By akademiotoelektronik, 11/03/2023

Tesla would be six years ahead of its main competitors

Alexandre Schmid February 24, 2020, 6:44 p.m.110 While major automakers have started to embrace electrics and AI, they are still lagging seriously behind Tesla.According to a Nikkei report Business Publications, Elon Musk's group benefits from a six-year technological lead over competitors like Toyota or Volkswagen. The report relies on a teardown of a Tesla Model 3 and statements from industry insiders to back up its point.

Hardware 3 has no rival

One of the main assets of Tesla is their integrated central control unit: Hardware 3. This jewel of technology embeds two personalized AI chips developed by Tesla, and is accompanied by software which is also the work of the manufacturer. It is this component that manages the functionalities of driving assistance and the vehicle entertainment system. Between its capabilities and its "simplicity" of manufacture, Hardware 3 gives Tesla a head start and could well upset the world 'automobile industry. Interviewed by Nikkei, an engineer from a major Japanese automaker conceded that his company was unable to produce an equivalent of Hardware 3 at this time. minimum, among the major players in the market. The next few years will therefore probably not be those of the democratization of autonomous driving... Except at Tesla, which is therefore at least six years ahead of the competition.Read also: Tesla can resume the construction of its first European Gigafactory

The problem of suppliers

How is it that the largest firms in the industry are unable to go faster, when Tesla has already achieved such a feat ? According to Nikkei, this is not just a technological issue: with the financial windfall of a Toyota or a Volkswagen, it would be possible to invest massively to achieve this in a much shorter time. But the The future of these groups is also linked to that of their suppliers, and this is where the problem lies. Manufacturers would indeed fear to kill the supply chains of parts and components with which they have worked for decades by imposing such an abrupt change on them. Systems like Hardware 3 require a number of electronic control units far fewer than this which is currently being produced. Suppliers dependent on these components would certainly go out of business if demand collapsed overnight. Major automakers must therefore continue to deal with systems equipped with dozens of ECUs to support have made it possible to mass-produce vehicles for a long time. An obligation to which is not subject Tesla, much younger, which is not linked as closely to its suppliers, and which can therefore innovate as it pleases without taking this type of consideration into account.Source: Nikkei