Everyone loves receiving new updates for their Tesla. But do you know what the version numbers mean and why there are so many versions? We take a look at exactly what Tesla version numbers imply and how Tesla creates and branches their code.
A recent Tesla update had version number 2021.32.20 1b7f33580a5f. Let’s take a look at how Tesla numbers their versions and what it means.
The first portion of the version number, 2021, is the year of the release. The second, 32, is the week number of the year. Since Tesla has a history of releasing a major update every four weeks, you’ll almost always see this number in increments of four. After the week number is the revision of the build.
The first build of a release usually does not have a revision and it’s simply known as 2021.32. This is the first build and is only rolled out to a very small portion of the Tesla fleet, if at all.
As Tesla gathers fleet data and learns about any issues, they’ll make improvements and fixes to the release. The next update will have a revision number, such as ‘.1’. Revision numbers go by incrementally, although not always by one. The number is often arbitrary, but it should reflect the amount of changes in the release. For example, going from 2021.32.1 to 2021.32.2 would often indicate a smaller change than jumping to 2021.32.20.
The revision number should be looked at as a single number and not as a decimal. For example, version 2021.32.2 is an earlier build of 2021.32.20.
The seemingly random numbers and letters you’ll see at the end of a version number is a unique key called a hash that is used to identify that code. A hash is used every time new code is added to a code base and the ones we see in an update are used to identify that specific release.
Tesla will often start with a release such as 2021.32 and they’ll gradually roll it out to some vehicles, get data, make fixes and then roll out another release. By the time an update is in wide release, it likely has gone through various revisions and will have a higher revision number.
Tesla releases their updates gradually so that they can minimize any potential issues and keep everyone safe. If there are any major issues with a release, it likely only impacted a smaller portion of the fleet.
If you’re interested you can see read how Tesla manages and releases multiple versions.
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For years, the massive battery in a Tesla has served a single purpose: powering the vehicle. Now, that’s changing. With the introduction of PowerShare with the Cybertruck, the energy stored in your vehicle’s battery can now flow outwards, turning your vehicle into a mobile power source for appliances, tools, and even your entire home.
This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about this game-changing technology, including the crucial differences between Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) and Vehicle-to-Home (V2H), as well as which Tesla vehicles support PowerShare.
PowerShare is Tesla’s umbrella term for the two distinct functions that allow your vehicle to export AC power.
Think of V2L as turning your Tesla into a giant, rolling battery bank. It allows you to plug everyday devices and appliances directly into your vehicle and draw power from its battery. This is the perfect solution for powering a campsite, running tools at a remote worksite, or keeping small, essential devices online during a brief power outage. It provides you with power on the go, wherever your vehicle is parked.
V2H is a more advanced and integrated solution. It allows your vehicle to directly connect to your home’s electrical panel, transforming it into a seamless, whole-home backup power source.
During a grid outage, a V2H system can automatically switch over and power your entire house for days, offering the same peace of mind as a dedicated battery backup like Powerwall.
Tesla has also recently begun supporting V2G, allowing owners to sell energy from their vehicles back to the electric grid.
Using Tesla’s bidirectional charging hardware, the vehicle can act as a mobile energy storage system, helping stabilize the grid while earning owners compensation for participating in utility programs.
The program is currently available in Texas and California.
As of 2026, PowerShare is limited to just two of Tesla’s vehicles, but may someday make its way to more. Here’s a simple comparison of what’s available today.
Feature
Cybertruck (AWD, Beast)*
2026 Model Y Performance / Model Y L
V2L (Outlets)
Yes, up to 9.6kW max
Yes, 2.4kW max
V2H (Home Backup)
Yes, up to 11.5kW max
No
V2G (Sell Energy)
Yes
No
Onboard Outlets
5 total
2x 120V in cabin
2x 120V in bed
1x 240V in bed
None, requires an adapter
Extra Hardware
V2L: None**
V2H: Tesla Gateway & Universal Wall Connector
V2L: Tesla PowerShare Outlet Adapter
V2H: Not available
*The short-lived Cybertruck LR RWD has no onboard outlets and must use the Powershare Outlet Adapter, similar to the Model Y Performance.
**The outlet adapter can also be used on any Cybertruck to add an additional outlet, bringing it up to a total of 6 outlets. V2L will still be limited to a 9.6kW maximum output.
The equipment required depends entirely on whether you want simple V2L or full V2H.
The Cybertruck has built-in 120V and 240V outlets for V2L use. For the new Model Y Performance or Model Y L, you will need the PowerShare Outlet Adapter.
The Outlet Adapter plugs into your Mobile Connector, where you’d normally plug in the socket head for the outlet you're charging from. It provides a standard 120V 20A connection, similar to what you’d find in a home.
For V2H, you’ll need a more permanent connection and a Cybertruck. The Tesla PowerShare Home Backup hardware includes the Universal Wall Connector for bidirectional power flow and the Tesla Gateway*. The Gateway is the brain of the system and safely disconnects your home from the grid during an outage to prevent backfeeding, then automatically switches you to vehicle power.
*Powerwall V3 will take the place of the Tesla Gateway for those specific setups.
Control over PowerShare V2L and V2H is managed directly in the Tesla App or in your vehicle. Vehicles equipped with PowerShare will have a new menu inside their vehicle options, called Outlets. This menu controls PowerShare settings, as well as settings for Accessory Power, Low Power Mode, and more.
In this menu, you can also set a “Reserve for Driving” limit, which allows you to set a minimum state of charge you would like to keep in order to tell your vehicle how much range you want to maintain for your driving needs. Your vehicle will stop exporting power once it hits this level, ensuring you aren’t left stranded.
The Outlet menu also provides a real-time view of your power draw, as well as the status of individual outlets for the Cybertruck.
Within the Tesla App, you can manage the outlets via the Controls menu, which provides a simpler overview of whether your outlets are active or not.
The addition of V2L to the Model Y Performance and the Model Y L is a sign that Tesla intends to roll this technology out to more of its lineup over time, likely as other models receive future mid-cycle refreshes.
Full V2H home backup and V2G are more complex features that will likely remain exclusive to the Cybertruck for the foreseeable future. There is also a considerable up-front investment required for the Gateway installation, which could be a hurdle for owners.
For now, PowerShare transforms a Tesla from simply a mode of transportation into a versatile energy tool, adding a new layer of utility and value to owning an EV.
The history of Tesla’s Autopilot hardware is the story of a company slowly realizing just how hard it is to replicate the human eye and brain.
For over a decade, Elon Musk has promised that cars rolling off the line today have all the hardware needed for full autonomy. For over a decade, that claim has been walked back by the release of newer, sharper, and smarter autonomy suites. Today, we’re finally getting extremely close to true autonomy, but it's taken years, several hardware generations, and potentially more to come.
From the cyclops era of Tesla’s use of Mobileye to the distributed supercomputer future that is to come with AI5, here is how Tesla has evolved over the years.
In the beginning… There was Mobileye. The original Autopilot hardware (AP1) was essentially an off-the-shelf driver-assist package found in other luxury cars. It relied on a single forward-facing camera and a Mobileye EyeQ3 chip.
It could see the lane lines in front of you and the car directly ahead, but was effectively blind to everything else. It had no concept of a stop sign, a red light, or a car merging into your blind spot. In short, this was the hardware that enabled TACC and lane-keeping, but little more.
At this early stage, Tesla also included radar and ultrasonic sensors (USS). The radar was used to track obstacles ahead of the vehicle that the single narrow-lens camera missed, while the USS sensors assisted the driver in parking the vehicle.
This hardware had a relatively short shelf life – from 2014 to 2017, when it was replaced with Hardware 2.0.
Tesla ended its partnership with Mobileye in 2016, leading it to drop its hardware and software and build its own vision-based system from the ground up. At the time, HW2 was a colossal undertaking and introduced the new standard of 8 surround cameras, providing a near-360-degree view of your surroundings.
To maximize low-light sensitivity for the computer, Tesla used RCCC (Red-Clear-Clear-Clear) sensors. These cameras were excellent at detecting contrast, like lane lines and red lights, but they were effectively colorblind to everything else. If you view dashcam footage from this era, the world looks washed out and sepia-toned.
Rather than continuing with the EyeQ3 chip, Tesla jumped ship to NVIDIA’s Drive PX2, which struggled with processing all 8 video feeds simultaneously at full frame rates. However, this was the true start to Tesla’s work on autonomy.
In mid-2017, Tesla introduced a slight refinement known as Hardware 2.5. While the cameras remained largely unchanged, this update enabled a secondary node on the NVIDIA computer for redundancy—a critical safety measure. It also introduced a new Continental radar with a longer range.
This hardware was in use from 2016 to 2019, but many vehicles were upgraded to Hardware 3, the next iteration.
This was the generation in which Tesla stopped using off-the-shelf parts once and for all. HW3 replaced NVIDIA’s PX2 chips with Tesla’s custom-designed HW3 FSD Computer.
The new computer jumped from ~20 TOPS with PX2 to 144 TOPS, allowing Tesla to finally process all 8 cameras at full frame rates and full resolution. Alongside the new compute, Tesla also included 1.2-megapixel sensors that saw in tinted color for the first time, but they lacked resolution to see at a distance and to read things like signs effectively.
However, as we know today, this still wasn’t nearly enough new power to achieve FSD Unsupervised. Today, Tesla stands on their commitment to deliver FSD v14-Lite to HW3 owners, and upgrade their vehicle computers in the future once they achieve true autonomy with AI4 – the current generation of hardware.
Tesla also began dropping the radar from its lineup with HW3. Newer Model 3 and Model Y had no radars, while the Model S and Model X shipped with them – deactivated – for quite some time.
In the middle of HW3’s life, Tesla also stopped including the USS sensors, swapping to Tesla Vision for the first time.
HW3 had the longest life to date, from 2019 to 2023, before being replaced by today’s current hardware.
Hardware 4, also known as AI4, was the moment Tesla finally made massive upgrades to FSD’s eyes, and also upgraded the compute to match. The cameras jumped from 1.2MP to ~5MP, giving the car something much closer to 20/20 vision. Tesla also included true color vision with RGGB sensors in HW4, ensuring accurate color reproduction.
In more recent versions of this hardware, Tesla now includes a front bumper camera, pioneered by the Cybertruck and now included across the entire refreshed lineup. The bumper camera helps fix the front blind spot in front of the vehicle's bumper, which is especially key during precise low-speed maneuvering, like in a parking lot.
Now, Tesla appears to be making further changes, such as the inclusion of a rear camera washer for the first time on a Tesla vehicle, spotted on Cybercab prototypes in Austin, Texas, but these changes haven’t been seen in production vehicles yet.
Tesla has revealed an upgraded version of its current AI4 computer, internally referred to as AI4+ or HW4.1. The new computer serves as an intermediate step between today’s AI4 hardware and the much more powerful AI5 platform expected later.
The biggest change is memory. Current AI4 computers contain 16GB of RAM per SoC (32GB total across Tesla’s dual-chip architecture). AI4+ doubles that to 32GB per SoC, resulting in 64GB of total memory. This gives Tesla significantly more room to run larger neural networks and future FSD models without immediately requiring AI5 hardware.
In addition to the memory increase, Tesla says AI4+ will deliver approximately 10% higher compute performance and 10% higher memory bandwidth.
Tesla stated that HW4+ is slated for mid-2027.
AI5 (also referred to as HW5) is Tesla’s next-generation AI computer, and it’s designed to succeed the current AI4/HW4 hardware. AI5 will be Tesla’s largest leap in FSD hardware since it introduced its first in-house FSD computer in 2019.
Tesla is targeting 2,000–2,500 TOPS (trillion operations per second), compared to roughly 500 TOPS for AI4. This competes with top-end consumer graphics cards, as well as NVIDIA’s own datacenter cards like the H100.
That’s approximately 3–5x more compute power than AI4, although Tesla executives and Elon Musk have suggested certain AI workloads could see much larger gains.
AI is extremely memory-hungry, as evidenced by the doubling of memory in the upcoming AI4+ computer, but AI5 could see Tesla increase memory by 9x.
While many owners are looking forward to AI5, it’s not initially destined for Tesla vehicles. Tesla stated that it will first appear in Optimus and vehicles will eventually receive AI5 in late 2027. However, given Tesla’s timeline for AI4+, we would expect one of these timelines to shift; either AI4+ arrives earlier than expected, or AI5 for vehicles gets pushed to 2028.
Tesla’s hardware history is a lesson in necessity over sufficiency. Every generation except AP1 was sold as the final piece of the puzzle, only to be revealed later as a stepping stone. To be fair, Tesla has admitted that autonomy has been much more difficult to solve than they expected.
Tesla appears to finally be on the brink of solving FSD with the advancements in FSD v14 and AI4. However, we now know that AI4 isn’t the last hardware generation. There will be an AI4+ and eventually an AI5.
While the computing power in AI4+ and AI5 is known, the cameras and camera cleaners for these newer generations are still anyone’s guess.
See all the features included in Tesla’s latest update, version 2026.14.100.
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