How efficient is Auto Pilot..

[Imidogen]

I wish there was a "chill" mode while in TACC and AP, so that it doesn't drive like a sports driver every single time there is a slight gap between the car in the front.
Do you guys think that AP needs much to be desired in terms of efficient driving. I have driven in the same patch of road under similar traffic conditions manually and on auto pilot and the results in terms of average energy consumption, vary by quite a bit. So much that it has taken me off, using AP altogether in my daily commute.

Do you guys have similar observations?

 

[Tony Hoyle]

AP seems fairly chill to me.. if anything it can be a little slow to get moving. Plus as it's zero effort to sit behind slower traffic, there isn't the incentive to constantly overtake, so my average speed drops which increases efficiency.

 

[LukeT]

It's perhaps quite subjective but like the OP I think AP is like a driver who doesn't look beyond the car in front. It's late to accelerate, or ease off, and as a result it has to do it harder than it would had it started earlier. And as a result of that I suspect it also amplifies the concertina effect of traffic rather than helping to reduce it.

I'm looking forward to the update where it is capable of much quicker lane changes, yet I'd like to see it smooth out accelerations and decelerations generally, and cornering too. Sounds like a contradiction but I don't actually think it is.

 

[adsheff]

i've learned to slow the 'max speed' down if AP slows itself down for whatever reason. eg. You drive at 70 on AP, a car in front is going 50 so the car slows down. I would then use the wheel to lower the 'max' setting to about 55. That way, when the road clears in front, the car doesn't floor it like it's in a race. Then I used the wheel to slowly roll it back up to 70. Seems to work well, but I wish it had a super-chill mode instead!

 

[tsh2]

The lack of anticipation is annoying. Like when it accelerates up to 70 within sight of a 30 limit. In roadworks it is also rather short sighted in its urgency to correct the delta between current speed (i.e. 40) and the limit for the road. If I was at 40 before hitting cruise, chances are there would be a reason for this...
I can understand the desire to latch on to any vehicle in front to follow rather than driving the road in front, but even there AP seems a bit over keen.
I would also prefer a more gentle approach to lane positioning updates when engaging AP. Several times I have refused it's desire to jump in towards a barrier or kerb.

 

[Imidogen]

doesn't floor it like it's in a race

but I wish it had a super-chill mode instead!

Exactly my thoughts.

The lack of anticipation is annoying. Like when it accelerates up to 70 within sight of a 30 limit. In roadworks it is also rather short sighted in its urgency to correct the delta between current speed (i.e. 40) and the limit for the road. If I was at 40 before hitting cruise, chances are there would be a reason for this...
I can understand the desire to latch on to any vehicle in front to follow rather than driving the road in front, but even there AP seems a bit over keen.
I would also prefer a more gentle approach to lane positioning updates when engaging AP. Several times I have refused it's desire to jump in towards a barrier or kerb.

True, At this point I appreciate its evolving and I can live with lack of anticipation, if the AP driving is more gentle.

One more thing I have noticed that in situations where the roads is generally flat or sloping downwards, if I drive manually I can find the sweet spot where I can maintain a decent speed as well as can start the regen (bar moving leftwards and turning green) however AP does not do this even when the road is empty , sloping and the car is maintaining constant speed, the energy bar is always black or white. I would have assumed that leaving the intelligence part aside, simple acceleration and braking in auto mode would have been intentionally kept very efficient and gentle. (to encourage more users thus improving the neural learning)

I was alone enough to drive like a numpty, the "Car" was supposed to be smart!!

 

[MrBadger]

Its got better with every update so I suspect its an area that they are working on.

It is very much dependent on car to front and side. Sometimes it feels like its constantly accelerating then backing off, especially when stalking a car to its right (it wont undertake a car to its right when in inside lane), but when I look at the speedo when its doing that its no more than a single digit change on the speedo. I think thats a negative to having instant torque on tap.

I'm not convinced that efficiency is affected too much even though I thought it would be.

 

[NorfolkMustard]

I would also prefer a more gentle approach to lane positioning updates when engaging AP. Several times I have refused it's desire to jump in towards a barrier or kerb.

very much this. Also, the ability to dial-in the preferred positioning within a range. Teslas currently position themselves as if all other cars are also autonomous and dead-centre of the lane, but drivers naturally favour the side of the lane closest to them (RHS for RHD), just a bit, as we're not centred in the car

 

[Sirricardo]

Mine is often accel or decel when following another car. It wants to follow at the exact distance set. My volvo had some spongyness and allowed the gap to vary slightly - more human like. I recon they need to add some damping to the control system when following. I think this is reasonable as there arnent many cars that would outbrake a M3 such that it needs more than the following gap to stop.
Im guessing it is running efficiently like this so I normally set the speed lower or the same as the car in front.
Sometimes it will apply brakes or just back off the power for no reason so I dont use it when somone is following close.
They have a lot more work to do IMHO.

 

[tess19]

I wish there was a "chill" mode while in TACC and AP

Isn't there a option to change it from madmax mode?

 

[LukeT]

Isn't there a option to change it from madmax mode?

I think that just covers the lane changes, and in that situation "mad max" is more like mad max's over-cautious auntie.

 

[Keeper]

And all the time in AP that the car is following the car in front, accelerating then slowing down, accelerating, slow down - is the brake light flashing on and off? I read somewhere that someone was following a Model 3 and their break lights were constantly flashing on and off so much so that they just had to overtake because it was so annoying. I often think - are my break lights flashing on every time regen cuts in?

 

[MrBadger]

Whether brake light is solely done this way I do not know, but brake light is activated by accelerometer so when braking faster than whatever the deceleration threshold is set, the brake lights will activate, but I have seen no evidence that TACC easing off is be enough to trigger brake lights - much in same way as lifting off a throttle on majority of cars does not warrant brake light coming on and thus being tied to brake circuits is sufficient. A more significant lift on regen would trigger brakes, but this would be at similar level to starting to brake on majority of cars. Not sure where the threshold is and whether it is speed related.

 

[Imidogen]

And all the time in AP that the car is following the car in front, accelerating then slowing down, accelerating, slow down - is the brake light flashing on and off? I read somewhere that someone was following a Model 3 and their break lights were constantly flashing on and off so much so that they just had to overtake because it was so annoying. I often think - are my break lights flashing on every time regen cuts in?

Mine surely does flash when at start stop traffic. Not so much when the car is doing decent pace. I think as VanillaAir_UK mentioned above there must be a deceleration threshold for when the light does come on.
I normally check this through the car avatar on the dashboard, as the car does depict everything happening with the car. Even the blinkers get depicted(which to be honest is amazing). I have seen somewhere on youtube that , if any bulb goes off, we would be able to even see it on the avatar.

 

[Yev000]

I noticed that if you set the distance to the car in front (right scroll button left-right) its much more chill on higher distances. Fewer harsh braking and accelerating.

If you set it to one, although it keeps a gap thats way too big for stop/start traffic, in slow moving i.e. 50MPH zone it drives like a nervous teenager.

Setting it to 3 or more gives it more time to react i think, so the velocity changes are smoother.

I also find it doesnt "floor" it when the road opens up. In my SR+ I'd say it uses about 50% of the actual power to get up to speed (the black bar never reaches more than half way). That has nothing to do with distance in front of course. It would be a nice additional feature to limit the power to get up to speed in the settings though. Like max 30% power or something, if you want more chill.

 

[gangzoom]

AP will never be as efficient as a good driver. What consumes energy in EVs is speed changes, even though you can regen, regen is only at most 70% efficient and than you have to waste energy speeding up.

Perfect example is if your coming up to slow traffic on the Mways when you are in lane 1/2. But looking ahead its pretty obvious some of the cars might be turning off, or there are lorries side by side. The most efficient thing to do is move to lane 3 in plenty of time, overtake and move back without ever slowing down or having to acclerate.

Equally if your coming up to traffic and looking ahead no one is doing more than 60mph, simply slow/coast up to the traffic so your not wasting energy going at 70mp till the last minute.

In isolation these small differences are trivial, but on a 150mile M way tirp these situations come up dozens if times, add up all the efficiency losses and its a reasonable amount.

BUT AP does make life easier, so unless your desperate for range just take the consumption hit and stick to AP.

 

[Spacey73]

It's when you forget to cancel it as you go over a roundabout and the car accelerates to 60 mph!

 

[phillcom3]

It's when you forget to cancel it as you go over a roundabout and the car accelerates to 60 mph!

or when you need to g o around the roundabout....

 

[Yev000]

Imagine FSD doing roundabouts! I got one on my commute that's basically one and a half lanes and very busy 4 way. I really can't imagine FSD pulling out fast enough with a 1-2 sec window, then doing a 45 deg left turn - trying not to crash into the car on the left doing the same thing to go straight, then a 130 deg right turn to come out....

 

[Imidogen]

Imagine FSD doing roundabouts!

Lol..and then we have the "magic" one, which will be the final Boss to slay for FSD..To be honest unless the cars themselves are connected and talk to each other (which I feel will happen very soon) ; FSD will hardly be able to negotiate roundabouts and other complex stuff.