How do we get Tesla to add a speed limiter feature

[DenkiJidousha]

You jest, but I prefer to take our Leaf when just heading into town (taxi duty, shops, errands, etc). Less fretting about getting dinged in a car park is part of it, but the speed limiter is a big factor.

Learning to drive in a manual transmission ICE car I could estimate the speed from the engine noise (and what gear I was in). There’s no audible feedback like that in an EV to help.

A speed limiter is my number one missing feature on the Tesla model 3.

 

[Pagemakers]

I remember posting this request on the Tesla forum years ago and I was laughed out the room by the Americans.

We see more speed cameras in 30 minutes than they may see in years and with the US system if you get caught you simply get fined.

In cars nowadays it so easy to be accidentally doing 34 in a 30 especially if the road had just changed from 60 or 50.

And then we have the joys of the smart motorways and constant 60 50 60 40 60 30 nonsense on the M6 outside Birmingham.

 

[Peter 224]

It is one issue that might make me look elsewhere in 2.5 years...

 

[Adopado]

I would also appreciate a speed limiter function to prevent inadvertent over-speed, in 20 and 30mph particularly. It was a good point made by @DenkiJidousha that when driving an ICE car you have the engine note to give a guide without having to constantly monitor the speedo. Ideally the driver's eyes should be on the road monitoring for traffic, obstacles and pedestrians ... not constantly looking at a speedometer read out on a screen. (I should note that our ICE car with its dial speedo gives a very poor representation of speed around 20mph so it could do with a limiter too, despite the engine sound!)

 

[Roy B]

I miss a decent limiter, too. I personally don't so much view it as a means of avoiding accidental speeding; more as a driver assist feature - like cruise control - to make driving at a constant speed more pleasant.

To those who don't regularly use a limiter - or have never had a car with a well designed one - think of it as a cruise control that requires you to keep the accelerator depressed to keep it operating, but that doesn't automatically disengage on application of the brakes.

This makes it ideal for city use, as you can slow down from your set speed for lights or traffic just by taking your foot off the accelerator - and pressing the brake if necessary - without disengaging the feature. So, when conditions allow you can resume travel at your set speed simply by applying sufficient pressure to the accelerator again.

Granted, once TACC is good enough on city streets, that would be a viable alternative much of the time. But it's never really going to make sense to use TACC through junctions, etc.

 

[wasifm]

its one of the most used feature on my CX-5, makes going through a 100 90 50 40(school zone) 50 90 100 a breeze

I can relate to

nd then we have the joys of the smart motorways and constant 60 50 60 40 60 30 nonsense on the M6 outside Birmingham.

 

[Akikiki]

You jest, but I prefer to take our Leaf when just heading into town (taxi duty, shops, errands, etc). Less fretting about getting dinged in a car park is part of it, but the speed limiter is a big factor.

Learning to drive in a manual transmission ICE car I could estimate the speed from the engine noise (and what gear I was in). There’s no audible feedback like that in an EV to help.

A speed limiter is my number one missing feature on the Tesla model 3.

Why not put it in valet mode? Doesn't the 3/Y have that?

 

[Pagemakers]

Because if you set it at 50 in velvet mode the car is permanently stuck at 50 with no quick way of getting out of the restriction. This is not how it works on other vehicles.

 

[Sparkeur]

velvet mode

Now that would be interesting. At the touch of a button, your Tesla interior converts to that of a red 1980's Chrysler Imperial. 50 mph would be about right too...

 

[AutomaticMan]

Would be nice to have the option, but I wonder how much I'd use it. Unless you set it to exactly the speed limit (not, speed limit+5 or something), you could still get picked up by speed cameras or even more likely speed camera vans. I find the fixed cameras I usually spot, it's the vans I sometimes miss. Sure, there are plenty of myths and legends about cameras and vans allowing a margin of error, but I wouldn't rely on it. If I see a speed camera I don't drive any faster than the exact speed limit, and wouldn't trust driving by one at 5mph over.

And not that I would advocate breaking the law, and I of course personally never exceed the speed limit. But just saying that if you do set the limiter to be exactly the speed limit instead, you often won't be keeping up with traffic on national speed limit roads.

So it sounds like something that you might want to turn on and off depending on the road you're on. If I've had to be aware enough to consciously turn something on, then I'm aware enough to just remember to keep a careful eye on the speed shown on the screen for that stretch of road.

 

[NewbieT]

You might get it OTA even if you didn’t want it. Depends how Tesla implement this.

Mandatory speed limiters on UK cars from 2022 | AutoTrader

All new vehicles sold in Europe – including the UK – will be fitted with a mandatory speed limiter from 2022 to keep cars within the UK speed limits and boost road safety.

www.autotrader.co.uk

 

[GRiLLA]

So how would this work, given you can't add physical controls, or remove existing capabilities. I can see how the left wheel could be scrolled for speed, but how would you enable and disable the limiter?

 

[Adopado]

So how would this work, given you can't add physical controls, or remove existing capabilities. I can see how the left wheel could be scrolled for speed, but how would you enable and disable the limiter?

This is the whole point of a software controlled user interface… Tesla has the opportunity to change any of the screen buttons or the stalk functions or the steering wheel button functions. There is no barrier… take your pick on how it could be activated.

 

[Rooster6655]

The sign recognition is moronic, I followed a van that had a 60 sign on it and it set the speed limit in the car to 10 for about 20 minutes, so I couldn’t use autopilot or TACC.

Yes there should be cruise control without the traffic aware part as it clearly a uselss

 

[davyjohns]

So how would this work, given you can't add physical controls, or remove existing capabilities. I can see how the left wheel could be scrolled for speed, but how would you enable and disable the limiter?

My last Jaguar had the choice of Speed limiter or Cruise control. The choice was made via the menu. It basically changes the control of the car from computer control to foot control. Essentially giving control of speed to the driver and not exceeding Speed limit. Pressing harder to exceed the limit if required (need to be aware of Tesla acceleration).

 

[Pagemakers]

So how would this work, given you can't add physical controls, or remove existing capabilities. I can see how the left wheel could be scrolled for speed, but how would you enable and disable the limiter?

It’s not an autopilot feature. It limits manual speed. So say you set it at 50 you have to physically manually drive and the max speed the car can go is 50. If you then hard press the accelerator it overrides and accelerates away. Then when back under 50 that’s the max speed again.

 

[adsheff]

You jest, but I prefer to take our Leaf when just heading into town (taxi duty, shops, errands, etc). Less fretting about getting dinged in a car park is part of it, but the speed limiter is a big factor.

Learning to drive in a manual transmission ICE car I could estimate the speed from the engine noise (and what gear I was in). There’s no audible feedback like that in an EV to help.

A speed limiter is my number one missing feature on the Tesla model 3.

I agree with this. I used to have a Leaf and the speed limiter was fantastic, just push a button and it was on, yet if you wanted to override it you could push the pedal all the way to the floor and it would ignore the limit. Worked well.

Also agree about the less fretting part. If Tesla made a normal / compact style car I would have it in a heartbeat. The Model 3 is amazing, but it's so unnecessary dragging around 5 armchairs and a huge empty boot with you whenever you go somewhere.

 

[darkNstormy]

Completely agree with the OP on this. Have also had a Merc in the past and the speed limiter was an oft used feature. It allows full manual control but just very smoothly cuts the power as you approach your set speed. Works so well as a speeding avoidance measure. TACC just doesn't work around the places I want to stick to 30mph - too many parked cars, klaxon of doom going off every 10 seconds and the car braking automatically for them. TACC / autopilot just isn't designed for UK residential streets (even the manual says so). It's hard to describe just how easy the Merc limiter is to use in town driving - once you've tried it you get used to it very quickly. As others have mentioned, you can do a kickdown with the accelerator if you need to override it for some reason. This would be something extremely easy to implement as a software update - just needs to be done!

 

[Pagemakers]

I think the problem is there is no requirement for this in America and so……

 

[DaminGJ]

I think the problem is there is no requirement for this in America and so……

And yet American cars (non Tesla) have this functionality