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Autopilot and excessive brake wear

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appleguru

Active Member
Mar 15, 2017
1,187
2,019
MA, US
One thing I've noticed is that whenever I use autopilot, my wheels get a lot dirtier a lot faster. I almost never use the brakes when I drive, but it seems like AP uses them waaaay too often.

I'm a little worried about long term brake wear. But in the mean time, I would like to gather some real data.

What CAN buss(es) would I need to monitor braking events as well as autopilot status? Any idea what the specific codes are? I want to set up a long term logger to gather this specific data from the car over time.
 
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AP doesn't look ahead more than 1 car like humans do. I've noticed for a long time that AP in stop and go traffic accelerates and brakes harder than I would. I can see that the cars ahead of the car in front of me are not going anywhere, so no need to hit 45mph just to hit the brakes, then doing all over again - instead a steady 20mph down to 5mph with just regen may just do the trick. Occasionally someone cuts in front of me, oh well, so I might have to hit the brake.
 
Come to think of it, I've noticed this too. Also I was surprised to hear that my brakes were wearing out fast, when I bought the car, they told me that the brakes would last till 200K miles, in practice I think I'll need new brake pads around 60-80K. Interestingly my driving style is such that I almost never use brakes when driving manually. My previous non-hybrid ICE, 8 years, original brake pads.
 
Come to think of it, I've noticed this too. Also I was surprised to hear that my brakes were wearing out fast, when I bought the car, they told me that the brakes would last till 200K miles, in practice I think I'll need new brake pads around 60-80K. Interestingly my driving style is such that I almost never use brakes when driving manually. My previous non-hybrid ICE, 8 years, original brake pads.
Yes, I've noticed a lot of brake dust on the front rims, very little on rear rims ... I was going to have SC check out whenever I take the car in. Also rarely use breaks when self driving.
 
Great thread. I have noticed this and it bothers me as well, but I didn't think to post it. I should have. On my first 1000 mile trip using mostly Autopilot, my wheels were almost black with brake dust when we arrived. Never had that before. This is all highway! Now, I actually turn AP off when approaching a situation where it starts to brake prematurely and then I turn it back-on. The problem with computers is that they can't anticipate like humans can so it'll never be as smooth as a human in these situations.
 
Not that it will probably help much in preserving the brakes, but I noticed a LOT more smooth stop/go when on autopilot and in traffic if I set the distance between the car to the maximum (7 car lengths I believe). It no longer jerks between accelerating/braking when trying to follow the car in front of me.

I have tried this, however, it leaves enough space where cars try and sneak in front of you which then engages the brakes anyway.
 
AP doesn't look ahead more than 1 car like humans do. I've noticed for a long time that AP in stop and go traffic accelerates and brakes harder than I would. I can see that the cars ahead of the car in front of me are not going anywhere, so no need to hit 45mph just to hit the brakes, then doing all over again - instead a steady 20mph down to 5mph with just regen may just do the trick. Occasionally someone cuts in front of me, oh well, so I might have to hit the brake.
I think self driving cars are going to excel at causing traffic jams, even though humans are already uniquely good at it.
 
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Yes, I've noticed a lot of brake dust on the front rims, very little on rear rims ... I was going to have SC check out whenever I take the car in. Also rarely use breaks when self driving.
Maybe that's why some folks get the 21 inch grey wheels, to hide the brake dust! The grey rims look like dirty brake dust has covered the wheel anyway. Personally, I don't like them as they don't stand out. The car looks beautiful as it is.
 
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the radar can detect the car in front, even if cameras can't. Usually you should be able to see you are in stop and go traffic for miles. They should have an aggressiveness setting for stop and go instead of just maintaining a distance. dial it to accelerate a little slower than the car in front and start the gentle regen brake a little earlier.
 
While yes, AutoPilot makes much more use of our brakes than we would normally use ourselves, it still is nothing compared to traditional ICEs and our Brembos shouldn't wear out prematurely. If we are getting even 60k on the same brakes, we are doing fine and I just wouldn't worry about.

Now, if you wish AutoPilot would use regen more and be more smooth in braking, then sure, let's have a discussion. But I wouldn't be approaching that as a concern around brake longevity.
 
My experience has been since the latest AP1 update, it anticipates the lane changes and slows down sooner than it used to, leading to less hard stops. It used to maintain speed until the car was completely finished with the lane change. Much better now.

i keep the distance at 5
 
Front brakes take the majority of braking force, so its to be expected that when the brakes are used (either manually or by the AP) the fronts will produce more dust than the rears.
In a Tesla where the centre of gravity is very low, the fronts should take only slightly more than half the braking force.
 
Not that it will probably help much in preserving the brakes, but I noticed a LOT more smooth stop/go when on autopilot and in traffic if I set the distance between the car to the maximum (7 car lengths I believe). It no longer jerks between accelerating/braking when trying to follow the car in front of me.
I guess I’m just an aggressive and impatient driver. I use the follow “1” distance setting and I wish there was a 1/2 . I honestly don’t know how anyone uses higher than this. Living in Dallas rush hour traffic commute I find the car is too slow to keep up with the car ahead even on 1.
I know this makes me sound like a terrible driver, but I’m really not it’s just the car isn’t as aggressive as I need it to be in the traffic
 
I guess I’m just an aggressive and impatient driver. I use the follow “1” distance setting and I wish there was a 1/2 . I honestly don’t know how anyone uses higher than this. Living in Dallas rush hour traffic commute I find the car is too slow to keep up with the car ahead even on 1.
I know this makes me sound like a terrible driver, but I’m really not it’s just the car isn’t as aggressive as I need it to be in the traffic
You don't get any prize for being first in traffic. It's okay to let the idiots pass you, it won't slow you down any.
 
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