Bosch-branded Model S in the wild. What are these bits?

[hmmm]

I spotted this car today near Tesla HQ in Palo Alto on 280 NB.

Clearly not a stealth car since it's got Bosch branding all over, but curious to understand what the different bits on the car are and whether they may hint at something new or a new way to do existing stuff?

Apologies if this car has already been dissected here before

 

[Stephen4]

Elon said they were exploring new h/w for newer generation AP...

 

[MP3Mike]

I spotted this car today near Tesla HQ in Palo Alto on 280 NB.

Clearly not a stealth car since it's got Bosch branding all over, but curious to understand what the different bits on the car are and whether they may hint at something new or a new way to do existing stuff?

Apologies if this car has already been dissected here before

Did you scan the QR code on it?

 

[hmmm]

Elon said they were exploring new h/w for newer generation AP...

Right. Just curious what the residing experts here (there are many...) may add.

I forgot to mention that I had a good laugh when I noticed that the car was licensed in Michigan. It may be GM stealth testing some new bits for the Bolt after all...

 

[DDotJ]

Seems to be Bosch's car, not Tesla's. They're testing their autonomous vehicle tech on their own fleet which includes Model S. They bought a Model S, stripped it down and added their own systems to use the vehicle as a test bed.

Here is their page: Automated driving

It's all very impressive, they were demonstrating their Level 3 automation technology as it looks quite nice. It's rumored that Tesla's next generation Autopilot suite will have similar features and functionality to what Bosch is currently testing now.

 

[hmmm]

Thanks @DJung for the pointers...you get bragging rights for "residing expert" on this thread as this is that car indeed (or her twin sister...).

Exciting stuff.

 

[DDotJ]

Thanks @DJung for the pointers...you get bragging rights for "residing expert" on this thread as this is that car indeed (or her twin sister...).

Exciting stuff.

Residing expert? I like the sound of that

 

[jbcarioca]

Residing expert? I like the sound of that

So do I, . Thanks for all that! I was very happy to view this stuff. Maybe Tesla is moving to Bosch in replacement to Mobileye? That is logical, in part because Bosch is already a very dependable supplier to Tesla as it has been since the beginning when Daimler was a shareholder. Obviously Bosch was logical to choose a Model S as their demonstration vehicle. I wonder if the one in Michigan is also a Tesla? Bosch traditionally acts like an astute Tier One supplier so they probably have a demonstration vehicle for several manufacturers using their own vehicles. Does anybody have insight about that?

 

[scottm]

Bosch is the new cool.

Mobileye, what?

 

[AmpedRealtor]

Bosch currently supplies the front radar unit. Mobileye has stopped all hardware shipments to Tesla including processing chips. Tesla will need to switch suppliers very soon or they will run out of their Mobileye stockpile. My bets are that Elon's new product announcement on 10/17 is going to involve Autopilot 2.0 hardware sensors (radars, lidars, and cameras) from Bosch and possibly introduce Tesla Vision.

Bosch's prototypes are said to achieve Level 4 autonomy. Tesla is currently at Level 2-ish.

 

[MP3Mike]

Mobileye has stopped all hardware shipments to Tesla including processing chips.

Do you have any evidence to backup that claim?