Note: If you're not interested in hearing the details of a 1,000 mile round trip from Dallas to Kansas City using AP in 8.0, you can skip this thread.
Last week, I drove from Dallas to Kansas City on Monday and returned on Tuesday after a late Tuesday afternoon meeting. I upgraded to 8.0 just a few days before departing, so I was understandably apprehensive about using 8.0 on my journey. I had already experienced the huge step backwards in the entertainment system, so that was a known quantity, but I wasn’t sure if autopilot was going to be worse, better, or neutral.
Because I was driving alone and my return trip began at 4:00 pm and lasted until 3:30 am after charging stops and weather slowdowns, I was heavily dependent upon autopilot. Not so that I could nap or be inattentive, mind you, but just so that I would have an extra pair of eyes, as it were, to help avoid mishaps. My typical posture when driving was to support my left arm with a pillow wedged between the seat and the arm rest (for whatever reason, I can’t really make use of the arm rest in the Model S—it’s just not placed well for me). I gripped the wheel with my left hand, just below the 9:00 o’clock spoke, and I used my right hand in various positions on the wheel, or rested my right hand in my lap. This was during open road with no traffic around. If there were any cars, concrete barriers, oncoming traffic without a divider, or any other reason to be more responsive, I held the wheel with both hands while keeping the autopilot engaged.
Even though there were times when lane markings were insufficient (or lanes were modified by construction barriers) or conditions were just too squirrely for autopilot, I still managed to use it about 98% of the time during the 1,000 so miles.
In general, my typical philosophy in using autopilot is to steer the car as I would were AP not engaged, thereby forcing AP to disengage if my steering differs sufficiently from the car’s. This way, my steering choice is always primary, not the autopilot’s. That said, I still let autopilot "lead" for huge stretches of open road and I took both my hands off the wheel for brief periods to perform such tasks as putting eye drops in (my eyes get dry on long trips), stretching my neck and shoulders, or opening a water bottle. I did this a number of times during the 20 hour or so total round trip and I’d estimate that any given task required my hands to be off the wheel for less than a minute or so.
I was worried when starting out that I would be nagged to death every time I took my hands off the wheel for even an instant or, even worse, I’d be nagged even though I was holding the wheel with one hand.
Amazingly, however, at no time during the entire trip was I nagged to return my hands to the wheel. Not once.
I’m certain I would have been nagged if I had pushed it by keeping my hands off the wheel for more than I did but admittedly I was compelled by reports of increased nagging to keep my hands on the wheel more than I might have.
I truly have mixed feelings about autopilot. It’s a great benefit on a long road trip like this, helping reduce fatigue considerably; however, it’s annoying that various forms of stupidity in today’s society make nagging even necessary at all.
All in all, though, during this 1,000 mile trip, I found that autopilot enabled me to take my hands off the wheel when I really needed to without any nagging, all while reducing my fatigue considerably during 98% of the journey. The pragmatist in me applauds Tesla for finding this balance and I think that in today’s world, with this level of technology, that’s about the best we can expect.
p.s., I’m not convinced that autopilot itself works any better overall under 8.0 (some subtle aspects are better, some are worse) but its strength is clearly on straight, boring, stretches of open road, which one might argue is when autopilot is most useful.
Last week, I drove from Dallas to Kansas City on Monday and returned on Tuesday after a late Tuesday afternoon meeting. I upgraded to 8.0 just a few days before departing, so I was understandably apprehensive about using 8.0 on my journey. I had already experienced the huge step backwards in the entertainment system, so that was a known quantity, but I wasn’t sure if autopilot was going to be worse, better, or neutral.
Because I was driving alone and my return trip began at 4:00 pm and lasted until 3:30 am after charging stops and weather slowdowns, I was heavily dependent upon autopilot. Not so that I could nap or be inattentive, mind you, but just so that I would have an extra pair of eyes, as it were, to help avoid mishaps. My typical posture when driving was to support my left arm with a pillow wedged between the seat and the arm rest (for whatever reason, I can’t really make use of the arm rest in the Model S—it’s just not placed well for me). I gripped the wheel with my left hand, just below the 9:00 o’clock spoke, and I used my right hand in various positions on the wheel, or rested my right hand in my lap. This was during open road with no traffic around. If there were any cars, concrete barriers, oncoming traffic without a divider, or any other reason to be more responsive, I held the wheel with both hands while keeping the autopilot engaged.
Even though there were times when lane markings were insufficient (or lanes were modified by construction barriers) or conditions were just too squirrely for autopilot, I still managed to use it about 98% of the time during the 1,000 so miles.
In general, my typical philosophy in using autopilot is to steer the car as I would were AP not engaged, thereby forcing AP to disengage if my steering differs sufficiently from the car’s. This way, my steering choice is always primary, not the autopilot’s. That said, I still let autopilot "lead" for huge stretches of open road and I took both my hands off the wheel for brief periods to perform such tasks as putting eye drops in (my eyes get dry on long trips), stretching my neck and shoulders, or opening a water bottle. I did this a number of times during the 20 hour or so total round trip and I’d estimate that any given task required my hands to be off the wheel for less than a minute or so.
I was worried when starting out that I would be nagged to death every time I took my hands off the wheel for even an instant or, even worse, I’d be nagged even though I was holding the wheel with one hand.
Amazingly, however, at no time during the entire trip was I nagged to return my hands to the wheel. Not once.
I’m certain I would have been nagged if I had pushed it by keeping my hands off the wheel for more than I did but admittedly I was compelled by reports of increased nagging to keep my hands on the wheel more than I might have.
I truly have mixed feelings about autopilot. It’s a great benefit on a long road trip like this, helping reduce fatigue considerably; however, it’s annoying that various forms of stupidity in today’s society make nagging even necessary at all.
All in all, though, during this 1,000 mile trip, I found that autopilot enabled me to take my hands off the wheel when I really needed to without any nagging, all while reducing my fatigue considerably during 98% of the journey. The pragmatist in me applauds Tesla for finding this balance and I think that in today’s world, with this level of technology, that’s about the best we can expect.
p.s., I’m not convinced that autopilot itself works any better overall under 8.0 (some subtle aspects are better, some are worse) but its strength is clearly on straight, boring, stretches of open road, which one might argue is when autopilot is most useful.
