Tesla teardown finds electronics 6 years ahead of Toyota and VW

[TruckElectric]

From Feb 2020

Tesla teardown finds electronics 6 years ahead of Toyota and VW

Self-driving AI sends shivers through traditional supply chains

A teardown of the Model 3 shows Tesla so far ahead of more established peers that its technology could end the auto supply chain as we know it. (Nikkei xTech)




TOKYO -- Toyota Motor and Volkswagen each sell 10 million cars, give or take, every year. Tesla delivered about 367,500 in 2019. But when it comes to electronics technology, Elon Musk's scrappy company is far ahead of the industry giants.

This is the takeaway from Nikkei Business Publications' teardown of the Model 3, the most affordable car in the U.S. automaker's all-electric lineup, starting at about $33,000.

What stands out most is Tesla's integrated central control unit, or "full self-driving computer." Also known as Hardware 3, this little piece of tech is the company's biggest weapon in the burgeoning EV market. It could end the auto industry supply chain as we know it.

One stunned engineer from a major Japanese automaker examined the computer and declared, "We cannot do it."

The module -- released last spring and found in all new Model 3, Model S and Model X vehicles -- includes two custom, 260-sq.-millimeter AI chips. Tesla developed the chips on its own, along with special software designed to complement the hardware. The computer powers the cars' self-driving capabilities as well as their advanced in-car "infotainment" system.

The Model 3's "full self-driving computer" consists of two boards: one with custom AI chips for autonomous driving, and a media control unit for the "infotainment" system. A water-cooled heat sink is installed between the two boards. (Nikkei xTech)


This kind of electronic platform, with a powerful computer at its core, holds the key to handling heavy data loads in tomorrow's smarter, more autonomous cars. Industry insiders expect such technology to take hold around 2025 at the earliest.

That means Tesla beat its rivals by six years.

The implications for the broader auto industry are huge and -- for some -- frightening.

Tesla built this digital nerve center through a series of upgrades to the original Autopilot system it introduced in 2014. What was also called Hardware 1 was a driver-assistance system that allowed the car to follow others, mostly on highways, and automatically steer in a lane. Every two or three years, the company pushed the envelope further, culminating in the full self-driving computer.

There should be nothing stopping Toyota or VW from doing the same much earlier than 2025, considering their immense financial resources and vast talent pools. But technological hurdles are not the reason for the delay, according to the Japanese engineer who said "we cannot do it."

The real reason for holding off? Automakers worry that computers like Tesla's will render obsolete the parts supply chains they have cultivated over decades, the engineer said.

Such systems will drastically cut the number of electronic control units, or ECUs, in cars. For suppliers that depend on these components, and their employees, this is a matter of life and death
.
So big automakers apparently feel obliged to continue using complicated webs of dozens of ECUs, while we only found a few in the Model 3. Put another way, the supply chains that have helped today's auto giants grow are now beginning to hamper their ability to innovate.

Young companies like Tesla, on the other hand, are not shackled to suppliers and are free to pursue the best technologies available.

Our teardown underscored this in another way as well.

Most parts inside the Model 3 do not bear the name of a supplier. Instead, many have the Tesla logo, including the substrates inside the ECUs. This suggests the company maintains tight control over the development of almost all key technologies in the car.

And with this hardware in place, Teslas can evolve through "over the air" software updates. Right now, the vehicles are still classified as Level 2 or "partially autonomous" cars. But Musk has stressed that they have all the necessary components -- "computer and otherwise" -- for full self-driving.

From software to electric drive systems, Tesla is steadily bringing more development tasks in-house. If this strategy succeeds, competitors will have little choice but to follow suit, upending their old business models and supply chains as they try to overcome Tesla's head start.


Source: Nikkei Asian Review

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[ReddykwRun]

Supposed to be surprised right. We are talking about a company that's a cousin to a certain company that's playing Uber driver for the International Space Station as we speak. Last time I checked I did not see any Ford, GM, or VW sponsor stickers plastered on the SpaceX Dragon. That's an idea, I will send a memo to Elon right now. Maybe next launch we can see a great big TESLA ROCKS sticker on the side of the SpaceX rocket. That would be fun.

 

[Geo]

From Feb 2020

That means Tesla beat its rivals by six years.

Tesla is at Level 2 autonomy ! That's not 6 years ahead of anything or anybody !

The fact is other company's are at level 3 and a couple are at level 5 in a controlled geofenced environment.

So in no way, shape or form, can it be declared Tesla is 6 years ahead !

While the race for Level 5 unqualified full autonomy continues.

They may one day get to level 5 full autonomy, I certainly hope they do, but to suggest they are 6 years ahead, like its a metric that can be quantified like that, is sheer absurdity, ignorance, or sycophancy.

 

[Newton]

Interesting thing about the supply chains.
I hadn't thought of something like that holding back innovation.

 

[Hunter Sawyer]

Tesla is at Level 2 autonomy ! That's not 6 years ahead of anything or anybody !

The fact is other company's are at level 3 and a couple are at level 5 in a controlled geofenced environment.

So in no way, shape or form, can it be declared Tesla is 6 years ahead !

While the race for Level 5 unqualified full autonomy continues.

They may one day get to level 5 full autonomy, I certainly hope they do, but to suggest they are 6 years ahead, like its a metric that can be quantified like that, is sheer absurdity, ignorance, or sycophancy.

Technically Tesla is at level 5 in alpha form in non-geofenced areas. Level 3 means hand off and Tesla could do that but regulators wouldn't allow it. If any company has a production vehicle that's level 3 then it's geofenced if I'm not forgetting anyone. People forget that the public access version of Tesla's software isn't their newest. To be fair nobody can quantify such values as "winning" because there are too many variables but we can extrapolate and estimate to assume who's winning.

 

[jerhenderson]

Tesla is at Level 2 autonomy ! That's not 6 years ahead of anything or anybody !

The fact is other company's are at level 3 and a couple are at level 5 in a controlled geofenced environment.

So in no way, shape or form, can it be declared Tesla is 6 years ahead !

While the race for Level 5 unqualified full autonomy continues.

They may one day get to level 5 full autonomy, I certainly hope they do, but to suggest they are 6 years ahead, like its a metric that can be quantified like that, is sheer absurdity, ignorance, or sycophancy.

when an engineer says they cannot do it, it means Tesla is ahead..... I'll have to judge that those in the industry are aware of development time frames and from that comes the 6 year estimate.

 

[Geo]

Technically Tesla is at level 5 in alpha form in non-geofenced areas.

WOW that is fantastic news.
We should expect our Robotaxi's any day now
You should start holding your breath

As already mentioned, others have already reached level 5 with conditions.
(but still far from available to the market, much to the relief of Uber and others)

So suggesting Tesla is also at level 5 in an unreleased version, is actually once again meaningless.
And that's if you believe that they are actually there. It is in fact unverified, where as for other contenders it is actually verified.

Level 2 capable, is what the cars are sold as, and are defended as, in court cases, especially the last one, just a couple of weeks ago, they lost in Germany, and can no longer use the label
"Full Self Driving". That suggests there're going backwards !
Other country's and court cases are now coming up.

"When they finally reach close, just close, to level 5 Autonomy, not actually Level 5 autonomy,
then the March of 9's will commence and it will take quite some time from there.

P.S. A friend of mine just got his Tesla, and can't believe how terrible Auto pilot is. Its annoying how often it suddenly abandons duties and how much more effort and energy is required from him to be ready to take over. And we are both entertained by the exercise when Im in the car.

Oh' and then there's the shock of it doing something severe and without reason, like applying the brakes hard when on the freeway, for no apparent reason . . . . which sometimes causes accident or they are narrowly avoided, but it works wonders for the driver and occupants mental state

 

[ricinro]

just my opinion but when Elon mentioned level 5 this or next year it was like a baby announcement. The baby needs to learn but it is a level 5 baby not a level 2 baby. This will be an interesting topic in a few years, until then keep your eyes on the road and hands on the wheels.

 

[ricinro]

Another observation about engineers: They are people and some are easily daunted and fearful while some just say "hold my beer".
A fearless engineer can be a foolish dreamer and gets easily irked when going through risk analysis exercises.

That is why it is good to be the CEO with billions.

 

[mrbulk]

Technically Tesla is at level 5 in alpha form in non-geofenced areas. Level 3 means hand off and Tesla could do that but regulators wouldn't allow it. If any company has a production vehicle that's level 3 then it's geofenced if I'm not forgetting anyone. People forget that the public access version of Tesla's software isn't their newest. To be fair nobody can quantify such values as "winning" because there are too many variables but we can extrapolate and estimate to assume who's winning.

Sorry, but Geo lost my interest when he mentioned "Geo-fenced" (no offense, Geo)...see what I did there?
But seriously, geofencing is really kinda gaming the system I feel. Because FSD is supposed to (and I do reservedly say "supposed to" - I know it may still be years off) but it's supposed to be A.I., meaning you could drop the car anywhere and it would be able to figure out how to drive around right away.

 

[TruckElectric]

How will Tesla rivals top this?

DETROIT — Forget, for a moment, Tesla's missed production deadlines, its challenges with fit-and-finish and even the eyebrow-raising tweets that issue from its CEO.
When it comes to the nuts and bolts — or in this case, sensors and battery cells — of Tesla's Model Y electric crossover, says Sandy Munro, the product is the most technically advanced EV on the market.

It's really that advanced? Munro is asked.
It has no peer, says the president of Munro & Associates, a firm in Auburn Hills, Mich., that specializes in vehicle competitive teardowns. The only real competition, he says, is itself.

Munro: Tesla has fit-and-finish problems, but its newest products have “a depth I just don’t see anywhere else.”


Until now, Tesla's star was its Model 3, the sedan it introduced in 2017 that is now reportedly the top-selling EV in the world — as well as the top-selling luxury car of any kind in the U.S., based on estimates. The Model Y, which went on sale in March based on the Model 3's architecture, has raised the bar.

"I thought the Model 3 was 10 years ahead of everybody else," Munro told Automotive News after examining the individual components and construction of the Model Y. "Then we tore apart the Model Y, and we're pretty much convinced the Model Y is another three or four years ahead."
Munro, a former Ford Motor Co. engineer and manager, has been providing competitive analysis to the auto industry for more than three decades. He markets his piece-by-piece teardowns to automakers and suppliers and is widely quoted for his insights into who is setting benchmarks and who is lagging.

But whether Tesla is wowing critics is not the issue for the industry at the moment.
The slowly emerging EV market is a competitive arena of technology — of who has the best and who offers the latest. New technical approaches are emerging as an increasing number of automakers commit to electrifying their fleets this decade.

That means today's segment leader now stands as the benchmark for what all other comers will have to match — or beat — to be competitive. Getting there requires advances to everything from the vehicle's battery cells, to its electric motor design, to a heating and cooling system that has been streamlined to help boost range and capability.

Sandy Munro said the Model Y’s body control module has been upgraded over what’s in the Model 3 to be smaller and more efficient.

"They've got a depth I just don't see anywhere else," Munro said of Tesla's newest products, even as he offered unflinching criticism of the California company'

"They've got a depth I just don't see anywhere else," Munro said of Tesla's newest products, even as he offered unflinching criticism of the California company's manufacturing quality glitches, giving it low grades for fit-and-finish and its widely reported problems with paint.

But "the people who are buying these cars aren't buying them for that," he said. "They're looking for that million-mile battery. They're looking for the range."

Tesla was already an industry benchmark on battery range. The Model Y crossover's range, at 316 miles, is nearly the same as the 322 miles available on the Model 3, despite the crossover being heavier. This year, Tesla boosted the full-charge range of its Model S sedan to 402 miles, making it the first EV to crack the 400-mile threshold.

Tesla has even bigger plans for the Model Y, built in Fremont, Calif. Tesla is so confident in the new nameplate and its technology that it has built a factory in Shanghai and is constructing another in Berlin to build the Model Y for international markets, and it plans to build more Y's at a new plant in Texas. CEO Elon Musk has said he expects the crossover to outsell all of Tesla's other vehicles combined.

Here's a look at some of the technologies that define the Model Y and the Model 3 it is based on, which Munro says serve as the industry's current EV benchmark.

Heating and cooling

The Model Y is unique compared with other Tesla vehicles in that, instead of a positive temperature coefficient heater, it uses a new-generation heat pump that benefits from an in-house-designed technology known as the Octovalve. The component bears its own stamped logo of an octopus with a snowflake on its head.

The Octovalve is the key valve assembly that controls and directs heating and cooling functions. It comprises a four-position stepper motor and eight separate ports. It's part of a system that includes a semisolid forged-aluminum refrigerant manifold.

Tesla’s in-house-designed Octovalve is the key valve assembly that controls and directs heating and cooling functions.


Other EVs use heat pumps, but Munro said the introduction of the Octovalve makes the Model Y's heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system different from anything he's ever seen in a car and looks more like something from the aerospace industry.

Speaking on a podcast this year, Musk said the Octovalve heat pump module is among the most "significant changes" to the Model Y — even though most customers will never notice it exists.
"The thing that's interesting about this heat pump is that it has a local heating loop," Musk said. "Heat pumps typically encounter issues around minus 10 to 20 [degrees] Celsius. ... Essentially, they can't get going.

"The solution the Tesla HVAC team came up with was to have a local heating loop. So the thing will basically just spin itself up and get hot locally before opening another valve that then tries to heat the cabin."

Munro said the system can heat or cool the cabin faster than a normal system. Additionally, it saves space and represents a reduction in parts — and therefore labor cost — compared with other EVs.

Further, boosting the ability to selectively heat and cool portions of the vehicle helps improve the range of the battery by reducing the amount of power needed for the system.

Electronics

The Model Y has also moved the needle on the electronics front, Munro said after his analysis of the vehicle.

It uses a third-generation body control module with a more streamlined design, created by swapping out certain parts for greater efficiency. The result is a module that is smaller and more vertically integrated.

But also contained in the electronics is a technology that is not yet engaged. It is a processor chip — newly produced in-house — that will serve advanced autonomous driving functions when Tesla is ready to initiate them in the years ahead.

Tesla previously sourced chips from Nvidia. But last year the automaker revealed a chip of its own that Musk brashly labeled the "best chip in the world." Musk said each chip is capable of 36 trillion operations per second, an improvement over past Nvidia technology at 80 percent of the cost.
The Tesla system features two redundant chips located next to each other on the circuit board to help guard against failure when the technology is deployed.
Despite projections from Musk that the launch of the technology is imminent, it's unclear when Tesla will enable its vehicles to drive themselves. Other automakers are taking more cautious approaches but have begun to roll out hands-free driver-assist systems that they believe are more safe than Tesla's current Autopilot driver-assist system.

Tesla makes the Model Y in Fremont, Calif., but is so confident that it is adding more factories.



Motor
Munro said Tesla also gained some efficiency in its front induction motor by switching to an aluminum rotor from a copper one in the Model 3. Munro called it Tesla's "secret weapon."
The vehicle's inverter/converter, which essentially helps manage the power for the electric motors, remains largely unchanged from the inverter module found in the Model 3.

Battery
The Model Y is powered by a 75-kilowatt-hour battery that is largely similar to the Model 3 battery. But Munro believes Tesla's batteries, supplied by Panasonic, are ahead of the competition because of their design.

Tesla uses thousands of cylindrical cells as opposed to a prismatic or "pouch cell" design. Munro says cylindrical cells are less expensive and don't need as much packaging or support to hold them in place.

"It's the difference between making a jelly roll vs. a grilled cheese sandwich," he said on a recent video, meaning the Tesla component is easier to manufacture. "One is very simple and fast, and the grilled cheese is a little more costly."

While the automaker in June inked a new three-year deal with Panasonic for battery supply, Tesla also has been working on producing its own cells. The automaker last year acquired Maxwell Technologies, a California producer of batteries and ultracapacitors that uses a proprietary approach to battery science. The move is expected to improve battery performance on future vehicles.

Over the air
The industry is widely discussing the science of updating vehicles the way cellphones are enhanced, with updates arriving automatically "over the air."
Tesla is already there.

Have a problem with your brakes? Want to add Autopilot? Tesla can take care of issues in a matter of hours, often overnight.

The automaker's over-the-air software updates have paced the industry for some time. But the rest of the industry is catching up. General Motors last year said most of its global models will be capable of over-the-air software upgrades by 2023, and Ford plans to roll out the technology as part of its next-generation Sync infotainment system, starting this year with a number of vehicles, including the venerable F-150 pickup.

The Model Y, shown, is based on the Model 3. 
CEO Elon Musk has said he expects the crossover to outsell all of Tesla’s other vehicles combined.

Charging network
One of Tesla's greatest advantages remains its dedicated charging network.
The automaker says there are nearly 17,500 of its Superchargers across North America, Europe and Asia. Late last year it began installing a third generation of the chargers to further expand and speed up the network.

The third-gen station can charge a Model 3 sedan at rates of up to 250 kilowatts, making it possible to gain 75 miles of range in five minutes, according to the company. In addition, the chargers no longer split power when multiple cars are charging at the same station.
Other automakers are scrambling to catch up.

Ford, in preparing to launch its eagerly awaited Mustang Mach-E electric crossover, claims to have created the largest charging network in North America by tapping into a number of existing stations.

Ford says its FordPass Charging Network offers 13,500 public charging stations on the continent, with more coming. To achieve that number, Ford partnered with Electrify America and Greenlots.
Competition

Tesla remains a small automaker compared with global competitors such as Ford, GM, Volkswagen, Nissan and Hyundai Group. Still, new EV offerings from more established brands are often referred to as "Tesla fighters," a nod to Tesla's sales success. The Audi E-tron, BMW i3, Jaguar I-Pace, Kia Niro and Nissan Leaf are all out for their own share of the growing EV market.
In making a competitive comparison between the Model Y and other EVs, Munro scored Tesla above average on such issues as battery kilowatt-hour rating, battery depletion percentage, range and voltage. However, on sticker price, he put the Model Y's nearly $50,000 base price in about the middle of the pack.

Ford's Mustang Mach-E, looming this year, will bring a new challenge. And in July, Nissan unveiled its own Tesla fighter, the Ariya crossover.
Munro said he had not had the chance to study the Mach-E, but he thought it would be hard to top Tesla for a while.

"It's going to be a long, long time," Munro said, "before somebody catches up to it."


Source: Automotive News

 

[ajdelange]

It would be well to review what Level 5 is

Level 5

An automated driving system (ADS) on the vehicle can do all the driving in all circumstances. The human occupants are just passengers and need never be involved in driving.

Thus being at Level 5 within a geofence is a contradiction.

Tesla is no where near this at this point. They are at, perhaps, Level 2.5 and I'll admit it scares the hell out of me sometimes. It's really nice that it keeps lane and speed on a long trip but when I get into traffic I turn it off.

 

[Riptide]

Tesla is at Level 2 autonomy ! That's not 6 years ahead of anything or anybody !

The fact is other company's are at level 3 and a couple are at level 5 in a controlled geofenced environment.

So in no way, shape or form, can it be declared Tesla is 6 years ahead !

While the race for Level 5 unqualified full autonomy continues.

They may one day get to level 5 full autonomy, I certainly hope they do, but to suggest they are 6 years ahead, like its a metric that can be quantified like that, is sheer absurdity, ignorance, or sycophancy.

You apparently missed the whole point of the post. It wasn’t about FSD, it was about how the vehicles are manufactured.

 

[Feersum Endjinn]

WOW that is fantastic news.
We should expect our Robotaxi's any day now
You should start holding your breath

As already mentioned, others have already reached level 5 with conditions.
(but still far from available to the market, much to the relief of Uber and others)

So suggesting Tesla is also at level 5 in an unreleased version, is actually once again meaningless.
And that's if you believe that they are actually there. It is in fact unverified, where as for other contenders it is actually verified.

Level 2 capable, is what the cars are sold as, and are defended as, in court cases, especially the last one, just a couple of weeks ago, they lost in Germany, and can no longer use the label
"Full Self Driving". That suggests there're going backwards !
Other country's and court cases are now coming up.

"When they finally reach close, just close, to level 5 Autonomy, not actually Level 5 autonomy,
then the March of 9's will commence and it will take quite some time from there.

P.S. A friend of mine just got his Tesla, and can't believe how terrible Auto pilot is. Its annoying how often it suddenly abandons duties and how much more effort and energy is required from him to be ready to take over. And we are both entertained by the exercise when Im in the car.

Oh' and then there's the shock of it doing something severe and without reason, like applying the brakes hard when on the freeway, for no apparent reason . . . . which sometimes causes accident or they are narrowly avoided, but it works wonders for the driver and occupants mental state

You clearly have no idea what you are talking about. You are just circulating nonsense that you could pick up anywhere. The strategy that TESLA is employing in software, hardware, fleet data collection and AI have NO competitor. Talk to somebody who really has one, and do some research into the technical details of what they are actually developing.

Somebody that can land a "stick" falling from space can achieve anything, and my model 3 is effin amazing (no phantom braking, and doing pretty well on A roads in UK) Most of the trouble I have is the EU legal limitations on the platform, which is slowly being adapted with speed reduction workarounds. Latest version of software can recognise unsignposted give-way intersections in UK and I have no idea what cues it is taking !

I have been watching the FSD system improve for a year now and am very impressed with the progress. Cannot wait for the 4D core AI rewrite though !

 

[ajdelange]

Somebody that can land a "stick" falling from space can achieve anything, and my model 3 is effin amazing (no phantom braking, and doing pretty well on A roads in UK)

Then maybe they'll get the autopilot to the point where it doesn't unexpectedly beep and start to pull to the side of the road in traffic some day. I look forward to that day. My personal observation in driving the same route on trips a year apart is that the software has gotten worse. Many more unpredictable and scary "goofs" from the later revisions. Note that this is normal in software development. Fixing one problem often "unfixes" another.