{"id":17798,"date":"2023-10-17T17:59:13","date_gmt":"2023-10-17T21:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/?post_type=hck-submission&p=17798"},"modified":"2023-10-17T18:00:19","modified_gmt":"2023-10-17T22:00:19","slug":"tesla-more-than-just-autopilot","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/tesla-more-than-just-autopilot\/","title":{"rendered":"Tesla: More than just autopilot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n

While Tesla\u2019s hardware has received both consumer and critical acclaim, its robust applications of a near endless stream of relevant and real-time data has been what propelled it to its current position as the world\u2019s most valuable auto company1<\/sup>, creating an innovation engine that has enabled it to leapfrog traditional competitors who have been unable to leverage data as aggressively in their respective business models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data collection:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the vehicle\u2019s \u201cbattery of sensors, including cameras and radars, that capture data about their drivers, other road users, and their surroundings\u201d2, <\/sup>Tesla finds itself in the enviable position of receiving a clear and continuous stream of data every time their customers engage with the product. However, whereas some companies face a tension with their end user in getting permission to collect sensitive data, Tesla users welcome the technology\u2019s ability to constantly improve and power built-in features like collision warnings and autopilot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Value creation and caption:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armed with this trove of information, Tesla continuously rolls out new features (via the always-on 4G connection) that enhance the driving experience for their customers, while capturing value for itself:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Auto-pilot:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arguably its most popular feature, Tesla offers a variety of autonomous driving (AD) functions, including its baseline Autopilot, and beta versions of their Fully Self Driving (FSD) package. At its core, both sets of software make use of road and situational data gathered from both test environments and real users, alongside live driving conditions data, to make decisions that enable the vehicle to operate autonomously under most scenarios. It takes millions of miles of driving experiences to train these systems, and Tesla\u2019s ongoing data collection flywheel not only allows it to develop these capabilities, but improve them over time, especially for triaging long tail events that most AD system struggle with7<\/sup>. In addition to drawing in new purchases, Tesla also offers their higher end FSD features at additional costs of $6-12k5<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Insurance:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tesla can use a driver\u2019s driving statistics to gauge their habits and tendencies, which then allows Tesla to offer competitively priced insurance products. The holy grail of insurance pricing is to be able to accurately assess the risk of the underlying asset\/event, and since Tesla can measure almost every aspect of a driver\u2019s driving experience, it gains an understanding of a person\u2019s risk profile that rivals that of most traditional insurers, including those that already use (less-sophisticated) telematics systems6<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By pricing insurance more accurately, Tesla can reduce the cost of Tesla ownership, while also lowering repair costs as it gathers a critical mass of policies. This not only gives consumer a financial reason to purchase, but it also allows Tesla to create another revenue stream due to its competitive data advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Operations:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tesla\u2019s software works hand in hand with its \u201clive issue detection\u201d feature to ensure that both the driver and Tesla always has full visibility into any mechanical or operational issues with the vehicle8<\/sup>. While most modern vehicles contain sensors that flag these issues, Tesla\u2019s operating system allows the company to detect issues at scale, which then gives them the tools to determine a resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tesla\u2019s integrated hardware and software suite enables it to resolve many issues without the need for an expensive recall\u2014for example, in 2023, they were able to resolve a FSD issue with ~360k vehicles through a simple software update3<\/sup>. For customers, this was a non-intrusive way to ensure their vehicles had the latest functionality, while for Tesla, it avoided the need for widespread physical repairs that could drag for years. Separately, when Tesla detects new parts are needed, it can also automatically order the parts to nearest service center, significantly reducing the long lead time of repairs8<\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Challenges:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the future, the thorny issues of regulations and data privacy loom large for Tesla. There are still many uncertainties around how autonomous driving will be regulated, especially in cases that mix human and mechanical errors. Tesla needs to be careful in training its FSD models and ensure that it remains complicit with both the court of law, and the court of public opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Separately, there are concerns around the extent to which Tesla can collect, store, and make use of data gathered from non-US sources, especially in cases where national security may be involved (ex. driving a Tesla through a military base), or storing US data abroad, where it may be seized and used. Tesla needs to be transparent about its data usage, but even that may be insufficient, as policies can swing drastically in this politically charged climate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Statista. “The 100 largest companies in the world by market capitalization in 2023”, 2023. https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/263264\/top-companies-in-the-world-by-market-capitalization\/<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Harris, Mark. “The Radical Scope of Tesla’s Data Hoard”, IEEE Spectrum<\/em>, Aug 3, 2022. https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tesla-autopilot-data-scope<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Kolodny, Lora. “Tesla recalls 362,758 vehicles, says Full Self-Driving Beta software may cause crashes”, IEEE Spectrum<\/em>, Aug 3, 2022. https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2023\/02\/16\/tesla-recalls-362758-vehicles-says-full-self-driving-beta-software-may-cause-crashes.html<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Robinson, Daniel. “A Look at Tesla\u2019s Plan To Reduce Car Insurance Rates”, MarketWatch<\/em>, Sep. 5, 2023. https:\/\/www.marketwatch.com\/guides\/insurance-services\/tesla-reducing-car-insurance-rates\/<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Weber, Harri. “Tesla decreases the price of FSD beta to $12,000”, TechCrunch<\/em>, Sep. 1, 2023. https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/09\/01\/tesla-decreases-the-price-of-fsd-beta-to-12000\/<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Progressive Insurance, 2023. https:\/\/www.progressive.com\/answers\/telematics-devices-car-insurance\/<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Harris, Mark. “Tesla\u2019s Autopilot Depends on a Deluge of Data”, IEEE Spectrum<\/em>, Aug 4, 2022. https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/tesla-autopilot-data-deluge<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. Tangermann, Victor. “Teslas can now detect broken parts and pre-order replacements”, IEEE Spectrum, Aug 3, 2022.https:\/\/futurism.com\/the-byte\/tesla-detect-broken-parts-pre-order<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    An exploration of Tesla’s true competitive advantage: its data<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19403,"featured_media":17808,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[],"class_list":["post-17798","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/assignment\/competing-with-data-4\/","yoast_head":"\nTesla: More than just autopilot - Digital Innovation and Transformation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/tesla-more-than-just-autopilot\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tesla: More than just autopilot - Digital Innovation and Transformation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An exploration of Tesla's true competitive advantage: its data\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/tesla-more-than-just-autopilot\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Digital Innovation and Transformation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-17T22:00:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/10\/tesla.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"279\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"181\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/tesla-more-than-just-autopilot\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/tesla-more-than-just-autopilot\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tesla: More than just autopilot - Digital Innovation and Transformation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/tesla-more-than-just-autopilot\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/tesla-more-than-just-autopilot\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/Font-Tesla-logo.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-17T21:59:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-17T22:00:19+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/tesla-more-than-just-autopilot\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/tesla-more-than-just-autopilot\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/tesla-more-than-just-autopilot\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/Font-Tesla-logo.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/Font-Tesla-logo.jpeg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/tesla-more-than-just-autopilot\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Submissions\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Tesla: More than just autopilot\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/\",\"name\":\"Digital Innovation and Transformation\",\"description\":\"MBA Student Perspectives\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"性视界Action\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tesla: More than just autopilot - Digital Innovation and Transformation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/tesla-more-than-just-autopilot\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tesla: More than just autopilot - Digital Innovation and Transformation","og_description":"An exploration of Tesla's true competitive advantage: its data","og_url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/tesla-more-than-just-autopilot\/","og_site_name":"Digital Innovation and Transformation","article_modified_time":"2023-10-17T22:00:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":279,"height":181,"url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/10\/tesla.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/tesla-more-than-just-autopilot\/","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/tesla-more-than-just-autopilot\/","name":"Tesla: More than just autopilot - Digital Innovation and Transformation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/tesla-more-than-just-autopilot\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/tesla-more-than-just-autopilot\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/10\/Font-Tesla-logo.jpeg","datePublished":"2023-10-17T21:59:13+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-17T22:00:19+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/tesla-more-than-just-autopilot\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/tesla-more-than-just-autopilot\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/tesla-more-than-just-autopilot\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/10\/Font-Tesla-logo.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/10\/Font-Tesla-logo.jpeg","width":1920,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/tesla-more-than-just-autopilot\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Submissions","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Tesla: More than just autopilot"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/#website","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/","name":"Digital Innovation and Transformation","description":"MBA Student Perspectives","potentialAction":[{"@type":"性视界Action","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/17798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hck-submission"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19403"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17798"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/17798\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17805,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/17798\/revisions\/17805"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}