Highland Rumours Retrospective
Like with any Tesla project, there were plenty of rumours flying around in the runup to Project Highland’s release - we ourselves covered some of the more likely ones - many of which ended up being confirmed!
A surprising amount of the interior details were correctly rumoured before Tesla’s big reveal.
The ambient lighting, perforated and ventilated seats, and the changes to the physical toggle and gear shifting to being buttons on the steering wheel and the Infotainment display - although the jury’s still out as to how well users will take to this change.
There hasn’t been a whole lot of confirmation about the rumoured upgrade to FSD Hardware 4 - but both promotional material and order pages show what looks to be HWD4 cameras and even a camera in the front bumper, so we’re pretty satisfied that this rumour is true.
As for the talk of new high definition radar units included in the new vehicles, we unfortunately don’t have confirmation yet - and probably won’t until the next Munroe Live teardown video - but Tesla’s FCC filings back in December were clear that they intended on adding them, and it seems like it’s supposed to be included in HWD4 setups, so it would be odd if the Highland didn’t have them.
In a similar vein, we talked briefly about the reports that Shanghai-made Highlands might be receiving a new battery with a different chemical make-up - Specifically Iron-Manganese-Phosphate composition teased by Tesla CEO Elon Musk. We also don’t have any more solid proof of this being a reality just yet - but there are a couple of clues that the Highland has an upgraded battery.
A slightly farther range can be explained by the new, more aerodynamic exterior, or the improved suspension, wheels, and frame - but it doesn’t explain why the Highland hasn’t launched in the US.
Currently, the Inflation Reduction Acts states that for a vehicle to qualify for the program’s rebates, its battery must be at least 50 percent constructed in the US - so if the Highland uses a new battery that is constructed by CATL - a Chinese company - then Tesla couldn’t risk updating the Model 3 in the US just yet or they’d lose their rebate. This isn’t perfect confirmation - but something is definitely up there.
And finally, we did touch on the rumours that the new Model 3 could be getting a new steer-by-wire system. This is a newer technology that allows a steering device to remotely connect to the vehicle’s steering assembly - without a physical, mechanical link.
At the time we said that this seemed a bit too risky to experiment with - the Model 3 is a bestselling car, and if anything was to go wrong with this setup, it could tank the reputation of Tesla’s sedan - which would be such a weird move considering they have other, less popular vehicles they could test this on.
Again, no direct confirmation, but considering Tesla’s announcement didn’t include any mention of this type of steering setup, we can be pretty confident that they didn’t include it. Steer-by-wire is one of those new features that you’d want to brag about.
For a long time, these rumours were all we had to go on, so it makes sense that some of them would be more credible than others - but it always pays to look at other examples before buying into the hype - most of the biggest rumoured features that ended up being true were things that we had been seeing on other Tesla vehicles - like the Hardware 4 setups.
Besides, it’s nice to get surprised with more features rather than getting excited for ones that don’t exist.