How much do you trust basic Autopilot?

[bwilson4web]

Inspired by a poll in another forum, just curious how different the results might be here. First some terms:

• Basic Autopilot - Traffic Aware Cruise Control maintains a constant following distance and Autosteer keeps the car within lanes. Changing lanes requires using the turn signal be put in the fixed mode. The car turns it off after making the lane change. It has to be enabled by the car icon display option.
• Navigate on Autopilot - substantially more expensive, it handles lane changes without driver intervention.

Bob Wilson

* - Basic autopilot has become a standard part of new Tesla purchases.

 

[idealdreams]

I am very comfortable with it. But that being said, I am a tech enthusiast and use it responsibly - I understand its limitations and functions fully and as a result know when and when not to use it. I never take my eyes off the road while it's engaged and I don't use it in high risk areas (like construction areas).

I have already put 700 miles on my LR AWD Model 3 since getting it 11 days ago and 80% of that driving has been on Autopilot. In that time it's braked for no reason and approached the edge of its lane while taking a curve. The system is very well done but there is still much more work to be done before it's perfect. It still cannot act as a human would in certain situations.

 

[jyalpert]

If there were an option for "I trust it fine in some situations but it doesn't improve my driving experience, so I dont use it", I'd select that. (We had a 60 day trial and I was not impressed so we did not purchase it).

 

[Triplett]

We trust it fine when we follow the instructions and not try using it for cross traffic, like in your "other thread" that you reference above.

 

[Zeronet]

Right after I got my Model 3 nine months ago, I tried it in several situations. What I have concluded is that it works great on an uncongested interstate. It allows me to relax more, especially on remote boring highways where your attention can lapse and your speed can creep up way out of range. But I would not use it on a busy urban interstate where the other drivers are crazy and there are idiots doing all kinds of stupid things simultaneously (Phoenix-LA?). Also, I tried it at first on a narrow state highway (AZ 89A) where there is a section of switchbacks along a 500 foot cliff. The road there lacks standard lane lines in places, and twice my autopilot cut out when I was headed straight for a ditch. Also, sometimes it has trouble with highway sections that are not access restricted (like an interstate is) and have left and right turns right off the road and the car ahead of you pulls left or right to turn. The Tesla thinks maybe it should follow them. Then there are the dirt roads - forget it.

But overall, I am glad I got it.

 

[bwilson4web]

I don’t fault those who choose different than my testing. Rather I am curious and that is not common.
Bob Wilson

 

[Jsorell]

Inspired by a poll in another forum, just curious how different the results might be here. First some terms:

• Basic Autopilot - Traffic Aware Cruise Control maintains a constant following distance and Autosteer keeps the car within lanes. Changing lanes requires using the turn signal be put in the fixed mode. The car turns it off after making the lane change. It has to be enabled by the car icon display option.
• Navigate on Autopilot - substantially more expensive, it handles lane changes without driver intervention.

Bob Wilson

* - Basic autopilot has become a standard part of new Tesla purchases.

Have only had the car two weeks so I obviously don't trust the autopilot quite yet, ready to take over any moment. I do have a newbie question on the basic autopilot lane change. How exactly do you do a lane change without disengaging? I've tried putting the blinker all the way down and it does nothing, just stays in the lane. Is there a setting I'm missing?

 

[dmurphy]

Have only had the car two weeks so I obviously don't trust the autopilot quite yet, ready to take over any moment. I do have a newbie question on the basic autopilot lane change. How exactly do you do a lane change without disengaging? I've tried putting the blinker all the way down and it does nothing, just stays in the lane. Is there a setting I'm missing?

Changing lanes with Autopilot engaged is a feature of the FSD package.

(Being pedantic, it was also in the Enhanced Autopilot package that existed months ago, but since your vehicle is 2 weeks old, EAP doesn’t apply.)

You would need to add the Full Self Driving package to have automatic lane changes.

 

[electrictorque]

I trust it enough to use it all the time. But I don't trust it to drive without my supervision.

I mainly use it as much as possible to help improving it.

 

[brkaus]

I use it all the time with anyone and everyone in the car.

I use it like it’s intended, with my hands in the wheel.

I’m not going to read email, read a book, play cards. I’m driving the car. The automatic system in the car is keeping it centered. I find it more relaxing than driving. If I feel the wheel twitch I take over. If I see something in the road I take over. Etc

Anything else is over dramatizing.

 

[RFernatt]

EAP is okay on mostly deserted interstates and in stop and go traffic. I used it for most of the nearly 300 miles from Charleston WV to Martinsburg WV (I79, I68) while listening to an audiobook yesterday. Took over in a patch of heavy rain and through Cumberland. It still swerves more than it should on truck lane begin/end and entrance/exit ramps when the right lane line is changing dramatically. It can get confused at the start of truck lanes when it moves right as the truck lane forms and then suddenly sees a new lane line appear in front of the vehicle at which point it tries to swerve back to the left.

If there's a good bit of traffic I also don't use it as it doesn't handle that well enough yet. Even TACC is annoying with sudden braking at times and slowing down well before you get to a slower moving vehicle. NoA is interesting, but I think it needs more time to bake for my driving on mountainous interstates.

 

[bwilson4web]

I've tried putting the blinker all the way down and it does nothing, just stays in the lane. Is there a setting I'm missing?

Can you share some video or photos showing where this happens?

Bob Wilson

 

[Jsorell]

Changing lanes with Autopilot engaged is a feature of the FSD package.

(Being pedantic, it was also in the Enhanced Autopilot package that existed months ago, but since your vehicle is 2 weeks old, EAP doesn’t apply.)

You would need to add the Full Self Driving package to have automatic lane changes.

Thank you, that's what I thought.

 

[NerdUno]

Before dumping our Tesla, I used to tell folks to drive with AutoPilot as if you were holding a toddler in your lap and letting them steer. Not exactly the engineering marvel that Elon paints, but it will keep you alive.

 

[Saghost]

I'm not really loving the poll options. I trust Autopilot, and use it with anyone in the car.

But, as intended, I don't trust it to drive without supervision. I pay attention while it is driving, too.

 

[Electroman]

I use it ALL the time when there are lane lines, and avoid only at junction points where a decision has to be made. This is close to 90% of my driving areas. And I don't every go more than 5 mph over speed limit with AP.

But I would not use it on a busy urban interstate where the other drivers are crazy

I especially use it 100% of the time in urban interstate. This is the best use case for AP. Very relaxing in slow stop and go, or 0 to 50, down to 15, back to 55 kind of traffic. God send in those kind of driving situations

 

[NerdUno]

I use it ALL the time when there are lane lines, and avoid only at junction points where a decision has to be made. This is close to 90% of my driving areas. And I don't every go more than 5 mph over speed limit with AP.



I especially use it 100% of the time in urban interstate. This is the best use case for AP. Very relaxing in slow stop and go, or 0 to 50, down to 15, back to 55 kind of traffic. God send in those kind of driving situations

And our I-Pace and my daughter's 2018 Nissan Rogue work just as well in the driving situations you've described... minus the Elon hype and beta B.S., of course.

 

[Electroman]

And our I-Pace and my daughter's 2018 Nissan Rogue work just as well in the driving situations you've described

Now that is comedy !! Thanks for the humor.

 

[NerdUno]

 

[turnem]

I am very comfortable with it. But that being said, I am a tech enthusiast and use it responsibly - I understand its limitations and functions fully and as a result know when and when not to use it. I never take my eyes off the road while it's engaged and I don't use it in high risk areas (like construction areas).

I have already put 700 miles on my LR AWD Model 3 since getting it 11 days ago and 80% of that driving has been on Autopilot. In that time it's braked for no reason and approached the edge of its lane while taking a curve. The system is very well done but there is still much more work to be done before it's perfect. It still cannot act as a human would in certain situations.

This pretty much sums up my thoughts as well.

We took a small road trip this weekend with the family (me, wife, 6 year old son, 3 year old daughter, and 2 year old daughter) and I used Autopilot and NOA for 75%+ of the trip.

I've had the car since 4/26 and have about 1,000 miles on it. I've spent a significant amount of those miles testing out autopilot (I'm also a tech enthusiast and this was a big reason I bought the car) so I have a good understanding of when it performs well and when it's going to struggle and I intervene as necessary and always keep my hands on the wheel and my eyes on the road.

This weekend the GPS went crazy on me (posted in another thread with video examples) and that apparently caused some odd autopilot behavior while on the interstate. This is probably the worst thing I've had happen in my time with the car. And even with this glitch I'm very comfortable with autopilot.

My wife has been in a rather traumatic car accident recently and is still very jumpy in cars. Someone T-boned her doing 60+mph and flipped her Audi Q7 with all three kids in the car. Luckily the worst injury was that my middle daughter broke both bones in her left arm. Everyone else was completely unharmed... except the mental trauma that my wife still deals with. Anyway - the reason I say this is to make a point that my wife actually LOVES the M3 autopilot. Sure, sometimes it scares her just like any other human driver would but she takes comfort in the fact that there is a bit of redundancy (autopilot and human oversight) and she loves that I can set the speed limit and just let the car do its thing. If I'm doing the driving then I'll likely go faster than the car on autopilot so she likes the more laid back feeling of autopilot.

On a side note - I know I'm not the first to report this but I AM pleased to say that the M3 comfortably fits 3 car seats. We use Diono Radian car seats and they are fairly narrow (and very safe/substantial - it's the same brand/model that the kids were using in the accident so I'll forever trust them) so if anyone is looking for good, safe car seats that fit 3 across in the M3, these work great.