The 2021 Tesla Model S Plaid/ Plaid + expected to come with a wider rear body and wider wheels

February 2, 2021

By SV

Tesla Model S with wider body

The new 2021 Tesla Model S Plaid and Plaid + by specifications promises to be king of the road. A beast that cannot be tamed by Ferrari, Lamorghini, Bugatti, Porsche, Mclaren or any combustion engine driven supercar/ hypercar.

The front of the car is expected to be lower to the ground than the rear of the Tesla Plaid. Together with the new front this creates the majority of the downforce created by the car. What is called a Positive Rake Angle.

The promised 1100 BHP of the Tesla Plaid needs more rubber for grip. 265/35-R19 at the rear and 245/45-R19 have been used for some of the Tesla Model S P100D but the Plaid + promises almost 50% more power. The expected wider wheels are hidden behind a wider rear bodywork. The enhanced aerodynamic design of the Plaid put the it at 0.208 cd. And this gives a very agressive look to the Tesla Model S Plaid in par with the specifications. What a beast I cannot wait to drive it.

Tesla Officially Announces FSD Hardware 5.0 and How It Compares to Hardware 4.0 [VIDEO]

June 17, 2024

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

At this year’s Tesla shareholder meeting, Elon Musk announced a slate of changes for Tesla’s FSD hardware. For the first time, Musk talked openly about details of Tesla’s upcoming FSD Hardware 5, or “AI 5” and the differences between hardware 3 and hardware 4.

Hardware 4.0 Divergence

Currently, hardware 4.0 runs Hardware 3 in emulation mode, but with the completion of Tesla’s new AI-focused Supercomputer cluster, hardware 4 will eventually diverge from Hardware 3. Emulation mode simulates hardware 3, which means that today, hardware 4 is very similar to hardware 3. Elon Musk confirmed that the new cluster will be entirely focused on hardware 4 training, rather than hardware 3.

Hardware 4’s cameras are approximately 4-5x better in terms of resolution and fidelity than hardware 3, and hardware 4.0 is about 3-5x faster and powerful in inference capabilities. These are some pretty significant numbers, and Musk said he expects hardware 4.0 to eventually be about 5x better than hardware 3.0.

Hardware 3 - End of Life

While hardware 3 is no longer being produced, Tesla has not indicated that it will be considered end-of-life or legacy. Elon Musk confirmed on stage that hardware 3 would continue to receive training and would still have new FSD versions developed for it.

However, we can well expect that hardware 3 will eventually hit the end of its service life in the future as newer cameras and processing hardware come to vehicles. When that day is, is currently unknown.

Sadly, Tesla has previously confirmed that they do not intend to have a hardware 3 to hardware 4 retrofit, as the size of the MCU and electrical harnesses differ between vehicle hardware iterations.

Hardware 5.0 - “AI 5”

Elon Musk also officially announced Tesla’s FSD hardware 5.0, which he says Tesla is now calling “AI 5”. AI 5 is expected to hit the production lines for customer vehicles in approximately 18 months - around December 2025, with a massive slate of improvements. It is expected to be approximately 10x better than hardware 4.0, and up to 50x better in terms of inference power alone.

Of course, these massive improvements don’t come without a cost – AI 5 will consume about 800 watts of power. In comparison, hardware 3 and hardware 4 use about 200 watts today, so don’t expect any upgrades from hardware 4. Musk said that AI 5 would be able to adjust its efficiency depending on the complexity of the scene and the power needed.

We can expect that AI 5 will likely run in emulation mode when it arrives, and improvements between hardware 4 and AI 5 will take some time, similar to how hardware 4 is still in emulation mode today.

Musk Talking About AI 5

Musk talks about Tesla’s FSD hardware below during Tesla’s 2024 shareholder’s meeting, where he officially talked about Tesla’s upcoming hardware 5.0 for the first time.

Tesla Announces FSD Transfers Will Return for One More Quarter; More FSD Trials Coming

June 15, 2024

By Karan Singh

Not a Tesla App

During Tesla’s shareholder meeting, Elon Musk was asked if FSD transfers could return for existing owners. He hemmed and hawed, but eventually gave in when an audience member asked if they could return for just one more quarter.

Final Chance?

This could be the last chance for FSD owners to transfer their FSD capability to a new vehicle. Elon Musk mentioned that it removes revenue from upcoming vehicle sales. Every time Tesla offers FSD transfers, it impacts Tesla’s potential earnings.

On the flip side, it does incentivize current owners to upgrade to newer vehicles, especially if it’s a limited-time offer. Tesla previously offered FSD transfers in Q3 of 2023. FSD transfers are expected to be limited to North America where FSD software is currently available.

When Will Tesla Offer FSD Transfers

Musk nor Tesla mentioned a timeline for when FSD transfers would begin. Tesla owners looking to upgrade their vehicles would likely wait for this offer to be available before buying their new Tesla. Since this would reduce some vehicle sales, it seems that Tesla wouldn’t want to wait too long before making FSD transfers available again.

FSD Transfers in the Future

While Elon Musk didn’t seem to be too enthused with the idea of continuing transfers but gave in to “just one more quarter”, there could be more down the road.

Musk has said that Tesla has various demand “levers” they can use to increase or slow demand as needed. FSD transfers and Tesla’s referral program are prime examples of those levers. Although Musk says Tesla will only offer FSD transfers one more time, Tesla won’t hesitate to offer it again if they need to increase sales. Tesla faced this situation when the new Model 3 was unveiled in China, but it took several months for it to be offered in North America.

Additional FSD Trials

Elon Musk confirmed that two free weeks of FSD would be given to all vehicle owners whenever a major FSD update hits. We don’t expect another trial of FSD with the upcoming update of v12.4, but perhaps with v12.5 or 12.6, especially if Tesla adds new features such as ‘Actually Smart Summon,’ which will be the first time Smart Summon is available on a vehicle without ultrasonic sensors.

With Tesla’s app update to v4.34 yesterday, it appears that Tesla may be looking to offer a live video feed of the vehicle’s various cameras while you’re summoning your Tesla.