On February 8, the news of a recent "Tesla China's reduction of vehicle parts" caused a hot discussion on the Internet. However, there is currently no evidence that the chips offloaded from these cars pose a safety issue, and these components are not a key factor in the overall operation of the car.
Subsequently, Tesla's China customer service also responded to this matter.
Earlier, a new CNBC report said Tesla had downsized one of two electronic control units installed on Chinese-made Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in the fourth quarter of last year, but Tesla had not publicly disclosed it.
It is reported that Tesla will reduce a component involving steering, because it is not used in the current L2 self-driving car, which is the L3 self-driving car that needs to steer the rack control unit. The report notes that the removed control unit is considered an auxiliary system and is mainly used as a backup in case there is a problem with the main chip.
This may mean that future owners who upgrade to L3 or above self-driving Tesla vehicles through software will also need to return to the factory to install this hardware.
In this regard, some media asked Tesla for verification, and Tesla's Chinese customer service said that "the factory vehicles are in line with national regulations."
Tesla's move is reportedly in response to a shortage of chip supply and to meet its fourth-quarter delivery targets. At present, the company, like other car companies, is also facing a shortage of chips, and the reduced chips will also save Tesla money in the short term. Previously, the company also tried to develop new controller variants by leveraging software capabilities to cope with the ongoing semiconductor shortage.
On Tesla's fourth-quarter 2021 earnings call, CEO Elon Musk said: "It's hard to predict 2022 because we still have lingering supply chain issues, but I think the chip stuff, looks like it's going to ease at the end of the year or 2023 because a lot of chip factories are being built right now." ”