Samsung to play key role as Tesla Cybertruck hits market

The agreement between Tesla and Samsung is almost finalized for the production of the new generation Tesla FSD chip, aka HW 4.0 (Hardware 4). A report of Korea Economic Daily revealed a supplier preview of this integrated chip that Tesla plans to install in the Cybertruck for the first time.

Tesla currently uses its HW 3.0 supercomputer in all of its cars produced in the United States and China. Tesla unveiled the HW 3.0 FSD computer in 2019 during the Autonomy Day presentation.

According to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, although HW 3.0 is fully compatible with the company’s Full Self-Driving software, the automaker still wanted to upgrade its next-level computer just in time to make the FSD even safer. . The Silicon Valley-based automaker is also keen to continue innovating and improving its technology in the spirit of its continuous improvement cycle.

Rumors that Tesla is working with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) for its HW 4.0 processor (FSD Computer 2) have now been ruled out with this news. Tesla’s electronics R&D team designs the FSD chips in-house and then outsources production to a third-party service provider. Samsung was producing the HW 3.0 FSD and will also remain the sole supplier of the HW 4.0 chip.

Tesla first installed the HW 3.0 FSD computer in Model 3 production cars, its last vehicle at the time. Tesla will first use the HW 4.0 chip in the Cybertruck, which is slated to hit the market in late 2022. After Cybertruck, the HW 4.0 chip will slowly transition to newly produced cars across the lineup (as happened in the case of HW 3.0).

Elon Musk hinted at using HW 4.0 during Tesla’s AI Day presentation. He said: “I have no doubts that the HW 3.0 or the FSD Computer 1 will be able to achieve fully autonomous driving at a much higher level of safety than a human, probably at least 200-300% better than a human. Obviously there will be a future HW 4.0 or Full Self Driving Computer 2, which we will probably present with the Cybertruck, so maybe in about a year.

“It’ll be about four times as capable, roughly. But it’s really going to be like, can we take it from, say, for the sake of the argument, 300% safer than a person 1000% safer. And just like there are people on the road who have different driving abilities, but we always let people drive. You don’t have to be the best driver in the world to be on the road, ”said Musk.

Tesla and Samsung have chosen the 7nm architecture rather than the 5nm, which is more compact and battery efficient. The 7-nanometer architecture may have been chosen by the manufacturer to trade in stability and better heat dissipation instead of more space. Since cars aren’t as small as cellphones, a small portion of real estate can be compromised for longevity and stable operations (more in-depth reading: 7nm vs. 5nm on Quora).

This article was originally published by Tesla Oracle. Revised update edited by EVANNEX.

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