There’s no HW4 in these press cars we’ve seen so far?
Tesla does NOT do press cars.
There is no HW4 in new Model 3 Highlands coming off the production line in China that has launched in China and for Europe.
HW4, by definition, has meaning only to the extent that it enable new AP/FSD functionality that was thereafter not available.Well now we’ve got some people calling HW4 in the Model Y HW3.5 since it includes less memory and storage than HW3 and no radar or front camera. I wonder if it really does have HW4, but people are just saying it doesn’t because it doesn’t match what they had in mind for HW4. As far as I’m concerned, if it has the HW4 self driving computer, it’s HW4, even if there’s no radar and the infotainment memory and storage are downgraded.
Similar to how HW3 went into production in late 2018 and was supposed to support FSD functionality (a claim that turned out to be false), HW4 is supposed to remedy the shortcomings of HW3. If whatever is installed in TM3 Highland falls short of that capability, it's something less than HW4.
So, what is HW4, as it went into production on Model S and X from earlier in 2023?
- FSD Computer 2, is expected to be about 2-4x faster than Hardware 3. CPU core count is going up from 12 to 20 per side, each with a maximum frequency of 2.35 GHz and an idle speed of 1.37 GHz. The neural network accelerator is also improved, delivering up to 50 TOPS of performance compared to 36 TOPS in HW3.
- A new front-facing camera with higher resolution and wider field of view.
- A new camera on each B-pillar that can see sideways and slightly forward.
- A new camera on each C-pillar that can see sideways and slightly backward.
- A new rear-facing camera with higher resolution and wider field of view.
- A new cabin camera with higher resolution and wider field of view.
- A new camera on each fender that can see behind the vehicle (tbd, rumored)
- Two new cameras on each side of the vehicle that are mounted lower and more forward than before (tbd, rumored)
- A new radar called “Phoenix” that is using the 72 GHz Arbe Phoenix SAR (synthetic aperture radar)
Lack of adequate memory, storage, radar, and 3 front cameras in China manufactured Model 3 Highland certainly remove the possibility of calling in HW4.
HW3.5, maybe, but definitely not hardware complete to support new attempt at FSD functionality, and thus latest Model 3 Highland can't qualify for HW4 designation.
Whether or not this matters, is certainly up for debate.
Neither HW3, HW3.5, nor (likely) HW4 will be supporting FSD as advertised.
Maybe HW 5-42 will?
a