The ambition to make Teslas autonomous has existed almost as long as the company itself. The "Autopilot" product has been around since 2014, nearly two years after the introduction of the Model S – but a truly self-driving car was still a long way off. One reason for this was the lack of performance in the installed hardware.
Consequently, cameras, computers, and sensors have been continuously improved, resulting in five different hardware versions now available on the market. You can learn how they differ and which suite is installed in your Tesla here.
Hardware 1 to 4: The differences
Although the hardware is only one part of a self-driving system, discussions about Tesla's "hardware" suites usually focus on the complete package including software.
The first of these complete packages (Hardware 1) was introduced in 2014 and installed in all Model S and Model X vehicles by 2016. However, this first Autopilot was only available as an optional extra; the system was deactivated by default. Furthermore, with HW1 Fully autonomous driving is not possible.
Things continued at the end of 2016 (often referred to as VIN number 160,000) with Hardware 2 (HW2Improved cameras and ultrasonic sensors, 360-degree surround view, and a 40 times more powerful processing unit were the key improvements. Read on to find out more about the Tesla VIN number is very much about itself.
With HW2 Enhanced Autopilot (EAP) and "Full Self-Driving Capability" (FSD) also became possible, which were then, as now, sold as paid options and extended the functionality towards autonomous driving (z.B. through automatic lane changes or autonomous parking).
Further improvements
Just under a year later, HW2 from the improved HW2.5 was replaced, which is essentially distinguished by new cameras and which evolved into Hardware 3 in March 2019 with a 21 times faster computing unit.
With HW3 Essential Autopilot functions such as lane keeping assist and adaptive cruise control were made available free of charge in all new cars for the first time. EAP and FSD remained available as optional extras; FSD customers with HW2(.5) also receive a free upgrade to HW3.
You can also easily perform a hardware upgrade on your Tesla yourself: During a visit to teslabs.de You will find all sorts of tailor-made premium accessories that make everyday life with your Tesla even more comfortable.
Tesla took its most recent development step in the summer of 2023 with Hardware 4. New cameras and more CPU cores improved the system by a factor of 5. In the future, Tesla will train this hardware in a new "supercomputer cluster" to finally make autonomous driving possible – but has already announced a new generation of hardware for the end of 2025.
What hardware does my Tesla have?
But now to the important question: How can I tell which hardware is installed in my Tesla? With very few exceptions, this can be answered by the model and production date; the relevant time periods can be found above.
According to this, all Model Y and 3 have the HW3 or HW4Very early Model 3s can also still have the HW2They have the .5 version installed. The Model S and X, however, are available with all hardware versions. Vehicles produced before 2014 do not have Autopilot at all, but only a simple cruise control.
Under “Software” –> Under "Additional vehicle information" in the vehicle settings, you will also find information about which hardware is installed.Only the distinction between HW3 and HW4 This does not take place here, HW4 You can easily recognize them by the red-colored lenses of the vehicle cameras.
AI5: Tesla Hardware 5
Will fully autonomous driving be possible with Hardware 4 in the future? So far, this has neither been confirmed nor ruled out. Tesla is working on it, but at the same time already has its fifth hardware generation, H.W5 announced. This is intended to make the system ten times faster and will be incorporated into new car production from the end of 2025.
How are you following the development of autonomous driving? Feel free to leave a comment!
