Leading electric automaker Tesla confirmed in its Q4 and full-year 2022 earnings call on January 25 that the Cybertruck production will begin by mid-2023. Even more, CEO Elon Musk announced that the highly awaited electric pickup truck would be equipped with Tesla’s Hardware 4 computer (HW4).
“Cybertruck will have Hardware 4. And to be clear, for 2023, Cybertruck will not be a significant contributor to the bottom line, but it will be into next year. It’s an incredible product.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk
That said, the Cybertruck will only enter a limited production by this summer. However, Tesla plans to gradually ramp up production by early 2024.
What’s the big deal?
The Cybertruck is the first Tesla model to get the automaker’s innovative self-driving computer, HW4. For context, Tesla currently uses its Hardware 3 (HW3) computer for its Autopilot and Full Self-Driving systems.
Performance
Interestingly, the new HW4 will supposedly be three times as powerful as the Hardware 3.0 currently in use. Nonetheless, it must be noted that the automaker’s efforts to increase general road safety are what truly count.
“Hardware 3 will not be as good as Hardware 4. But I’m confident that Hardware 3 will so far exceed the average safety of the average human. Let’s say, for argument’s sake, if Hardware 3 can be 200% or 300% safer than human, Hardware 4 might be 500% or 600%. It will be Hardware 5 beyond that.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk
Exclusivity
Another interesting detail is that the HW4 might not retrofit to other electric vehicles due to high costs, unlike the HW3.
“The cost and difficulty of retrofitting Hardware 3 with Hardware 4 is quite significant. So it would not be, I think, economically feasible to (have an upgrade path for Hardware 3 cars).”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk
Nonetheless, current Tesla EVs would not necessarily require the HW4 to benefit from the Autopilot and FSD systems updates, as assured by the Tesla boss.
Unfortunately, there are very few details available for the Hardware 4 computer. At this year’s Tesla Investor Day on March 1, we will likely learn more official information about the next-gen hardware. It will be broadcast live from the automaker’s Giga factory in Texas.
