https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/3/18166854/toyota-self-driving-car-test-vehicle-ces-2019

Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, will once again unveil the latest iteration of its self-driving test vehicle at CES in Las Vegas next week. The TRI-P4 test car is designed by the Toyota Research Institute, the automaker’s Silicon Valley-based division, and the major upgrade over the third version of the vehicle is — wait for it — more trunk space.

On the surface, that might not sound very impressive, but those with more than a passing familiarity with autonomous vehicle design will recognize it as a major step. Most Level-4 capable self-driving cars on the road today — meaning those cars that can perform all the driving tasks within a confined area and under specifics conditions — have high-powered computers in their trunks. These computers run the deep learning algorithms used by the vehicle’s perception software to “see” and identify the world around it, as well as capture and record every moment while the car’s in motion. The computers get hot while they work, requiring water-cooling with hoses and radiators, which eat up even more space.