Tesla Model X and Model S Equipped With HW2 Self-Driving Tech; Including Model 3 Part 2 [Video]

In an announcement made last month, Tesla CEO Elon Musk introduced what he called Autopilot 2.0/Tesla Vision, a second generation autonomous driving hardware that is incorporated on vehicles coming out of the Tesla assembly line.

Barely a month ago, Musk announced that although the cars can steer, change lanes and park, they still cannot completely drive on their own, according to Fortune. Added to that, the current road regulations disallow cars to fully self-drive or are "level 5" capable. Musk said that all Tesla cars they are now producing are capable of level 5.

Tesla accomplished this by skipping Autopilot 2.0 level 4, proceeded instead with full 360-degree camera coverage and jumped to level 5. The hardware of the system was significantly modified to give focus to their 'Tesla Vision' product. Now, the Hardware2 or HW2 is available in every Tesla Model X and Model S as well as the Model 3 which Tesla dubbed as "Model 3 part 2."

The good thing about Tesla's design is that the self-driving hardware is incorporated or 'hidden' within the vehicle's design. In total, there are eight cameras (three are front facing), radar, ultrasonic sensors, and a supercomputer (Nvidia GPU Titan) 40x more powerful than the previous iteration that supports Tesla Vision's image processing software with a neural net, according to Electrek.

The new Tesla cars that are in the wild carry this new hardware and one was recently been spotted by Slash Gear. Taking a closer inspection of the vehicle, they noted that the current design concealed or blended the eight cameras right into the build.

Note that though the hardware is ready and present in the new Model X, Model S and Model 3, Tesla says the self-driving features are not available yet. Tesla will roll out the feature in a software update enabling the first enhanced autopilot feature to car owners in December. Tesla said though that the new sensors cannot be retrofitted to older Tesla models, which only means to get the self-driving feature, the only solution is to get a new car.