Just got 2019.12.1.1 and it broke autopilot on the freeway. Constantly phantom slowing (on any stretch of freeway, not just underpasses etc), fading out of lane, awkward lane position far right on turns. Works flawlessly on city streets (including turns, congestion, lane changes)
I've spoken twice on the phone with support and they blame the latest firmware. Tried soft/hard resets and wiping sensors. Tried about 50 times on multiple freeways/highways around me to no avail.
Anyone else?
Hmm... I have quite the opposite experience - it seems to be more refined than previous version(s). I've been very pleased with 2018.50.6 - it was solid and predictable. When I've got 2019.8.5, things became rather iffy - ghost braking, hugging the left part of the lane before centering itself in etc.
I've had 2019.12.1.1 for 2 days only, but I've had plenty of chances to put it through its paces (over 300 miles so far, mostly in very bad weather conditions). My quick observations:
1) Ghost braking is almost gone - the car still errs on the side of caution at times, but after watching Autonomous Day presentation I have better understanding of principles behind this behavior. I'd rather have it on alert than miss a car veering into my lane.
2) Handling wide on-ramps is vastly improved - 8.5 was already better than 50.6, but this is almost flawless. The car hardly centers itself in the wider lane. No more feeling like a jerk when the car does so
3) Giving way for merging vehicles - I am really impressed with the way it works now. Smooth response (no sudden braking or veering to the left/right), almost human-like. When I am half a car ahead, business as usual, the car will continue at set speed. When the other vehicle is slightly ahead, gradual slowdown to let them merge in.
4) NoA - it makes me feel slightly more comfortable using it now as compared to previous release. One issue that I found (and reported to Tesla, haven't heard back yet) is mishandling the
Texas Managed Lanes. Maybe it is a fault of current map version, but the car initiated a lane change onto the managed lane without differentiating that these are rather "special" - at the time I was travelling, the lane was configured for opposite traffic direction. There is barrier with flashing lights to make people aware of this. Would I not intervene and cancel the lane change I could end up on the head-on collision course! So a reminder to everyone that this is not self-driving car just yet.
5) Bad weather - we had some severe weather going through DFW and unfortunately I had to be on the road running errands in places where I hardly venture to. There were few occasions where I could not see the road ahead of me (bar none the markings), yet the car did excellent staying in the lane and adjusting speed for vehicles ahead that were slowing down. I like to have that expensive 2nd pair of eyes in situations like this (I was holding onto steering wheel with both hands and my foot was close to the pedal, just in case).
There was only one time where I've got a message that "blind spot detection temporarily unavailable" or something like this. No surprise, as the weather was as in all the rain buckets were overthrown in the heavens, so the visibility was almost zero.
6) Auto wipers - while I see a gradual improvements (they engage quickly once there is even a drizzle) there's still more to be done, especially at night. If the rain is predictable, they do a good job. Whenever it changes from regular to massive downpour they don't seem to be able to differentiate between the two. I've always had them set to the 2nd (more sensitive) setting, 1st one never worked quite well for me anyway. So there's room to improve, for sure.
Now the not-so-pretty:
1) stability - I've been always perplexed by the multitude of posts about screen going black, frequently hanging or rebooting, stuttering sound etc. Perplexed, because I've never experienced this myself. Until now. 12.1.1 is buggy as hell in this aspect. I've observed all the mentioned phenomena numerous times in the short period of time I had a chance to work with the latest firmware.
2) maps - there still seem to be a disparity between the map information and real life situation. Speed limits that were reporting correctly before are not accurate (dated). I don't recall which update had it fixed (probably one prior to 50.6), but it is downright annoying to see 55 where it is 65 or 60 where there is 70 or 75. I've also noticed that the arrow representing the car on the navi display seems to be hovering to the right of the travel lane a lot. In few places the car was trying to navigate on non-existing roads or using the exit that was moved a year or so ago. So this has to get fixed, hopefully soon.
3) sentry mode - it is really power hungry. When left unattended it can quickly surprise the owner with larger than expected loss of charge. Plus, it does not do much for us with MCU1/AP2 combo anyway
Despite the bugs and reboots I think this update is a major step forward and I am rather pleased with the progress.
In case you wonder, yes, I always reboot (full reboot) of IC and MCU after software update, so I've done this with 2019.12.1.1. as well