Just placed reservation for model 3. The only feature I really care about is self driving, autopilot. I am fascinated and very interested in this technology, and if the car can drive itself on the freeway that would be just fabulous. Definitely not meant to offend anyone here, but nothing else about the tesla really interests me, in fact I kind of would prefer the convenience of quickly filling up my tank at a gas station. I debated buying an accord with Honda sensing, but I felt I should get the tesla with autopilot and the possibility of full self driving capability in the future. Just wondering if anyone else is in the same category. Hoping for some feedback with people who have driven with autopilot. Thanks.
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BobbyKings
S85D > M3P > S Plaid
shrspeedblade
Rideshare Monkey
Get it for autopilot,
and I have a strong hunch you'll quickly come to prefer paying 1/3 the cost for fuel and spending 10 seconds to plug in every evening and waking up to a full tank over ever having to go to a gas station again.
The driving experience of an Accord (and I've owned one) is only comparable in that it has four wheels and gets you where you need to go, nothing wrong with making getting there more fun!
and I have a strong hunch you'll quickly come to prefer paying 1/3 the cost for fuel and spending 10 seconds to plug in every evening and waking up to a full tank over ever having to go to a gas station again.
The driving experience of an Accord (and I've owned one) is only comparable in that it has four wheels and gets you where you need to go, nothing wrong with making getting there more fun!
d21mike
Active Member
Without AUTOPILOT there is no way I would have bought the Tesla. I am getting it next week (tentatively). I actually spent a lot of time trying to find another car (ICE) that would have regular updates and have a similar focus as Tesla on autopilot. But I could not find any. Even the ones that are the closet still cost as much ore more then a Tesla to get that feature and seem to be not as good or have nearly the focus. I was really hoping the Cadillac CT6 with SuperCruise would fit that bill but it does not (long story).
I do think I understand the limitation of EAP and the non-existing FSD (which I did order). My information comes mainly from watching many many many Youtube videos of actual customers video taping their experience. Some bad but for my use case mostly positive. I live in California with well marked freeways and it seems the customers with the most success are on that type of road. Customers that have the most problems are on surface streets. But surprising that some of them are pretty successful. I use case on surface streets are simply for FUN. I am a software developer by trade and I like to beta test software for my personal use so I think this might be similar experience. I fully expect that FSD as you see on that video from 2016 is a long ways off. But we could see good improvements to what is there in 2018 and 2019. But what is there is good enough for me to take the plunge.
My biggest issue is that on surface streets it does not recognize stop lights and stop signs. Hopefully they will prioritize that in the future. I fully expect these features to come in over time and not all at once. Much like this past year of software updates.
WileyTheMan
Peanut Gallery Member
d21mike
Active Member
Good point. I actually do not put a lot of miles on my cars in normal use. So not a lot of trips to the gas station. But I expect to put more on this car just for the fun of it. Along with researching autopilot I have learned a lot about going all electric and I have to say I am now a believer. Mainly because of Tesla. It has always baffled me why no other car company could make a car that looks nice and is all electric. Now that Tesla has proven it can be done we are starting to see others like the new Porsche (due out in 2019).
roguenode
Member
There may be some that feel that way. I'm sure there are some that just care about how the car looks and how fast it is. I only care that it's an EV, has supercharging network, and has an AWD variant. That's one of the great things about Tesla, they pull in customers with a wide variety of priorities to EV ownership.
Do you (OP) drive back to the Bay Area a lot? Otherwise, I'm having trouble imagining the great appeal of automatic pilot in Davis. At least how autopilot in a Model 3 works in the more immediate future. I've done the Davis to Sacramento commute, and there really isn't much that a lot of the other laser/radar guided smart cruise controls can't also do on that commute. Davis to Bay Area is longer distance so a more advanced auto pilot can allow you some more zoning out time.
Personally, the FSD interests me, but I'm not hopeful it'll be out in any meaningful way until the tail end of my ownership of the car. At that point in time, I'll see about either selling it for a new model or just shelling out the $4,000 for FSD then. Shoot, I'm not totally convinced I need EAP at this time and I do have a 100+ mile commute once a week.
Personally, the FSD interests me, but I'm not hopeful it'll be out in any meaningful way until the tail end of my ownership of the car. At that point in time, I'll see about either selling it for a new model or just shelling out the $4,000 for FSD then. Shoot, I'm not totally convinced I need EAP at this time and I do have a 100+ mile commute once a week.
Have you driven an EV car extensively that is quicker than 10 seconds to 60 mph?
Until you do, you are not really going to understand why EVs are worth more money than ICE cars for normal driving.
And you will end up hating gas stations. Trust me. For most EV folk, remote charging is rare, so you will always wake up to a 'full tank' and completely forget about refueling.
Back to the original question, by 2019 (about 1 year) there will several choices in cars that allow you to text while driving. ACC is sort of nice, but did you know it reduces MPG or EV Range? A trained human foot is still superior to cruise control.
That being said, I will order with EAP.
diplomat33
Average guy who loves autonomous vehicles
EAP/FSD is not the only reason I am buying a Model 3 but it is the #1 reason by far.
lirandy
Member
After driving EV for a little over 3 years, I hate going to gas station now - Waiting in lines, fighting for a pump, checking gasbuddy so that I don't get ripped off on gas...etc. I do my charging 99% of time at home and basically I just park my car in the garage and plug the car in. And I get my car fueled up the next morning.
If AP1 is amazing, Google/Intel team is already working on AP5 and I wonder what that brings to us.
BluestarE3
Active Member
Autopilot doesn't figure into the equation as a reason for my getting a Model 3. Mainly, I have been waiting two decades for a practical, affordable, long-range BEV. I chose Tesla because I wanted to reward the company that done the most to advance the development, deployment and acceptance of electric cars and infrastructure. The fact that their cars are also damn sexy doesn't hurt. Tesla's ability to provide over-the-air updates is another unique and attractive feature: I have the option to add EAP/FSD at a later date when these features become more mature and robust and my ability to drive myself has diminished with age.
AP wasn't the reason I order my first Tesla (2011, with a 30-month wait...) as it didn't exist then, but it sure was the reason I traded it in for a 2015 MS. The best automobile invention ever imho. And if it weren't for the slow progress of AP2, I might have been tempted again already.
The one funny thing is: AP does 0 to 100 km/h in about 20 seconds (more or less like a 1967 VW Beetle if you floored it). So when FSD arrives, what will be the point of buying a P100DL
?
Conspiracy theory on: so that's why Tesla is making so slow progress on AP2/FSD !
The one funny thing is: AP does 0 to 100 km/h in about 20 seconds (more or less like a 1967 VW Beetle if you floored it). So when FSD arrives, what will be the point of buying a P100DL
?Conspiracy theory on: so that's why Tesla is making so slow progress on AP2/FSD
!
kingjamez
Member
For someone who has never driven a Tesla or owned an EV, I can understand having Autopilot be your #1 feature. However, I think that will change after you own the car for a week.
Autopilot is nice, ACC is wonderful (but lots of cars have that). IMO I'd give up autopilot in a heartbeat if it meant I had to go back to driving an ICE. I'm glad that autopilot can be the catalyst for people to learn the truth about how much better electric cars are.
-Jim
Autopilot is nice, ACC is wonderful (but lots of cars have that). IMO I'd give up autopilot in a heartbeat if it meant I had to go back to driving an ICE. I'm glad that autopilot can be the catalyst for people to learn the truth about how much better electric cars are.
-Jim
