A couple of Tesla Model S and Model X vehicles have been spotted with the new Hardware 4.0 suite of cameras.
As we previously reported, Tesla has been preparing an upgrade to its Autopilot/self-driving hardware for a bit now.
Most notably, Tesla filed with the FCC to add a new radar on its vehicles and said that it planned to start marketing it in January. A new radar would mean that Tesla plans to update its sensor suite for Autopilot and self-driving.
We have also heard that the automaker is changing its cameras, according to a filing with Chinese regulators.
Finally, Tesla is expected to produce a new self-driving computer to merge all those new sensors into a more powerful computing platform. Last week, we reported on a teardown of this new Hardware 4.0 computer, as Tesla appears to have started installing it in some cars.
The Kilowatts on Twitter went to Fremont Factory to see if he could spot some of those new vehicles being built with the latest hardware, and sure enough, he found some:
Here are side-by-side pictures of the new (left) and old (right) cameras starting with the fender camera:
For this one, it appears that Tesla changed the angle quite a bit. It now seems to face toward the side a lot more than toward the back.
As for the B pillar camera, it looks like Tesla just updated the camera itself – the placement and angle look similar.
The front-facing camera enclosure has changed quite a bit. As we previously reported, it is supposed to now have only two cameras rather than three, but it’s not clear from this angle.
As for the rear camera next to the plate, it looks like it has moved just a bit. The Kilowatts’s picture on this one also gives the best look at the new camera, which appears to be just slightly bigger than the old one.
The Kilowatts also couldn’t find any camera in the headlights or bumpers, which is expected to be part of the new hardware suite. The computer that leaked showed that Tesla is planning to increase the number of cameras from 8 to 11.
He also took some pictures of the new rear-end of the Model S and Model X with updated badging:
He couldn’t find any Model 3 or Model Y vehicles at the factory with the new hardware.
As we previously reported, it’s not clear when Tesla plans to make the new HW4 official, but the timing of the March 1 Investor Day makes it a likely contender for an official announcement. We could know a lot more about it in just a week.