Autopilot - I finally caved.

[kemble54]

I've had my car for right at 6 months and didn't buy EAP upfront. After having the equivalent of TACC in my wife's Expedition, not having it in my Tesla became a liability. I have had a couple instances where I'd be driving the Tesla in cruise control only to get up on someones tail in front of me before remembering it's not going to prevent me from rear-ending someone at 70 mph. YIKES.

So, I finally caved while recently charging at a Supercharger and bought EAP through my online account. First, that was quick! Thought it was going to take a while to download, but the upgrade was INSTANT. Very impressive.

But the most impressive part is the Autosteer I know this is old news to most of you, but man what technology! I have never ridden in a Tesla with EAP before, so to use it just minutes after upgrading was so cool. The TACC is nice too, but seems like that should be included with standard equipment. Anyway, nice to finally join the crowd.

Just wish I had bought it when I got the car and saved a few grand. $7k hurts.

 

[OPRCE]

Glad to hear you are enjoying AP!

The last update 2019.4.3 has been surprisingly good, a far cry from what was in my test-drive of May 2018, and it will only get better.

Just wish I had bought it when I got the car and saved a few grand. $7k hurts.

LOL, prepare for more pain, as when HW3 is soon released [a 10x to 20x improvement in processing power, enabling use of all cameras at full resolution and frame rates] you will *need* to get FSD too!

 

[Leeclanual]

You could have saved $1500 by calling Tesla and asking for a second 30 day trial... then purchase at end of trial at $5500.

 

[dhrivnak]

You could have saved $1500 by calling Tesla and asking for a second 30 day trial... then purchase at end of trial at $5500.

Are you sure as we had the trial 4 months ago and at the time we did not have the money. If Tesla ever hits $400 then yes I am game.

 

[jsrawa]

You could have saved $1500 by calling Tesla and asking for a second 30 day trial... then purchase at end of trial at $5500.

Have you actually done this? I have heard that Tesla has told people they may get a second trial at some time in the future.

 

[PoitNarf]

So, I finally caved while recently charging at a Supercharger and bought EAP through my online account. First, that was quick! Thought it was going to take a while to download, but the upgrade was INSTANT. Very impressive.

There is nothing to download, all of the necessary software was already installed but it just needed to be activated. It’s likely a single setting that had its value changed from 0 to 1 after you purchased it.

 

[run-the-joules]

Welcome to the smart owners club. I don’t even think the car is worth owning without AP. But with it? Greatest daily driver in automotive history at any price.

 

[Glamisduner]

I have found AP > Performance, except when it's not. AP could be greater than performance but not with the 15 second nag, still I would probably buy AP over performance since I mostly just commute, it's still relaxing but it could be so much better...

 

[DriveMe]

The TACC is nice too, but seems like that should be included with standard equipment. Anyway, nice to finally join the crowd.

I agree, TACC should be a standard feature.
But then again, if it was a standard feature, you probably wouldn’t have bought the EAP!
Enjoy the Autopilot!

 

[nvx1977]

I have found AP > Performance, except when it's not. AP could be greater than performance but not with the 15 second nag, still I would probably buy AP over performance since I mostly just commute, it's still relaxing but it could be so much better...

That nag threshold is by distance, not time, so EAP in bumper to bumper traffic is amazing. I can be hands-free. And good that it's designed this way, because the risk of catastrophic accident crawling at 5mph is kinda low.

 

[Glamisduner]

That nag threshold is by distance, not time, so EAP in bumper to bumper traffic is amazing. I can be hands-free. And good that it's designed this way, because the risk of catastrophic accident crawling at 5mph is kinda low.

Yes, but I don't want it to only be useful in bumper to bumper traffic.

 

[zhu-]

I have had a couple instances where I'd be driving the Tesla in cruise control only to get up on someones tail in front of me before remembering it's not going to prevent me from rear-ending someone at 70 mph.

Welcome to the EAP club! Though wouldn't AEB (automatic emergency braking) prevent this scenario from happening?

 

[Az_Rael]

Welcome to the EAP club! Though wouldn't AEB (automatic emergency braking) prevent this scenario from happening?

AEB only mitigates crashes, it does not prevent them.

 

[mattjs33]

I've had my car for right at 6 months and didn't buy EAP upfront. After having the equivalent of TACC in my wife's Expedition, not having it in my Tesla became a liability. I have had a couple instances where I'd be driving the Tesla in cruise control only to get up on someones tail in front of me before remembering it's not going to prevent me from rear-ending someone at 70 mph. YIKES.

This right here, is what scares me most about these systems. At least in the short term. Someone who's used to TACC gets into a car that doesn't have it, and fails to realize he has to drive the car himself. Crunch.

It's happened to me on a lesser scale; my wife's car does not have park distance sensors. I'd not realized how dependent I'd become on them in my own car. Bump. No damage but it made the point.

Until TACC systems are made universally required (and for many years after as the global auto fleet cycles out), there will be accidents like this, where the driver expected the car to do something it can't. I assure you.

 

[zhu-]

This right here, is what scares me most about these systems. At least in the short term. Someone who's used to TACC gets into a car that doesn't have it, and fails to realize he has to drive the car himself. Crunch.

It's happened to me on a lesser scale; my wife's car does not have park distance sensors. I'd not realized how dependent I'd become on them in my own car. Bump. No damage but it made the point.

This was how I felt about blind spot monitoring after 6 years of having it then none on a Tesla.

 

[Timmay]

I too wish that TACC was standard. It's a bummer when I see Nissan and Ford commercials that have equivalent features but my $50k+ doesn't :/ I had a trial of autopilot and actually used TACC more often on my daily commute. I still love my car but I wish I didnt have to pay $7k just to turn it on.

 

[Leeclanual]

Have you actually done this? I have heard that Tesla has told people they may get a second trial at some time in the future.

Not yet for me... but a colleague of mine did this last month. I’m going to give them a call just prior to the start of summer to give it another go.

 

[Ryan777]

You could have saved $1500 by calling Tesla and asking for a second 30 day trial... then purchase at end of trial at $5500.

They won’t let you have a second trial.

 

[voip-ninja]

I've had my car for right at 6 months and didn't buy EAP upfront. After having the equivalent of TACC in my wife's Expedition, not having it in my Tesla became a liability. I have had a couple instances where I'd be driving the Tesla in cruise control only to get up on someones tail in front of me before remembering it's not going to prevent me from rear-ending someone at 70 mph. YIKES.

So, I finally caved while recently charging at a Supercharger and bought EAP through my online account. First, that was quick! Thought it was going to take a while to download, but the upgrade was INSTANT. Very impressive.

But the most impressive part is the Autosteer I know this is old news to most of you, but man what technology! I have never ridden in a Tesla with EAP before, so to use it just minutes after upgrading was so cool. The TACC is nice too, but seems like that should be included with standard equipment. Anyway, nice to finally join the crowd.

Just wish I had bought it when I got the car and saved a few grand. $7k hurts.

Man, I barely feel it's worth the $5K I paid for it, but I also don't use it a ton. My commute is on tight secondary streets so it's really of no use to me during the week.

I do make use of it when doing weekend trips with the family as we use the Tesla for that frequently since it's so inexpensive to fuel it.

The "must have" feature for me that's part of EAP is summon. I actually use that quite frequently now to tuck my car into a tight parking garage spot or to slip the car out so I have an easier time getting to the trunk and loading my bag.

 

[derekmw]

Man, I barely feel it's worth the $5K I paid for it, but I also don't use it a ton. My commute is on tight secondary streets so it's really of no use to me during the week.

I do make use of it when doing weekend trips with the family as we use the Tesla for that frequently since it's so inexpensive to fuel it.

The "must have" feature for me that's part of EAP is summon. I actually use that quite frequently now to tuck my car into a tight parking garage spot or to slip the car out so I have an easier time getting to the trunk and loading my bag.

It's funny how varied people's opinions on EAP are eh? For me, I feel the same as you. I had it on my Model S and only had it because it came free (mistake on Tesla's part). And after having it for 3 years, it was neat but not worth the price in my opinion. My commute is too short and I only did 3 long road trips.

For those that love it, I'm happy for them...Tesla will never get that kind of money from me though.