Tesla (TSLA) decided to remove radars from its EVs around 2 years ago. The automaker has now decided to re-install it.
The forward-facing radar was an important component of the Tesla Autopilot self-driving system. But the automaker replaced it in favor of Tesla Vision as its neural nets and artificial intelligence (AI) systems advanced significantly.
However, it seems like Tesla is retreating from its decision and 2 years and millions of miles of FSD Beta testing has proven the importance of a radar.
The confirmation of the radar’s return to Tesla vehicles was confirmed last week by a Tesla ethical hacker named Green. He got his hands on a new Tesla Model X which is equipped with the latest Autopilot hardware suite known as Hardware 4 or just HW4 in short.
HW4 Tesla cars have the capacity for additional cameras and the latest FSD Computer. Now radar is also part of the HW4 setup.
However, according to Green, for now, he can only confirm the presence of the new radar in Model S and Model X HW4 vehicles only. Because of a different configuration setting, the physical inspection of Model 3 and Model Y vehicles is needed for final confirmation.
In a private message conversation, Green confirmed to us that it’s an HD/high-resolution radar but probably not an imaging radar.
My guess is if Tesla is adding HW4 to its entire lineup in production right now, the radar should be part of all Model S, X, 3, and Y.
Tesla is getting these new radars manufactured in Taiwan from an unknown supplier. But the label shows it’s Made in Taiwan.
Green took some good closeup pictures of the new radar component which he shared on his Twitter feed last week.
Interestingly, the above image shows the FCC ID of the new Tesla radar which is 2AEIM-1541584. I took this information and searched on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) website.
The FCC website shows that Tesla applied for this radar’s FCC certification last year in July. This search showed some interesting information about the new radar (FCC model # 1541584). The operating frequency of the new Tesa radar is between 76,000 – 77,000 MHz.
FCC docs also show that the Tesla radar is installed behind the front bumper. Because its basic task is to help in detecting objects in the front. Radar becomes more useful in rain or snow where cameras are left with limited visibility. Radar also improves automatic emergency braking (AEB) performance.
“The device listed above comply with Part 15 of the FCC rules and Industry Canada’s license-exempt RSS Standard(s) and Eu Directive 2014/53/EU,” the FCC document states (see screenshot below).
The product complies with the FCC/IC RF Exposure for Low Power Consumer Wireless Power Transfer. The RF exposure limit set forth for an uncontrolled environment and are safe for intended operations as described in this manual. The furthest RF exposure that compliance was demonstrated at 20cm or greater separation from the user body.
Source: FCC Certification
It will be interesting to follow the Autopilot/FSD Beta progress as Tesla re-includes radar into the algorithm once again. If it helps improve the Full Self Driving system, it might be Tesla’s best decision on retracting the removal of the radar from its vehicles. Stay tuned.
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 with the radar once again. Check out the new radar's closeup pictures and FCC information.){kind=link}