I have a P85D with AP1 running 2017.50.2 3bd9f6d. The last couple months I’ve had to commute down I66 to Washington DC from my home in rural Virginia, 56 miles each way. I’ve used AP most of the time, particularly on the slower sections nearer the city, but less so on the 80 Mph part near where I live. The ambient temperature has really varied this winter season, with some days in the 20s or below, and some around 60. I have been using Sottozero snow tires the whole season.
I tend to drive with the following distance set at “1”, which most closely mimics the following distance of other cars in traffic on I66, even at high speeds. What has become very clear is that the “1” following distance greatly varies depending on whether the outside temperature is below or significantly above freezing. The correlation is very strict and holds true at different speeds, different traffic densities, different directions of travel, and different lighting conditions. At 50 degrees, the “1” following distance is close and matches other cars on the interstate, while at 20 degrees, the distance seems about twice as long and leads to the car behind me tailgating me to try to get me to move out of the way, making AP less useful in my opinion.
Clearly, AP is programmed to behave this way as a safety measure on the theory that stopping distances are longer when it’s below freezing. And while true in principle, the roads are dry, not icy, on the cold days I use AP. If there was any chance of their being icy (for example, if it was or recently had been snowing) I would not engage autopilot and drive manually instead. So I can see why Tesla has the system programmed this way, although I wish it wasn’t the case.
I’m writing this post just to point out this AP behavior and ask whether anyone else has noticed it. I think it is interesting, if slightly annoying.
I tend to drive with the following distance set at “1”, which most closely mimics the following distance of other cars in traffic on I66, even at high speeds. What has become very clear is that the “1” following distance greatly varies depending on whether the outside temperature is below or significantly above freezing. The correlation is very strict and holds true at different speeds, different traffic densities, different directions of travel, and different lighting conditions. At 50 degrees, the “1” following distance is close and matches other cars on the interstate, while at 20 degrees, the distance seems about twice as long and leads to the car behind me tailgating me to try to get me to move out of the way, making AP less useful in my opinion.
Clearly, AP is programmed to behave this way as a safety measure on the theory that stopping distances are longer when it’s below freezing. And while true in principle, the roads are dry, not icy, on the cold days I use AP. If there was any chance of their being icy (for example, if it was or recently had been snowing) I would not engage autopilot and drive manually instead. So I can see why Tesla has the system programmed this way, although I wish it wasn’t the case.
I’m writing this post just to point out this AP behavior and ask whether anyone else has noticed it. I think it is interesting, if slightly annoying.
