According to CNBC, Tesla continues to deal with the ongoing chip shortage, this time excluding a redundant part from the steering racks of select Model 3 and Model Y cars made at the company’s Gigafactory in Shanghai, China.
Unnamed sources claim Tesla shipped tens of thousands of cars in China, Australia and Europe with a tweaked steering system, that only has one of two electronic control units inside steering racks. The move is to have allowed the electric automaker deal with the ongoing chip supply shortage. It’s unclear if this change was also made at Tesla’s factory in Fremont, California.
CNBC says the information comes from two anonymous employees, plus internal correspondence on the matter. According to internal discussion by Tesla employees, the dual electronic control unit system would be required for “Level 3” self-driving, meaning no user input from the driver. A retrofit would be possible to restore the extra electronic control unit, while the exclusion would not be a safety issue, as the part was seen as redundant, as a backup.
According to these anonymous Tesla employees, there was debate internally about whether or not to disclose the lack of a redundant steering wheel system backup to customers. Having the dual electronic control system is seen as necessary for Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system. Not having a complete dual-control steering wheel system can still allow for “Level 2” Autopilot and FSD.
Unnamed employees told CNBC if a major FSD update were released, owners with FSD would require a retrofit from Tesla at a service center, to restore to a dual-control steering system.
CNBC says most vehicles with a single electronic control unit were headed to customers in China, as FSD uptake remains low in the nation, at just over 1% for new customers placing orders for a Tesla.
The Tesla employees familiar with the situation told CNBC the matter was debated internally for a few weeks and was not seen as a big deal, but rather a move to survive the chip shortage. Tesla also saw confidence as it had made previous vehicles with a single power steering system, without issues.
Tesla has managed the chip shortage better than legacy automakers, as it was able to set a record for full-year deliveries in 2021, growing significantly year-over-year. Back in November, Tesla shipped some Model 3 and Model Y cars without USB-C ports, due to the chip shortage. The automaker offered a free retrofit after the fact to restore USB-C functionality for the front centre console.
Elon Musk’s engineers have also been able to deal with the chip shortage by re-writing software in a span of 2-3 weeks, to accommodate the use of other chips during production.
