According to a recent report by Electrek, Tesla alerted the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that it will be introducing a new radar early next year. The publication writes that this may be cause for concern related to Tesla's Full Self-Driving hardware suite, which could potentially require updating in the future.

Tesla removed the radar from all of its vehicles in favor of a new, camera-based vision-only hardware setup. While some skeptics assumed the lack of radar would make Tesla's advanced driver-assist systems falter, that hasn't necessarily been the case. In fact, while Tesla lost its recommendation from various safety organizations upon removing the radar, the recommendations were once granted after successful testing. More recently, Tesla started removing the ultrasonic sensors on its cars as well.

The US EV producer said for years that its cars were coming off the assembly line with all the hardware necessary for Full Self-Driving capability (FSD). However, that has been proven false, as some cars needed an upgrade to their computer. The fear is that in order for Tesla's FSD to be increasingly successful, more cars may eventually need hardware upgrades. Currently, Tesla is improving the safety system primarily via free over-the-air software updates.

Flashback to about six months ago, and Tesla submitted a filing with the FCC about a new radar it may use in its vehicles. The FCC granted it confidentiality, so information about the plans couldn't be revealed.