Recently, according to foreign media, due to the pressure of sales targets in the fourth quarter of 2021, Tesla's production capacity increase has led to a shortage of semiconductors. Tesla decided to cut an electronic control unit in the bogies of some vehicles, including some domestic Model 3 and Model Y models.
Tesla has always been a special presence in the Chinese auto market, it is not only a wholly domestic car brand, but also for various reasons to adjust prices, price increases occur from time to time. Tesla's reduction is to delete the secondary electronic control unit, there are two electronic control units in the bogie itself, and the deleted electronic control unit is a backup device, which is said to not cause safety problems.
At the time of Tesla's Shanghai factory reduction, Musk also said on Twitter that 2021 is really a nightmare for the supply chain, and this nightmare is not over! In the face of chip shortages, there may be some configuration adjustments in the future. Chip shortage is also the current nightmare facing the global auto market, in 2021 we have obviously felt the lack of production capacity of many car companies, and even many car companies have delayed delivery.
For the current automotive market, it is now developing in the direction of electrification and intelligence, and on-board chips are widely used in automotive products, especially smart cars. There are many small chips and sensor devices on the smart car, which will intelligently control the vehicle through operation instructions, in addition, when the intelligent driving assistance is turned on, such as throttle, brake, steering system will be adjusted by the vehicle for road conditions, and the vehicle will be automatically controlled by chips and sensor devices. At the same time, the OTA upgrade we are familiar with is also through the software upgrade, through these sensor devices to affect the vehicle's control system.
The frame electronic control unit of the reduced configuration is the original responsible for adjusting the direction of the vehicle, and the lane keeping we are familiar with and the active lane change in high-end intelligent driving are all completed by this equipment. At present, the steering instructions of non-smart models are issued by the steering wheel, relying on a pump, steering rack and pinion to translate the steering operation of the steering wheel into the actual steering of the vehicle. Tesla's reduction of secondary standby equipment will not affect safety, while the models involved also retain mechanical components, and the reduction of the bogie secondary electronic control unit can save Tesla a lot of money in the short term.
From a technical point of view, Tesla's early models also use a single electronic control unit in the steering system, on the other hand, the single electronic control unit will be simpler than the structure of the dual electronic control unit, and Tesla's OTA upgrade will also optimize the vehicle. But the cut will have an impact on Tesla's L3-level autopilot assist, as the dual electronic control unit will greatly improve the safety of the vehicle when it is in almost fully autonomous operation. Of course, the automatic driving assist function currently needs to be installed at a paid option in China, and the price is between 32,000 and 64,000 yuan.
AM Mirror Summary:
Tesla's reduction will actually not have much impact on most car owners, but will have a certain impact on users who have purchased autopilot optional bags, which is equivalent to reducing an insurance measure in terms of steering system, and whether it will affect actual safety remains to be proved by the reality of the later stage.