Autopilot getting worse

[talkingevs]

So I've had autopilot now for about 18 months and it seemed to be getting better and better. But I just downloaded a new update 2019.40.2.1 and it's horrible all of a sudden. It brakes hard for no reason out of nowhere, is seating back and forth in the lanes, and waits until the last second to make corrections. It's to the point I can't even use it without feeling stressed. What the heck happened?

 

[Johnny Mac]

Don’t know. Mine is perfectly fine. Same update.

 

[aspec818]

So I've had autopilot now for about 18 months and it seemed to be getting better and better. But I just downloaded a new update 2019.40.2.1 and it's horrible all of a sudden. It brakes hard for no reason out of nowhere, is seating back and forth in the lanes, and waits until the last second to make corrections. It's to the point I can't even use it without feeling stressed. What the heck happened?

I have basic ap and did notice that it has been wandering in the lanes after the latest update. The steering wheel used to be still but I can feel it moving back and forth. It doesn’t seem as stable.

 

[Teedub21]

Mine is also terrible now. Wanders in the lane from side to side. Today on the highway a truck passed me on the left and the AP moved my car to the right side of my lane (still in the lane though).

 

[diezel_dave]

I was kind of wondering if this was some poor attempt at trying to better determine if people were holding the steering wheel. I get nags constantly now unless I hold the wheel pretty firmly. I think the software is gently swaying the car to try and feel if you are holding the wheel or not. I just can't think of any other reason for it.

 

[paulvinh]

Mine is also horrible now. Do not trust it as much as I did. I’ve had it since May 2018

 

[fseir]

I’ve noticed some slightly increased ping ponging in the lane, but it’s significantly better at staying in the lane when markings are poor. I have a stretch of my commute where the lane markings almost disappear, and a few firmware versions back, autosteer would do a hard left into oncoming traffic. Now it stays in its lane, which is pretty amazing given that in some places, I can’t even see the lines.

Auto lane changes are much more responsive. That’s a big improvement.

Still get the occasional phantom braking, but no worse than before, and maybe less frequent. I thought the slow adjacent lane detection would be annoying, but it hasn’t been bad, and I prefer it to the phantom braking that I would get in similar conditions before.

The windshield wiper behavior is still poor. Was hoping it would be dramatically better in this version, but it still fails to turn on sometimes in heavy rain, and then fails to turn off when the rain has passed. I know that’s a little off topic, but it makes me wonder if the camera is seeing things that aren’t there...

 

[TEG]

For the first time ever I got some really loud chime and a picture of red steering wheel saying "take control now !"
Then autopilot wouldn't re-engage for a little while. Not sure why it did that.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Mine is also terrible now. Wanders in the lane from side to side. Today on the highway a truck passed me on the left and the AP moved my car to the right side of my lane (still in the lane though).

This seems good! I was hoping the wandering might be related to this (would be a great feature!) but I have not noticed a consistent correlation. A little wandering vs. before but nothing too bad. Only used for less than 20-25 miles though.

 

[Mr X]

Yes, my car braked very hard yesterday for no reason going only 38 and the car behind almost rear ended me If I hadn't accelerated after the random sudden braking


Also weaves left to right in the lane as well. Gets pretty close to passing cars especially on turns. Not dead center like it was


It doesn't feel so safe using it right now


Don't know what they did but it should be reverted

 

[SoManyM3s]

Yup same here. Last update was great but then with the latest 40.2.1 all of a sudden, phantom brakes and ping ponging in lane

 

[David L]

I seem to be one of the lucky few who isn't encountering issues with this update.

 

[fajitamondays]

I did a 200+ mile roadtrip earlier this week on 40.2.1, and it was great. No ping-ponging, or phantom braking. It even handled a construction zone (with cones all over the place) really well, which was a surprise.

This was interstate cruising with no traffic congestion, which may have been a factor in the smooth sailing.

On the contrary, I was one of the "few" who had the joy of running 40.1.1 for a short while, and AP was really drunk on that version IMO.

 

[SoManyM3s]

Interesting phenomenon I’ve noticed consistently is it hugs the further lane markers when large trucks consistently. This improvement alone actually makes me feel safer despite the ping pong effect

 

[Stellavator]

Me too. Wandering right and left in the lane. Nice that it is moving over for trucks, but the ping pong is annoying.

 

[muleferg]

40.2.1 works ok 4 me. I remember in the past. when you got updates you would get this. The more you used it the better it improved..

 

[XLR82XS]

Anyone report the issue via voice-command?

 

[smatthew]

Mine is also terrible now. Wanders in the lane from side to side. Today on the highway a truck passed me on the left and the AP moved my car to the right side of my lane (still in the lane though).

That's a new feature, not a bug. It was even listed in the release notes.

 

[Mrcarcrazy]

Mine had the ping ponging with an update or two back. But 40.2.1 has been very straight and narrow. I put about 50 AP miles a day on the car.
Another cool thing is it reacted to a dead car on the highway shoulder that was overhanging the line by maybe 6 inches just a few mins ago. By reacted I mean a quick brake check as we got within emergency braking distance. I’m okay with that behavior as to me it’s a sign they are working on the scenario. (I could be overly optimistic).

 

[diplomat33]

So I've had autopilot now for about 18 months and it seemed to be getting better and better. But I just downloaded a new update 2019.40.2.1 and it's horrible all of a sudden. It brakes hard for no reason out of nowhere, is seating back and forth in the lanes, and waits until the last second to make corrections. It's to the point I can't even use it without feeling stressed. What the heck happened?

The only regression for me on 2019.40.2.1 is that lane keeping is a little wobbly at times, although it still holds the lane really well. Fortunately, I am not getting any phantom braking anymore where I drive.

But regressions like this happen constantly with Tesla updates as Tesla is continually fine tuning and adjusting the software. And new code can have unexpected side effects which can cause regressions. For example, maybe Tesla adds a new algorithm for stopping at red lights in preparation for releasing traffic light response but it has the unintended consequence of causing TACC to be less smooth when it brakes. Or maybe Tesla adds a new lane keeping algorithm in preparation for city driving but it has the unintended consequence of making regular lane keeping a bit more loose.

These regressions do usually get fixed in subsequent updates. With Tesla, you have to be prepared for a 2 steps forward, 1 step backwards approach. Overall, features will improve over time but there will be temporary regressions along the way.