Auto-Pilot - I give up, it's downright lethal

[Terminator857]

... Next thing full emergency braking and the wind knocked out of me by seatbelt tightening - WTF !!!!
This is just bloody dangerous

Last two sentence rewritten to please the devote Tesla fans:

Next thing full emergency braking and the wind knocked out of me by seatbelt tightening - wow , what a nice shot of adrenaline!!!
This is better than an amusement park ride!

 

[Teddy69]

I agree. A simple, dumb cruise control would be perfect.

I'd disagree, a simple cruise control that can maintain distance from car in front like any other manufacturer has been chucking out for several years would be perfect.

Honestly will all the regs we all have to live by nowadays, I'm actually quite surprised Tesla get away with this...

 

[Teddy69]

Just thought I’d put this out here. I know I am in the US but I’ve had my Model 3 LR since 5/21, and Autopilot was an absolute nightmare for the first 700 miles. I’m at 1600 now, and drove a few hundred over the weekend and was blown away at the improvement that I am seeing now daily. Back roads of Georgia and Interstate 10 with absolutely no fantom braking or left turn lane Tendencies! So at least here the system is definitely improving.

Do you know what a round about is? I watch the screen when I enter one, and the computer doesn't have a clue it's on one.

 

[pgkevet]

Do you know what a round about is? I watch the screen when I enter one, and the computer doesn't have a clue it's on one.

They do have roundabouts US - just not real busy ones....

 

[tomorrowman]

They do have roundabouts US - just not real busy ones....

Think they call them rotaries or traffic circles. States are realising they are cheaper than traffic light junctions. Rules seem to be the same, but there are only a few thousand of them I believe and drivers are not really taught about them - learning by doing. Not aware of any 'magic roundabouts' or the fun 'traffic lights on roundabouts'. Apparently there can be a tendency to put cross walks on the exit's - a little suicidal if you ask me but that could be countered by the fact pedestrians are not really a thing outside town/city centres.

Interestingly the German's are also discovering roundabouts primarily because they are more environmentally friendly and safer than traffic light junctions.

 

[Stan930]

 

[mrkisskiss]

OP: For me, autopilot was made considerably better/more reliable by downgrading from NoA to just "regular" auto-pilot.

Started with regular AP, very very rarely experience phantom braking. "Great! They've fixed it!", I thought... and dutifully upgraded to NoA/EAP. Same drive as always from London to Gloustershire and it was insanely bad - perhaps 5 or 6 incidents until I turned it off and drove manually the rest of the way. One concerning thing; even if I turned off the actual Navigate on Autopilot button during the drive, I was still getting bad driving.

Upon arrival, I immediately requested a refund. It went back to regular AP, and since... no phantom braking. I suspect EAP is using it's own stack, where as dumb Autopilot (no lane changes or anything) is a legacy stack. But, for me, dumb AP is usable... EAP is not.

Considering that NoA is more like DoA in the UK (see what I did there), if downgrading is an option... I'd recommend it.

 

[Battpower]

NoA is more like DoA

Or DUI?

 

[MacJester]

the phantom breaking seems to be a lot worse with the latest update or two. I’ve never really had an issue before, but recently have had a couple of instances of the car slamming the breaks on when it sees cars stopped and waiting to turn onto the road I am on. I’ve also seen left turning being a lot less assertive, and quite a few instances of unnecessary warnings about parked cars. I guess what Elon giveth, Elon taketh away.

 

[pdk42]

the phantom breaking seems to be a lot worse with the latest update or two. I’ve never really had an issue before, but recently have had a couple of instances of the car slamming the breaks on when it sees cars stopped and waiting to turn onto the road I am on. I’ve also seen left turning being a lot less assertive, and quite a few instances of unnecessary warnings about parked cars. I guess what Elon giveth, Elon taketh away.

I often use my car on a grass airfield. No white lines, kerbs, traffic islands or indeed any markings at all. Since recent updates I’ve been getting occasional “klaxons of doom” events when driving about on it. “Corrective steering applied” messages etc. Something has changed for sure.

 

[pgkevet]

I often use my car on a grass airfield. No white lines, kerbs, traffic islands or indeed any markings at all. Since recent updates I’ve been getting occasional “klaxons of doom” events when driving about on it. “Corrective steering applied” messages etc. Something has changed for sure.

I don’t like to break bad news but it ain't ever going to fly

 

[Battpower]

I’ve been getting occasional “klaxons of doom” events

“Corrective steering applied” messages etc.

Over the past few updates these events have been getting more common for me on regular streets. On the rural A roads I tend to drive on most, I often smooth out bends and hug edges quite close as well as give cyclists a wide berth.

The car has been increasingly prone to klaxon and give me the ’red hands' and tell me it's applied corrective steering without any discretionary automation active. Definitely some change. Don't drive around fields so can't comment on that specifically!

 

[hgmichna]

TACC (and thus Autopilot) always brakes when a car is parked in your lane, unless you steer a relatively large sideways distance.

Can't blame TACC. The current version cannot recognize whether a car is parked or just stopped in traffic. The forthcoming new version seems to be far better at that.

 

[TestPilot]

always brakes when a car is parked in your lane

... or there's a car driving on the other side of the carriageway, a squirrel, a particularly nice sunset, a discarded peanut, trees, cows laying down in an adjacent field, funny looking clouds, undulations, space-time anomalies...

 

[Adopado]

I often use my car on a grass airfield. No white lines, kerbs, traffic islands or indeed any markings at all. Since recent updates I’ve been getting occasional “klaxons of doom” events when driving about on it. “Corrective steering applied” messages etc. Something has changed for sure.

I could cope with it better if the notification wasn't accompanied by such a strident alarm. If there really is a challenging road situation to deal with then the very last thing anybody needs is to be distracted/panicked by the klaxons and screen messages! Of course in practice you then have to reassure your passenger(s) that there's nothing to worry about before continuing your journey with a slightly heightened air of anxiety amongst everyone in the car.

 

[DigbyChicken]

I could cope with it better if the notification wasn't accompanied by such a strident alarm. If there really is a challenging road situation to deal with then the very last thing anybody needs is to be distracted/panicked by the klaxons and screen messages! Of course in practice you then have to reassure your passenger(s) that there's nothing to worry about before continuing your journey with a slightly heightened air of anxiety amongst everyone in the car.

Yes, this. It's a PR disaster, in the sense that one of my adult daughters - who otherwise loves EVs and is considering buying/leasing her own soon - is on the verge of refusing to even be a passenger in the Tesla. Too many loud alarms, too much 'bonging' (even in Joe Mode). I've stopped using Cruice Control when she's in the car. I'm not sure she could afford a Tesla anyway, but she isn't even going to consider them now because our Model 3 is 'too noisy'.

Driving back from the coast on Saturday, we had two instances of the car screaming at me because the lorry in front was slowing as we approached a roundabout* (big red graphic, the works). Both times, I was (a) already slowing, and (b) quite some distance from it.

* At the risk of indulging in a tedious American generalisation... They just don't get roundabouts, do they?

 

[pdk42]

Over the past few updates these events have been getting more common for me on regular streets. On the rural A roads I tend to drive on most, I often smooth out bends and hug edges quite close as well as give cyclists a wide berth.

The car has been increasingly prone to klaxon and give me the ’red hands' and tell me it's applied corrective steering without any discretionary automation active. Definitely some change. Don't drive around fields so can't comment on that specifically!

Yes, I’ve noticed that too. Especially if you use the full width of the road on bends (as the IAM used to recommend to improve visibility).

 

[pkitch]

How is the AP usage described for UK market?

In US it is described as being for Highway use only, which would be Motorway and not Dual Carriageways in a direct comparison. Some of the conditions being described here would seem to indicate non motorway use? Not excusing any random behaviour - it should perform better, but my experience on US Highways seems to be very very different from what I am reading here.

 

[Battpower]

How is the AP usage described for UK market?

In US it is described as being for Highway use only, which would be Motorway and not Dual Carriageways in a direct comparison. Some of the conditions being described here would seem to indicate non motorway use? Not excusing any random behaviour - it should perform better, but my experience on US Highways seems to be very very different from what I am reading here.

In my case at least, some of the behaviour I'm describing is without AP or any other driver aid intentionally activated.

Regarding acceptable / intended roads for use of AP, that is in itself problematic in my (UK) experience. Roads like what was the M10 near St. Albans is no longer classed as a motorway, though in every respect it is a suitable road for full Auto Pilot. The A1(M) / A1 switches from motorway to non motorway and AP / Speed recognition doesn't always follow as it should. Since the car doesn't state what class of road it thinks it is on at a given time, it's hard to know when AP can be engaged in strict accordance with Tesla's requirements.

Also, since there are no traffic lights on motorways, what's the point of stopping at traffic lights etc if you can't actually use it due to road classification?

 

[Dooo]

In the short period I have own the M3 I have learn to live with phantom braking. But I Recently left my drive and experienced what I can only describe as phantom accerelation and slammed on brakes. My road is less than 50m long and was doing 10mph or less. Not happened again since but has left me paranoid