How do I know if my car has autopilot?

[scgaskill]

Sorry to hear of your situation. Yeah, in 2014 everything was still very alacarte. There were hundreds of permutations on what hardware was included in the car configuration. Over the years Tesla gradually rolled more into the base package. Towards the end of 2018 the base model started including everything, pretty much leaving colors and wheels (and seat configuration for MX) as the main options. As it is today. But anyone shopping for used Teslas from before 2018 should look carefully at what it has and doesn’t have. As you are painfully learning.


Only cars built after September 2014 have autopilot hardware. And just to clarify, that is AP1 which is a frozen-in-time system which is different from the current autopilot which started late 2016 and continues to change with OTA updates.

Thanks for the VERY prompt response! . Yeah, I'm ok with AP1, but I'm puzzled why I have an AP menu and settings if it's not enabled. Maybe I'm trying to turn it on wrong?

I quickly watched a YouTube video and I think the car was a 2016 but still AP1, and the cruise control stick to turn it on seemed reasonable, but it didn't do anything. Newer cars seem to have it enabled by using the right scroll wheel on the steering wheel?

Admittedly I really haven't researched it much till now, but now it's a matter of figuring out how it should work and be enabled on my year/make/build and not on a much newer model that the majority of people have.

I love the forums but think that maybe there should be a "vintage" section for older models like mine, pre-2018, that have so many caveats and quirks!

 

[Bigriver]

I quickly watched a YouTube video and I think the car was a 2016 but still AP1, and the cruise control stick to turn it on seemed reasonable, but it didn't do anything. Newer cars seem to have it enabled by using the right scroll wheel on the steering wheel?

I only once drove an AP1 car. My recollection is that autopilot was actuated with the stalk on the left, below the turn signal stalk. This is also where it remained on “legacy” vertical screen model S/X’s from 2016 to 2020 for AP2/2.5/3.

I have also recently driven a pre-autopilot model S manufactured late 2013. Its cruise control stalk is on the top left, above the turn signal stalk. I tended to actuate cruise control when I meant to put on a turn signal.

Surely if you don’t have autopilot, you at least have cruise control (non-adaptive)? I think that was standard.

Scroll wheels and the right gear shift stalk are used by model 3 and model Y. Refreshed model S and X (2021 and beyond) use only the scroll wheel.

 

[scgaskill]

I only once drove an AP1 car. My recollection is that autopilot was actuated with the stalk on the left, below the turn signal stalk. This is also where it remained on “legacy” vertical screen model S/X’s from 2016 to 2020 for AP2/2.5/3.

I have also recently driven a pre-autopilot model S manufactured late 2013. Its cruise control stalk is on the top left, above the turn signal stalk. I tended to actuate cruise control when I meant to put on a turn signal.

Surely if you don’t have autopilot, you at least have cruise control (non-adaptive)? I think that was standard.

Scroll wheels and the right gear shift stalk are used by model 3 and model Y. Refreshed model S and X (2021 and beyond) use only the scroll wheel.

Thanks again. Yes, I have standard cruise control, not TACC as far as I can tell. Yep, the CC stalk is on the left below the turn signal and above the tilt wheel adjust. Here are pictures I took last night with my tablet, sorry, not great due to low light. So what's the point of the AP menu if it's not licensed? The car goes into CC but tapping the stalk has no effect, nothing on the IC, the steering wheel doesn't feel like it is being controlled and drifted slightly when let go.

 

[Bigriver]

So what's the point of the AP menu if it's not licensed?

Autopilot being in the main menu headings is just Tesla’s standard menu structure for any car that has autopilot hardware, whether or not the autopilot software was purchased for that car. It then also includes cruise control options and settings for safety features like forward collision warning and lane departure, although none of these are autopilot. They are kind of cousins of autopilot.

 

[scgaskill]

Autopilot being in the main menu headings is just Tesla’s standard menu structure for any car that has autopilot hardware, whether or not the autopilot software was purchased for that car. It then also includes cruise control options and settings for safety features like forward collision warning and lane departure, although none of these are autopilot. They are kind of cousins of autopilot.

How can I text forward collision warning? I was wondering if the car has what I now know is called TACC. I had it in CC and it would get closer and closer to the car in front of me w/o slowing down or giving any warning that I was getting too close.

I slowed down of course to avoid a dangerous situation, but I let it get closer than I normally would, without tailgating, and got no indication that it wouldn't just cruise right into the cars rear end!

I'm sure if I got close enough it would warn me that I was xx inches away, but that's different than forward collision I would hope! The settings are as they are in the picture. Don't tell me that forward collision warning is yet another separate optional license?

 

[scgaskill]

How can I text forward collision warning? I was wondering if the car has what I now know is called TACC. I had it in CC and it would get closer and closer to the car in front of me w/o slowing down or giving any warning that I was getting too close.

I slowed down of course to avoid a dangerous situation, but I let it get closer than I normally would, without tailgating, and got no indication that it wouldn't just cruise right into the cars rear end!

I'm sure if I got close enough it would warn me that I was xx inches away, but that's different than forward collision I would hope! The settings are as they are in the picture. Don't tell me that forward collision warning is yet another separate optional license?

I do get the lane lines and virtual rumble strip feedback if I drift in the lane, which I'm assuming is the lane departure feature, so that at least must be standard and not optional

 

[scgaskill]

I do get the lane lines and virtual rumble strip feedback if I drift in the lane, which I'm assuming is the lane departure feature, so that at least must be standard and not optional

The automatic emergency braking though didn't seem to work unless it doesn't engage until I get dangerously close

 

[scgaskill]

Autopilot being in the main menu headings is just Tesla’s standard menu structure for any car that has autopilot hardware, whether or not the autopilot software was purchased for that car. It then also includes cruise control options and settings for safety features like forward collision warning and lane departure, although none of these are autopilot. They are kind of cousins of autopilot.

From the screenshot I uploaded, is there anything there, or missing, that would indicate that AP isn't licensed, as I strongly suspect? Are any of those settings AP settings, or just "related" setting as you said?

 

[Bigriver]

You have all those things listed under the autopilot menu. The safety systems, starting with the forward collision warning, were never separate options. They are included in the base car configuration.

These safety features as implemented by Tesla are more subtle than I have experienced in other cars. I don’t think that the Emergency Braking, for example, ever claims to avoid an accident, but to minimize the effects of an accident. I am also not sure if they would claim that the forward warning or emergency braking are active with dummy cruise control, which is my term for what you have.

I would suggest to check out the owners manual, accessible in the car or in the Tesla app under Service.

From the screenshot I uploaded, is there anything there, or missing, that would indicate that AP isn't licensed, as I strongly suspect? Are any of those settings AP settings, or just "related" setting as you said?

That screenshot was helpful to me. No, none of the things there are autopilot and it would confirm to me that autopilot was not purchased for your car.

 

[brainhouston]

From the screenshot I uploaded, is there anything there, or missing, that would indicate that AP isn't licensed, as I strongly suspect? Are any of those settings AP settings, or just "related" setting as you said?

if u don't have "highway AP" then u don't have AP1 activated...

Its just a gateway switch, if ur on MCU1 its easy to enable for ppl that know how to hack MCU...

Regarding AEB, i've never had it actually brake but if i accelerate fast to squeeze between 2 cars n switch lane quickly i always get warning tone n red car flashing in front of me on IC
It seems to be directly tied to acceleration pedal, once u let go even a bit, it knows ur paying attention n won't warn u or do anything...