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Benchmarking Profile of Tesla's Autonomous Driving Strategy, 2018

  • Report

  • 72 Pages
  • January 2019
  • Region: Global
  • Frost & Sullivan
  • ID: 4750054

Tesla’s In-house Technological Innovations will Continue to Upend the Conventional Automotive Industry

Once in a while, a new market participant will emerge in an industry and disrupt its technological and business landscape entirely. In the automobile industry, the entry of Tesla created this dramatic shift and began to transform the sector. Tesla’s fully self-reliant business model has disrupted conventional ways of doing business, as traditional automakers have been relying heavily on third-party suppliers. As most of Tesla’s production and R&D for the autonomous, connectivity, and electrification sectors are conducted in-house, the company remains immune to price fluctuations exerted by Tier-I participants. This additionally, gives the company complete freedom to modify components and customize them as per internal requirements. For instance, Tesla is the only automaker to create its own processor chip. Traditional OEMs rely on the expertise of Tier-I and Tier-II market participants for development and integration; however, Tesla decided to replace NVIDIA’s GPU-based solution with their own chip, which is based on Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC).

This benchmarking study assesses a list of Tesla’s current suppliers and partnerships to map the entire manufacturing ecosystem.

In this era of autonomous driving, with humans relinquishing control of the vehicle while driving, Tesla is making rapid inroads into the market with their autonomous technologies. The study analyzes various aspects of the development of hardware and software undertaken by Tesla to build autonomous vehicles and achieve full autonomy-such as its electrical/electronic (E/E) architecture and sensor suite strategy. Furthermore, the study also provides an in-depth coverage and a comparative analysis of the different generations of Autopilot systems by Tesla. It also lists the different autonomy packages offered by Tesla and its charts the company’s roadmap for releasing over-the-air (OTA) features and achieving L4 and L5 autonomy.

This research study covers the shifting dynamics towards ride-sharing models and Tesla’s participation in it. Tesla has plans in the pipeline for its ride-hailing service-Tesla Network-which will make use of Tesla vehicles exclusively.

In consideration of the technological evolution taking place in the automotive industry, the study additionally provides vehicle forecasts to assess addressable market opportunities alongside an analysis to gauge the company’s financial performance. This study also identifies some of the key technology trends and growth opportunities set to drive Tesla’s growth in the next five years.

Key Issues Addressed

  • How is Tesla’s autonomous strategy different from other automakers in the industry?
  • What has been Tesla’s step-by-step procedure in upgrading Autopilot hardware to achieve higher levels of autonomy?
  • How is the AP 3.0, based on Tesla’s in-house built processor chip, expected to fare against NVIDIA-based AP 2.0 and 2.5?
  • What is Tesla’s current sensor suite strategy and how will it change by 2025?
  • What is Tesla’s PARC statistics and how does it change based on Autopilot generations?

Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary
  • Overview of Tesla
  • Benchmarking Tesla’s AD Strategy Against Major OEMs
  • Autonomous Strategy Comparison
  • Sensor Suite Strategy Comparison
  • Connected Strategy Comparison
  • Autopilot Hardware and Sales
  • Tesla Operations in China
  • Key Conclusions


2. Research Scope, Objectives, and Methodology
  • Research Scope
  • Research Aims and Objectives
  • Key Questions this Study will Answer


3. Definitions
  • Vehicle Segment Definitions
  • SAE Definition for Various Levels of Automation


4. Autonomous Technology
  • Tesla’s Autonomous Packages
  • Feature Comparison
  • Autopilot Hardware Board
  • Technology Partner-NVIDIA
  • Tesla’s In-house AI Chip
  • Tesla and Levels of Autonomy
  • Evolution of Tesla OTA Upgrades
  • Sensor Suite Suppliers
  • Sensor Suite Strategy-Passenger Vehicles
  • Autonomous Trucking


5. Connected Technology and Mobility Service
  • Connected Car Technology
  • HD Mapping
  • Ride Sharing


6. Overview of Tesla’s Operations
  • Tesla-Timeline
  • 2017 for Tesla
  • Tesla’s Global Footprint
  • Product Portfolio
  • Brand Positioning


7. Region-wise Operations
  • Tesla’s Operations in the United States
  • Tesla’s Operations in Europe
  • Tesla Operations in China


8. Financials and Sales
  • Historic Revenue and Sales
  • Financials
  • R&D Expenditure
  • Sales Based on Hardware
  • Estimated Sales by Hardware


9. Growth Opportunities and Companies to Action
  • Growth Opportunity-Investments and Partnerships From OEMs/TSPs
  • Strategic Imperatives for Success and Growth


10. Conclusions and Future Outlook
  • Key Conclusions
  • The Last Word-3 Big Predictions
  • Legal Disclaimer


11. Appendix
  • Abbreviations and Acronyms Used
  • List of Exhibits

Companies Mentioned (Partial List)

A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes, but is not limited to:

  • NVIDIA
  • Tesla