously said vision with high-res radar would be better than pure vision.

With hardware 4.0 Tesla is also going the extra distance with protecting its sensors. Not only will some of the cameras contain heaters to prevent weather-related issues, but Tesla will include a heater for the radar as well.

The radar heater will prevent snow and ice from accumulating on the front of the vehicle and blocking the radar signals.

Power Consumption

Since hardware 4's chips are more powerful it isn't a big surprise that they also require additional power. 

According to Green, hardware 3 consumed about 100 watts max, which is about the same as hardware 2.5. Hardware 3 was created with the same power restrictions as hardware 2.5 since it needed to be easily retrofitted.

However, since hardware 4.0 isn't going to be retrofitted, it didn't come with the same design restrictions. We don't know what hardware 4's max processing power is based on the information disclosed, but it will apparently idle at 80 watts, which is about double the idle power of hardware 3.

Which Models Will Have Hardware 4.0

Green believes that Tesla is producing Model S and Model X vehicles with hardware 4.0 now. However, Tesla is hanging on to them and they're not being delivered yet.

Tesla has their upcoming March 1st event titled Investor Day, where they may reveal hardware 4.0 to everyone. Possibly with a surprise announcement that all current vehicles contain hardware 4.0.

It's not clear whether the Model 3 and Model Y are currently being manufactured with the new hardware, the Model 3 and Y lines in China are currently paused for retooling which could be related to hardware 4.

Tesla Expected to Add Voice Assistant as Musk Says Grok AI is Coming

Not a Tesla App

In a Space on X (Spaces are group voice chats), Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla vehicles would eventually receive Grok AI. Specifically, he confirmed that “You would be able to ask Grok things in Teslas.”  There’s a lot to dig into this simple statement, especially given the recent addition of a true voice assistant in China.

Tesla Voice Assistant

Tesla’s voice commands in North America have recently received updates to have a better, clearer voice, while in China, the system received a complete overhaul. Voice commands in China have been replaced with a smart assistant capable of answering simple questions like “What is the value of Tesla stock?” or “How’s the weather today?”

Grok is the AI Large Language Model (LLM) available on X for Premium users and is capable of answering much more than just simple questions. While Elon Musk previously mentioned it in passing – that Teslas could run an LLM on their AI hardware with room to spare – not much has come down the voice assistant front. Other chat models, including ChatGPT, have already implemented voice modes, which let you converse back and forth with the AI.

We’re hoping that once x.AI’s Grok gets a voice mode as well, it will eventually make its way to Tesla vehicles in some capacity. The current iteration of Tesla’s voice commands is useful, but its command set is limited and mostly focused on vehicle accessibility.

Grok should be able to greatly improve the capabilities of the system, introducing a wider range of functionality, and reduce the strictness of how you need to ask for something. You’ll hopefully be able to ask Grok for the best restaurants around town and have FSD take you there. There’s no word whether Tesla would use a wake-word to activate the voice assistant or whether drivers would still need to tap the voice button on the steering wheel. China’s current voice assistant still requires a button press to activate.

In the audio chat, Musk goes on to say that Grok AI would not be run locally on the vehicle, and the vehicle would still need to send out a snippet of the voice request before returning with an answer. This is the same way Tesla’s voice commands work today and how the majority of voice assistants function. However, there are certain voice assistants that can process and run your command completely locally without having to out to the internet.

There’s no ETA on when Tesla will add a true voice assistant, but ever since it was released in China earlier this year, we’ve been expecting it to be added to other regions. It would be a fantastic Christmas gift, though…

You can listen to Musk’s short audio clip below:

Grok coming to Tesla vehicles pic.twitter.com/ikAP5wTK6a

— K10.10✨ (@Kristennetten) October 6, 2024

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Tesla FSD V12.5.6 Introduces Major Improvements: A Look at All the Changes [Photos]

WholeMarsBlog on X

Tesla has just released software update 2024.32.30 to its early access customers this morning, with quite a few changes. What’s most exciting is that there isn’t a “Coming Soon” section in there, as this update includes all of those features.

This may mean that FSD v12.5.6 may be the big update that concludes FSD V12, as FSD V13 is already on the Tesla FSD Roadmap for October. But before we look too far forward, let’s take a look at what the early access folks received this morning.

Of course, this build includes Vision-Based Attention Monitoring, including sunglasses support, and end-to-end highway monitoring. It also includes " earlier and more natural lane change decisions,” “Updated Driver Profiles,” and “Auto Set Speed has been updated to Max Speed.”

Earlier and More Natural Lane Change Decisions

Since its inception, Tesla’s FSD has struggled to make natural lane change decisions, especially in advance of a coming turn or exit. Tesla has been working on improving when and how it makes these decisions, and this update should be the big one.

Early access testers have already mentioned that FSD V12.5.6 appears to make decisions a lot sooner than before, which is definitely a good thing. Previously, FSD would make decisions to get from the right lane into the left turning lane in under a few hundred yards (or meters) from the actual place you’re turning. This update should make everything much, much smoother.

Updated Driver Profiles

Tesla has replaced the three older FSD Modes with updated Driver Profiles instead (not to be mixed up with a Driver Profile that saves user preferences). Chill makes a come back here, but Average has been replaced with Standard, and Assertive has been replaced with Hurry. Hurry mode was previously announced by Elon in a post on X, and it has finally shown up a few short months later.

Tesla is a lot more clear on what each of these modes means, and how it’ll change the way FSD drives.

Chill

Chill says that it will drive in slower lanes with minimal lane changes. This one is going to be especially important because it seems like the minimal lane changes button is gone too. So if you want minimal lane changes for your drive – you’ll be on the Chill profile.

We expect Chill to stick to the right lane whenever possible – as that’s the “slow” lane in North America – and that should carry over to both the highway, as well as multi-lane roadways.

Standard

Standard is the new Average – it offers to drive at normal speed, adjusting with traffic. We’re not sure exactly what that means just yet, especially since Autospeed is gone (more on that below!), but it will likely work within the Max Speed to dynamically adjust based on how fast traffic around you is traveling.

If anything, Standard will be slightly more assertive and faster than Chill, but likely won’t be looking to park itself in the right lane or left lane – rather picking the more neutral center lane, especially on the highway.

Hurry

Hurry is the new mode, replacing Assertive. Hurry says that it will drive faster, with more frequent lane changes. It seems the intention of the Hurry Profile will be to get you to your destination just that much quicker.

Hurry will be fairly aggressive with its lane changes and its ability to drive faster. This means it will likely be looking for and taking opportunities to get ahead or through the flow of traffic where available. On the highway, this profile will likely bring you to the left lane, where you’ll be keeping up or passing traffic.

The Hurry Profile, in particular, will also be displayed when it’s in use, right next to the green attention-monitoring dot. It seems Standard and Chill currently do not display up there.

The FSD Profile Selection Screen

WholeMarsBlog on X

Auto Set Speed Has Been Replaced

On FSD V12.5.6, Autospeed is gone. It has been replaced with an updated version of its predecessor – Max Speed Offset. You can now set a Max Speed Offset for all FSD profiles, including negative offsets, to drive below the speed limit.

The maximum offset available right now is 40% - so if the limit is 50mph, your FSD speed limit will be 70mph. The minimum offset is also -40% - so at 50 mph, that’s 30mph.

This is definitely a new approach, as Tesla was previously working on letting its neural nets dynamically adjust the speed based on road and weather conditions, traffic around you, and road types (country vs low-density urban vs high-density urban).

We think Max Speed Offset will work very similar to Auto Set Speed, but with a clearer indication of the vehicle’s max speed. Previously on Auto, it wasn’t clear how fast the vehicle could go, just that the car was trying to determine the correct speed for the situation. Max Speed Offset is still expected to slow down for varying traffic and weather conditions.

Just like before, quick controls are available on the right scroll wheel.

WholeMarsBlog on X

When’s It Coming?

Okay, the big question everyone is waiting for. It's just hit early access testers on Model Y and Model 3 vehicles—with HW4. Assuming the build tests well, the earliest it will see customers will be sometime next week, likely with HW4 3/Y and Cybertrucks first, then the S/X, and then Hardware 3 in the coming weeks. However, this is just a guess based on previous releases. We hope HW3 vehicles get included much sooner.

So, hang tight, keep an eye on our feeds, and we’ll let you know once the first wide customer builds of FSD V12.5.6 start rolling out.

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