Japanese Engineers Crack Tesla’s Secret

Auto engineer on Tesla hardware: “We can’t do it”

The module, which was released last spring and can be found in all new Model S, Model 3 and Model X vehicles, contains two custom-made AI chips with an area of ​​260 square millimeters. Tesla developed the chips itself, as did the associated software that complements the hardware. The computer controls the autonomous driving of the vehicles as well as the advanced “infotainment” system. An astonished engineer from a major Japanese automaker examined the computer and said, “We can’t do it.”

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Industry experts believe that comparable technology will not be found in competing cars before 2025. That means: Tesla is around six years ahead of the automotive giants. That makes an impression on the competition – and sometimes even fear.

Thanks to their financial resources, giants such as Toyota and VW actually do not prevent them from launching comparable technologies on the market before 2025. The reason for the fear around the industry, the reason for “we can’t do it” is different.

The major automakers fear that computers like Tesla’s will make supply chains for key parts obsolete over decades, the engineer said. Systems like Tesla’s would drastically reduce the number of electronic control units (ECUs) in cars. It would be fatal for suppliers who rely on these components and their employees.

Tesla is free from ties to suppliers

So the big automakers seem to be forced to continue using complex networks of dozens of ECUs, while the engineers in Model 3 could only find a few. It looks like the supply chains that once helped the auto giant grow to size are now slowing down their progress.

Young companies like Tesla, on the other hand, are completely free of such chains: most of the parts in Model 3 do not have logos from other suppliers, only the Tesla logo, even the smallest parts, down to the substrates in the ECUs. This suggests that the company strictly controls the development of almost all key technologies in their cars.

With this hardware, Tesla can further develop its trolleys through “over-the-air” software updates. At the moment, the vehicles are still classified as Level 2 or “semi-autonomous” cars. However, Musk has emphasized that they have all the necessary components – “computers and others” – for fully autonomous driving.

If Tesla continues to be successful with this strategy, the big automakers will have no choice but to rethink their business model and supply chains.