7.1 > 8.0? Seems like an update for Tesla's legal team, and a net loss for customers.

[alexvirital]

- protection against leaving your child / daughter in a hot car (sorry, but meh.)

The hot car mitigation thing is a really big deal. Dead kids and pets really don't merit a "meh".

 

[Saghost]

Is it confirmed that AP will nag at mandatory intervals? When I am driving at anything over about 10 mph, or in any unknown area at any speed, my hands are on the wheel. When in bumper to bumper 5 mph traffic for 90 minutes a day each way on a straight freeway I know well (yes, that's my daily commute, no, I'm not quitting or moving) I don't. A nag every 5 minutes would be disappointing.

You should be fine. There's a low speed threshold to the nag according to Elon's comments in the blog Q&A; there's no time limit to how long you can go below 10-15 mph without holding the wheel.

 

[No2DinosaurFuel]

So web browsing and map browsing is still laggy? I am not sure if the new firmware is actually any improvements.

Most of it I will not use or care about. The only thing is the regen so I can get better braking and range. The rest is meh.

Fix the browser and the map scrolling and we are golden. My phone browses the map and browser a lot faster than what tesla can do.

 

[NigelM]

It seems like you can't have it both ways. If it was OK for Tesla to release 7.1, it can't suddenly be reckless and dangerous to use it.

They had a liability problem. Many on this site like to say "the driver is always responsible", which is nice and might have prevailed most of the time in court. But they were going to get to spend lots of days in the courtroom and lots of $ preparing. That was THEIR problem, which they accepted when they decided to release the system.

Now, they would like to change their mind, and just like Google concluded, they now think people should keep hands on the wheel and eyes on the road, so that Tesla can sleep better at night with their existing legal team...which is likely on par with their PR team. (hint, hint)

Companies also do have a duty of care (IANAL BTW) and if there's a safer version of their product, Tesla is kind of bound to roll it out. That's just reality.

Imagine an aggressive lawsuit in the real world, you might need to consider your own liability if something happened after you willfully refused to accept a safer version of the software. Hope that never happens but it could....

 

[msnow]

So web browsing and map browsing is still laggy? I am not sure if the new firmware is actually any improvements.

Most of it I will not use or care about. The only thing is the regen so I can get better braking and range. The rest is meh.

Fix the browser and the map scrolling and we are golden. My phone browses the map and browser a lot faster than what tesla can do.

@Ingineer said it was less laggy.

 

[Neuromancer]

You should be fine. There's a low speed threshold to the nag according to Elon's comments in the blog Q&A; there's no time limit to how long you can go below 10-15 mph without holding the wheel.

If this is true, wonderful! I'll update. The last thing I want to be is the subject of bad press for Tesla (or the cause of genuine harm to someone else)...so staying on the wheel at speeds high enough for injury is sensible. When I'm traveling slowly enough I couldn't really harm anything much bigger than a squirrel (which would be too quick to hit anyway), the nag nanny should leave me alone.

 

[techmaven]

The new radar driver and sensor fusion logic should make AEB performance improve dramatically. The car will now engage AEB in a slew of conditions where it didn't before, likely preventing or mitigating both of the fatal accidents that likely involved Autopilot.

At the moment we don't know just how much better it is... maybe even improving the very tough unmask-a-stationary-object problem we've had with AEB.

This alone should make people upgrade if they have an AP equipped vehicle.

Also, clearly, our cars drive in a public road environment. If people weren't so careless with their use of Autopilot, likely Tesla wouldn't forced to instigate any changes to the nag alerts. But likely Tesla is forced here. Complaining about it is not going to change this... instead, education and responsible usage will change people's attitudes.

 

[Saghost]

If this is true, wonderful! I'll update. The last thing I want to be is the subject of bad press for Tesla (or the cause of genuine harm to someone else)...so staying on the wheel at speeds high enough for injury is sensible. When I'm traveling slowly enough I couldn't really harm anything much bigger than a squirrel (which would be too quick to hit anyway), the nag nanny should leave me alone.

The speed number I have might be wrong - it looks like Elon thinks it is about 8 mph:

Transcript: Elon Musk’s press conference about Tesla Autopilot under v8.0 update [Part 7]

It actually depends on fast you are going. If you are going in very slow stop-and-go traffic – I believe the threshold is about 8 miles an hour – you can actually take your hands off the steering wheel for indefinite period of times. This is at times where you are basically at walking speed on average on the freeway. there’s no limit on that and I don’t think there should be.

 

[AB4EJ]

Thanks for the heads up on the Tesla site, but it still looks like some minor media player improvements with a significant loss of autopilot capability.

In fact, I usually rest my hand on the bottom of the wheel. This is often not detected by the car, since I am not providing any reaction torque. If I do hold on rigidly to the wheel, the system actually does a worse job of smoothly steering. There is added overshoot, because (of course) there is now an additional and less predictable torque generator in the system (me). It works, but not as well, as has been discussed in a number of other threads.

I find that except on interstate roads, I have to actively help autopilot keep the car in lane. Not constantly, but often enough to be of concern, it overshoots when steering and goes onto the centerline mark or the side marking line. Not sure this will ever be completely solved until the vehicle carries center-of-lane coordinates for every road (lots of data)...

 

[ecarfan]

So web browsing and map browsing is still laggy? I am not sure if the new firmware is actually any improvements.

Are you serious? See Software 8.0 is Here . The many improvements are listed on that page.

If you do not consider the information described on that page as "improvements", then you and I are living in different realities.

 

[Neuromancer]

The speed number I have might be wrong - it looks like Elon thinks it is about 8 mph:

Transcript: Elon Musk’s press conference about Tesla Autopilot under v8.0 update [Part 7]

Thank you Saghost. It all reads as being a bit undetermined in that interview. I think I'll wait for some user reports before updating, but hopefully it works the way he describes.

 

[alfagiulia]

For me, the fun of a car is driving it. If you're not actually steering and adjusting the "throttle," it's boring to sit in a car. And I will never be comfortable as the driver looking anywhere but at the road in front of me. If I'm paying attention anyway, I might as well be driving. If I don't want to drive, I'll take a bus or train. I don't personally understand the fascination with AP. If you love AP, there will be other cars better suited for you. Tesla is about the driving experience. It should not be a taxi. I wish money and resources were not being directed towards this expensive novelty.

Obsession with techie gimmicks I don't get. But... if you want to develop a "smart" AP system, I think Tesla is going about it the right way... incrementally updating a beta product as it collects and learns from its expanding cache of data. For this strategy to work, Tesla has to put out the small fire that has broken out regarding the dangers of not using AP safely.

 

[Stoneymonster]

For me, the fun of a car is driving it. If you're not actually steering and adjusting the "throttle," it's boring to sit in a car. And I will never be comfortable as the driver looking anywhere but at the road in front of me. If I'm paying attention anyway, I might as well be driving. If I don't want to drive, I'll take a bus or train. I don't personally understand the fascination with AP. If you love AP, there will be other cars better suited for you. Tesla is about the driving experience. It should not be a taxi. I wish money and resources were not being directed towards this expensive novelty.

Obsession with techie gimmicks I don't get. But... if you want to develop a "smart" AP system, I think Tesla is going about it the right way... incrementally updating a beta product as it collects and learns from its expanding cache of data. For this strategy to work, Tesla has to put out the small fire that has broken out regarding the dangers of not using AP safely.

I respect your opinion, but you are in for a sad decade.

 

[Neuromancer]

For me, the fun of a car is driving it. If you're not actually steering and adjusting the "throttle," it's boring to sit in a car. And I will never be comfortable as the driver looking anywhere but at the road in front of me. If I'm paying attention anyway, I might as well be driving. If I don't want to drive, I'll take a bus or train. I don't personally understand the fascination with AP. If you love AP, there will be other cars better suited for you. Tesla is about the driving experience. It should not be a taxi. I wish money and resources were not being directed towards this expensive novelty.

Obsession with techie gimmicks I don't get. But... if you want to develop a "smart" AP system, I think Tesla is going about it the right way... incrementally updating a beta product as it collects and learns from its expanding cache of data. For this strategy to work, Tesla has to put out the small fire that has broken out regarding the dangers of not using AP safely.

Drive my daily commute and tell me how much fun driving is.

 

[Sir Guacamolaf]

Here were my biggest complaints before 8.0.

- Media
- Nav
- Phone Integration

After 8.0
- Media - improved. Checkbox this off.
- Nav - improved. Checkbox this off.
- Phone integration - still a big todo.

Lets be fair people, 8.0 is an improvement. Could the car improve further? Well yeah! Phone integration would be a big one.
But, seriously - if Elon shipped a butt wiper via a software update, some people will still complain that it wipes too harshly.

 

[Saghost]

For me, the fun of a car is driving it. If you're not actually steering and adjusting the "throttle," it's boring to sit in a car. And I will never be comfortable as the driver looking anywhere but at the road in front of me. If I'm paying attention anyway, I might as well be driving. If I don't want to drive, I'll take a bus or train. I don't personally understand the fascination with AP. If you love AP, there will be other cars better suited for you. Tesla is about the driving experience. It should not be a taxi. I wish money and resources were not being directed towards this expensive novelty.

Obsession with techie gimmicks I don't get. But... if you want to develop a "smart" AP system, I think Tesla is going about it the right way... incrementally updating a beta product as it collects and learns from its expanding cache of data. For this strategy to work, Tesla has to put out the small fire that has broken out regarding the dangers of not using AP safely.

In places and times where I can actually drive, I agree.

However, when I'm rolling down a completely empty, completely straight interstate or trapped in 5 mph stop and go by a thousand other cars, I get no pleasure from driving along, so those times I'm happy to let the car drive itself and very glad to have that option, which makes the stop and go much less irritating.

(the aforementioned empty interstate can be interesting for scenery, but I can see that better if the car is driving, too.)

 

[habanero69]

I find that except on interstate roads, I have to actively help autopilot keep the car in lane. Not constantly, but often enough to be of concern, it overshoots when steering and goes onto the centerline mark or the side marking line. Not sure this will ever be completely solved until the vehicle carries center-of-lane coordinates for every road (lots of data)...

Somethings not right with your car/AP. I have only one time had to correct AP; when many lane markers from many directions overlapped and AP simply was too confused to figure out the correct path/lane. Other than that it has been spot on.

 

[alfagiulia]

Drive my daily commute and tell me how much fun driving is.

I've had some painful commutes. Most of us probably have. But isn't that a separate issue? How many people buy a Tesla to alleviate the suffering of a traffic filled commute? Honestly any fuel efficient car with a comfortable seat and a good audio book would do just as well. What differentiates Tesla from every other production EV, and indeed most cars in general, is its performance and handling.

 

[Saghost]

I've had some painful commutes. Most of us probably have. But isn't that a separate issue? How many people buy a Tesla to alleviate the suffering of a traffic filled commute? Honestly any fuel efficient car with a comfortable seat and a good audio book would do just as well. What differentiates Tesla from every other production EV, and indeed most cars in general, is its performance and handling.

How much have you driven in stop and go traffic with Autopilot?

I disagree violently with this assessment - I had a car like you're describing (2012 Volt) and I promise you the stop and go portions of my commute are much, much better in a Tesla with Autopilot.

 

[MrAustraliaTax]

Thought? Anyone else hanging onto 7.1 for now.

I'm definitely hanging on to 7.1. All my AP driving is on long stretches of highway with no cars anywhere near me.

I begrudgingly went from 7.0 to 7.1 with 5 minutely nags because here in Australia we had Rdio with 7.0, but I'm not going to 1 minute nags.

What is extraordinary is that the response here to this degradation in functionality is "you're holding it wrong".
The originally promised functionality was autonomous on ramp to off ramp.
Now apparently this was always "hands on wheel".
I have a name for this AP mode where hands are always on the wheel - it's called DRIVING MANUALLY. All the cars I've driven in the last 20 years have had this AP mode built in.

Frankly, with the revisionist history crowd here on TMC, Tesla could suddenly start charging everyone for Supercharger use and it would be our memories that were faulty.