Autopilot is useless on non-highway roads.

[Handsome Jack]

I've found that after a recent update, Autopilot has become useless on non-highway, two-lane roads.

With the update, Tesla learned how to read speed limits and enforces a maximum Autopilot speed of +10 km/h (6.2 miles per hour).

The problem is that it reads a 30 km/h (18.6 miles per hour) sign before a pedestrian crossing but doesn't recognize the sign that cancels it. Even when I leave the town and the limit is 90 km/h (55.9 miles per hour), Autopilot won't allow me to set the speed to more than 40 km/h (24.9 miles per hour). Previously, the speed limit was incorrect about 40% of the time, but it was somewhat acceptable as it helped reduce strain while it worked. Now, it's incorrect about 95% of the time.

This is a HUGE issue for me because I drive between the Czech Republic and Poland almost weekly, and there is no highway connecting the two countries for most of the way. The road is a 2.5-hour, two-lane twisty route. When I first drove a car with Lane Keep Assist (a 2020 Corolla), I arrived much less tired. However, with my Tesla, I'm back to fully manual driving, feeling like I'm in a 20-year-old car.

The situation looks like this:

Road with a 90 km/h speed limit; drivers are going 100-110 km/h, but Autopilot won't allow speeds above 60 km/h (TACC enabled, not Autosteer).

Has anyone else experienced this issue? Do you know any tricks to solve it, or have you heard if Tesla is aware of the problem and plans to fix it?

I'm starting to consider bailing from my leased Tesla and getting a Toyota. The Toyota was able to handle about 70% of the road with its lane keep assist (it struggled with sharp turns), and the newer version should be even better.

 

[SSonnentag]

Yes. We have the same issue here in the US. Fortunately, FSD Beta allows speed signs to be overridden, up to 85 mph (137 kph). It's one of the few real benefits of owning FSD at the moment.

 

[fholbert]

The same happened to me during the December updates. I found a workaround; press on the accelerator with your foot.

 

[tonv]

Same problem in the Netherlands, while driving on a motorway with a 100 km/h speed limit my M3 suddenly decides it is 50 km/h max. I could understand this if there is roadwork or a diversion, but that also happens when on a road that hasn't changed for Years.
Really annoying and weird, Google Maps knows the correct speed, why doesn't Tesla simply use that???
And the motorway is just an example, it happens all over the place, Tesla mixes up 100/80/50/30 km/h speed limits way, way too often!

 

[Handsome Jack]

Yes. We have the same issue here in the US. Fortunately, FSD Beta allows speed signs to be overridden, up to 85 mph (137 kph). It's one of the few real benefits of owning FSD at the moment.

Thanks for the information! I've asked Tesla Europe if it's the case here as well, I'll indeed buy/subscribe FSD if it'll help to solve the issue.

And the motorway is just an example, it happens all over the place, Tesla mixes up 100/80/50/30 km/h speed limits way, way too often!

That was the case for me as well before the update, very annoying but something that can be lived with. I think it's likely that sometimes in the past there were a roadworks and tesla saved that info and just didn't remove after repair completed (I know as a fact on a few roads it was the case).

However, after an update in addition to that after the update road sign reading introduced even worse situation where it reads a 30kn/h sign and then keep enforcing this speed limit for 10-20 minutes until it sees another sign (often still under the limit) - ignoring map data and entering or leaving residential area.
Making autopilot completely useless on such roads. Do you experience that?

 

[Mullermn]

The same happened to me during the December updates. I found a workaround; press on the accelerator with your foot.

Sounds funny but this is a useful tip. I use autopilot on roads that it is not intended for and where it is poor at choosing the correct speed, but what I do is set the target speed really low and use my own foot to speed up or slow down.

Can be a real fatigue saver in poor visibility conditions as its ability to find and follow a lane is excellent.

 

[Handsome Jack]

>Can be a real fatigue saver in poor visibility conditions as its ability to find and follow a lane is excellent.

Maybe it's due to personal physics, but I've noticed that I'm less fatigued using just TACC vs Autosteer with manual accelerator.

Still much more fatigued comparing to cars that can do both.

 

[Mullermn]

>Can be a real fatigue saver in poor visibility conditions as its ability to find and follow a lane is excellent.

Maybe it's due to personal physics, but I've noticed that I'm less fatigued using just TACC vs Autosteer with manual accelerator.

Still much more fatigued comparing to cars that can do both.

Might depend what type of roads you're on? Around here a lot of roads are quite bendy and without a lead vehicle to take pacing cues from TACC/Autopilot will drive too fast in to bends (I don't blame it for that because it's not advertised as being good for that kind of road).

I haven't used plain TACC for ages. In fact I've now got single-press-to-engage turned on so I don't think I can even use plain TACC anymore.

 

[Handsome Jack]

without a lead vehicle to take pacing cues from TACC/Autopilot will drive too fast in to bends (I don't blame it for that because it's not advertised as being good for that kind of road)

Oh that's actually interesting, I'm driving through mountains and TACC reduces speeds on very sharp curves, even a bit more than needed (like down to 25km/h where it's totally safe at 40-60)
I don't know how autopilot behave there as it's 90km/h limit road and it's stuck at 30-50km/h limit so I'm not using it

 

[69KWH]

I'm still on 2023.44.1 and very rarely run into this issue. Most of my AP usage is on two lane back roads and on stretches without too many traffic lights, it works flawlessly.

 

[Mullermn]

Oh that's actually interesting, I'm driving through mountains and TACC reduces speeds on very sharp curves, even a bit more than needed (like down to 25km/h where it's totally safe at 40-60)
I don't know how autopilot behave there as it's 90km/h limit road and it's stuck at 30-50km/h limit so I'm not using it

That is interesting. Does it slow down in good time like a human would or does it rush in to the bend and slow down a bit late?

As I understand it we do have some extra limitations on autopilot here (minimum turn radius, etc) due to EU regs. It’s not immediately obvious why that would affect this directly but perhaps it’s put us in a separate fork with slightly different behaviours.

 

[melmalinowski]

I've found that after a recent update, Autopilot has become useless on non-highway, two-lane roads.

With the update, Tesla learned how to read speed limits and enforces a maximum Autopilot speed of +10 km/h (6.2 miles per hour).

The problem is that it reads a 30 km/h (18.6 miles per hour) sign before a pedestrian crossing but doesn't recognize the sign that cancels it. Even when I leave the town and the limit is 90 km/h (55.9 miles per hour), Autopilot won't allow me to set the speed to more than 40 km/h (24.9 miles per hour). Previously, the speed limit was incorrect about 40% of the time, but it was somewhat acceptable as it helped reduce strain while it worked. Now, it's incorrect about 95% of the time.

This is a HUGE issue for me because I drive between the Czech Republic and Poland almost weekly, and there is no highway connecting the two countries for most of the way. The road is a 2.5-hour, two-lane twisty route. When I first drove a car with Lane Keep Assist (a 2020 Corolla), I arrived much less tired. However, with my Tesla, I'm back to fully manual driving, feeling like I'm in a 20-year-old car.

The situation looks like this:

View attachment 1023155

Road with a 90 km/h speed limit; drivers are going 100-110 km/h, but Autopilot won't allow speeds above 60 km/h (TACC enabled, not Autosteer).

Has anyone else experienced this issue? Do you know any tricks to solve it, or have you heard if Tesla is aware of the problem and plans to fix it?

I'm starting to consider bailing from my leased Tesla and getting a Toyota. The Toyota was able to handle about 70% of the road with its lane keep assist (it struggled with sharp turns), and the newer version should be even better.

I live in a rural area in Washington State. Tesla does not understand the speed rules. On most country two lane roads, 50mph is the default speed. As you say, they commonly sign ‘Reduce speed to 25mph’for school zone. Then ‘end of 25mph zone’ rather than new speed. So Tesla usually thinks the speed limit is 25 everywhere! Annoying. Google knows better, but maybe Tesla won’t pay to use that knowledge? This would be easily solved if road depts simply changed to posting the new limits instead of ‘end of’, but that is not a federally controlled policy in USA, land of ‘states rights’.

 

[Dewg]

I live in a rural area in Washington State. Tesla does not understand the speed rules. On most country two lane roads, 50mph is the default speed. As you say, they commonly sign ‘Reduce speed to 25mph’for school zone. Then ‘end of 25mph zone’ rather than new speed. So Tesla usually thinks the speed limit is 25 everywhere! Annoying. Google knows better, but maybe Tesla won’t pay to use that knowledge? This would be easily solved if road depts simply changed to posting the new limits instead of ‘end of’, but that is not a federally controlled policy in USA, land of ‘states rights’.

The right scroll wheel is your friend

 

[Handsome Jack]

That is interesting. Does it slow down in good time like a human would or does it rush in to the bend and slow down a bit late?

It's actually a good question, now when you asked I kind of remember it that TACC tend to slow down before the turn, while autopilot (when it was largely working before the update) was often braking mid turn, probably realizing that it couldn't do a turn due to limits enforced by EU regulation.

The right scroll wheel is your friend

In my case it still limited, i.e. if it picks up as in example 25mp/h limit you won't be able to drive faster than 35mp/h despite of actual limit is 50mp/h

 

[Dewg]

It's actually a good question, now when you asked I kind of remember it that TACC tend to slow down before the turn, while autopilot (when it was largely working before the update) was often braking mid turn, probably realizing that it couldn't do a turn due to limits enforced by EU regulation.


In my case it still limited, i.e. if it picks up as in example 25mp/h limit you won't be able to drive faster than 35mp/h despite of actual limit is 50mp/h

That makes sense - there is a limit on basic AP, and like the thread title suggests, basic AP (including TACC) is for divided freeways (high speed motorways with central reservations) and highways. City streets, smaller highways with intersections it really should not be used on - this being one of the best examples of why.

 

[Handsome Jack]

That's actually a huge disadvantage of Tesla, if it's their position and they want to enforce it, like to use AP only on highways. And probably people should know before they buy Tesla, I imagine if someone drives only on a highway it's cool but it can be a dealbreaker for someone like me.

Even base 2020 Corolla could handle ~70-80% of that 2.5 hour trip with no issues (newer models should be even better), where Tesla's AP just won't work.

It's pity they decide to enforce it via update - I wouldn't bought a Tesla if I knew it won't have useful autopilot on non-large highway roads. I've test driven TMY for a week before purchase and it was acceptable, worse than Toyota but it could handle 50-60% of the road on AP, now it's down to 5%.

 

[BurgerDave]

I've found that after a recent update, Autopilot has become useless on non-highway, two-lane roads.

With the update, Tesla learned how to read speed limits and enforces a maximum Autopilot speed of +10 km/h (6.2 miles per hour).

The problem is that it reads a 30 km/h (18.6 miles per hour) sign before a pedestrian crossing but doesn't recognize the sign that cancels it. Even when I leave the town and the limit is 90 km/h (55.9 miles per hour), Autopilot won't allow me to set the speed to more than 40 km/h (24.9 miles per hour). Previously, the speed limit was incorrect about 40% of the time, but it was somewhat acceptable as it helped reduce strain while it worked. Now, it's incorrect about 95% of the time.

This is a HUGE issue for me because I drive between the Czech Republic and Poland almost weekly, and there is no highway connecting the two countries for most of the way. The road is a 2.5-hour, two-lane twisty route. When I first drove a car with Lane Keep Assist (a 2020 Corolla), I arrived much less tired. However, with my Tesla, I'm back to fully manual driving, feeling like I'm in a 20-year-old car.

The situation looks like this:

View attachment 1023155

Road with a 90 km/h speed limit; drivers are going 100-110 km/h, but Autopilot won't allow speeds above 60 km/h (TACC enabled, not Autosteer).

Has anyone else experienced this issue? Do you know any tricks to solve it, or have you heard if Tesla is aware of the problem and plans to fix it?

I'm starting to consider bailing from my leased Tesla and getting a Toyota. The Toyota was able to handle about 70% of the road with its lane keep assist (it struggled with sharp turns), and the newer version should be even better.

Don't forget to press the right side steering wheel button and then say: "report speed limit error" when you find autopilot recognizing incorrect speed limits. Autopilot has been screwing up speed limits forever...

 

[bwillie]

Sell your new Tesla and buy a 2016 or before Model S. Autopilot works great. No stupid cabin camera to monitor your every move. Still only have to worry about pressure on steering wheel and it is still VERY easy to feel right away when the car is confused and needs immediate driver input.

 

[Handsome Jack]

Don't forget to press the right side steering wheel button and then say: "report speed limit error" when you find autopilot recognizing incorrect speed limits. Autopilot has been screwing up speed limits forever...

Did it work for you? I've created a separate topic for that - Does reporting incorrect speed limit works?
But people weren't very optimistic about that. I've reported it multiple times before (when it was using wrong map data) but cannot verify now as on 2.5 hours drive now speed limit is completely off due to incorrect speed limit signs application (like it takes school zone limit and applies it for the next 10-15 minutes of drive on 2 lanes road outside of city limits)

Sell your new Tesla and buy a 2016 or before Model S. Autopilot works great. No stupid cabin camera to monitor your every move. Still only have to worry about pressure on steering wheel and it is still VERY easy to feel right away when the car is confused and needs immediate driver input.

Hm, that's actual may be a viable option, what's about speed sign reading? Perhaps if they didn't push the update to read speed limits I indeed could just use an older Tesla. Does your car read speed limits (from signs)?

 

[vermell]

I've found that after a recent update, Autopilot has become useless on non-highway, two-lane roads.

With the update, Tesla learned how to read speed limits and enforces a maximum Autopilot speed of +10 km/h (6.2 miles per hour).

The problem is that it reads a 30 km/h (18.6 miles per hour) sign before a pedestrian crossing but doesn't recognize the sign that cancels it. Even when I leave the town and the limit is 90 km/h (55.9 miles per hour), Autopilot won't allow me to set the speed to more than 40 km/h (24.9 miles per hour). Previously, the speed limit was incorrect about 40% of the time, but it was somewhat acceptable as it helped reduce strain while it worked. Now, it's incorrect about 95% of the time.

This is a HUGE issue for me because I drive between the Czech Republic and Poland almost weekly, and there is no highway connecting the two countries for most of the way. The road is a 2.5-hour, two-lane twisty route. When I first drove a car with Lane Keep Assist (a 2020 Corolla), I arrived much less tired. However, with my Tesla, I'm back to fully manual driving, feeling like I'm in a 20-year-old car.

The situation looks like this:

View attachment 1023155

Road with a 90 km/h speed limit; drivers are going 100-110 km/h, but Autopilot won't allow speeds above 60 km/h (TACC enabled, not Autosteer).

Has anyone else experienced this issue? Do you know any tricks to solve it, or have you heard if Tesla is aware of the problem and plans to fix it?

I'm starting to consider bailing from my leased Tesla and getting a Toyota. The Toyota was able to handle about 70% of the road with its lane keep assist (it struggled with sharp turns), and the newer version should be even better.

I am curious. What is the temperature outside when you are experiencing this?

I would assume that if the temperature is below 0°C +- 2, the vehicle will limit excess speeds due to the potential of ice on the roads.