Back in June Tesla registered a new high resolution radar unit with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), just over one year after deciding to eliminate their existing radar sensors in new Model 3 and Model Y builds (and later the Model S and Model X).
Just a few months after registering it the new hi-res radar sensor has now appeared in the Tesla Parts Catalog, as noticed by hacker @greentheonly.
Under section 1720 of the parts Catalog for the refresh Model X, there are now two separate radar sensors.
Interestingly the new radar sensor, which is item #1 in the diagram, has no accompanying part name, part number, or sales restriction entry in the catalog, unlike all the other parts in this section and the entire catalog. It also has a new mounting bracket.
Given that it has no description, how do we know it is the same hi-res radar unit registered with the FCC? The diagram in the Parts Catalog matches exactly what was presented in the FCC application.
In reviewing the Parts Catalogs for the other vehicles, only the Model S also has this new radar sensor, but it does not appear in the same section as the Model X.
For the Model S the new radar sensor appears in the ‘Radar Heater’ section. While it has no diagram it has the same mounting bracket mentioned for the Model X (Part Number 1617434-00-A).
Since Tesla has not announced any details of what this new radar sensor is for, there is a lot of speculation as to why they have seemingly added it back to their flagship vehicles.
According to Green he believes it will introduced with HW4.0, which we expect Tesla to discuss at their upcoming AI Day on September 30.
Apart from the obvious questions the addition of this new radar units raises, we are also left with the question of whether Tesla will offer retrofits for existing owners.
