Model 3 Traffic Aware Cruise/Autopilot touchscreen controls

[Blurry_Eyed]

I haven't seen anyone mention this so I thought I would post my observations on the Model 3 TAC/Autopilot touchscreen controls. When the touchscreen shows a speed limit sign, if you tap on the sign in the touchscreen display, the TAC speed will adjust to the speed limit on the sign (plus any offset you might set in the customizations).

I find that if I've adjusted the speed limit up (or down) through the '+' or '-' control on the touchscreen and strayed from the posted limit, if want to quickly get back to the posted limit (plus my offset - which I have set at 4MPH over the posted limit), I just tap the sign and I'm good to go.

If you tap the '+' or '-' buttons on the touchscreen, it will adjust the speed in 1MPH increments. If you hold the control down, it will also adjust up or down to the nearest 5MPH increment (at least I think it is the nearest 5MPH increment 0-5-10-15-20 etc., not absolute - 22-27-32-37 etc.).

For example, if you are going 39MPH and want to quickly go down to 35, just hold the '-' button and it will adjust down to 35. It appears to only adjust one 5MPH increment per press, so if you want to go up or down another 5MPH, you have to release and then hold the button again to get the next increment adjustment. I think you only have to hold the control down for two seconds or so for it to adjust. It's a very short period of time, but not as short as tapping the control.

I know there has been discussion about there being no hard controls on the steering wheel or the steering column to adjust the TAC/Autpilot and it's been a concern. I would also like to see the ability to adjust speed and following distance through the scroll/click wheels, but I find that it's not too troublesome for me to adjust the speed of the TAC/Autopilot and maintain safe control of the car by using the touch screen. I keep my left hand on the steering wheel and I use my right hand to make the speed adjustments. It's basically a paradigm adjustment and I think Tesla thought a lot about this UI choice.

It's actually nice to have the controls accessible on the touchscreen if you are on Autopilot. If my hands happen to be off the wheel for some reason while on Autopilot, it's a more natural motion to just touch the screen to adjust the speed. I would like to have the following distance control to also be accessible on the same screen as the speed control in a persistent menu when TAC/Autopilot is active, so I don't have to dig through layers of menus to get to the following distance adjustment.

Once I found that I could quickly get back to the posted speed (Plus my offset) by tapping the white speed limit icon on the touchscreen, it wasn't quite so troublesome. The adjustment will only work if the TAC/Autopilot is active, so there isn't the danger of accidentally tapping the speed limit icon and having the car accelerate to the speed if you are in manual drive.

 

[dm33]

Related question.

I’ve seen in model 3 videos that the following distance seems to be maintained regardless of speed.

This seems fundamentally wrong. I was taught to keep one car length per 10 mph of speed.

When stopped the car should close in and be close behind the car in front and gradually increase distance as speed increases. This allows for reaction time and more distance covered as speed increases.

Does TACC work the same way in all Tesla’s? How do other manufacturers handle this?

 

[brkaus]

Related question.

I’ve seen in model 3 videos that the following distance seems to be maintained regardless of speed.

This seems fundamentally wrong. I was taught to keep one car length per 10 mph of speed.

When stopped the car should close in and be close behind the car in front and gradually increase distance as speed increases. This allows for reaction time and more distance covered as speed increases.

Does TACC work the same way in all Tesla’s? How do other manufacturers handle this?

The following distance in the S varies based on speed.

 

[gregincal]

Related question.

I’ve seen in model 3 videos that the following distance seems to be maintained regardless of speed.

This seems fundamentally wrong. I was taught to keep one car length per 10 mph of speed.

When stopped the car should close in and be close behind the car in front and gradually increase distance as speed increases. This allows for reaction time and more distance covered as speed increases.

Does TACC work the same way in all Tesla’s? How do other manufacturers handle this?

How you describe it should work is exactly how it does work in the Model 3. I’m not sure how you got the impression otherwise.

 

[dm33]

How you describe it should work is exactly how it does work in the Model 3. I’m not sure how you got the impression otherwise.

Great. Thanks. Whew.

 

[Blurry_Eyed]

Related question.

I’ve seen in model 3 videos that the following distance seems to be maintained regardless of speed.

This seems fundamentally wrong. I was taught to keep one car length per 10 mph of speed.

When stopped the car should close in and be close behind the car in front and gradually increase distance as speed increases. This allows for reaction time and more distance covered as speed increases.

Does TACC work the same way in all Tesla’s? How do other manufacturers handle this?

I believe the numbers on the following distance setting are supposed to approximately correspond to the number of seconds of space between you and the car in front of you, so it does adjust based on speed. At setting '1' that should be about a one second distance gap based on the speed you're at. A '7' setting means a 7 second gap.

 

[SpotfireY]

The only thing that's missing is a quick way to change the following distance. They could maybe add either a new slider symbol or let you directly drag the car on the speedo to adjust that.

 

[Msjulie]

I still think the right scroller should adjust cruise speed up/down if not in some other mode that uses that scroller... so far it just hangs out most of the time doing nothing..

 

[ecarfan]

I believe the numbers on the following distance setting are supposed to approximately correspond to the number of seconds of space between you and the car in front of you, so it does adjust based on speed. At setting '1' that should be about a one second distance gap based on the speed you're at. A '7' setting means a 7 second gap.

This issue has been discussed extensively on TMC in multiple forums ever since TACC was introduced several years ago.

In my opinion, the numbers do not correspond to time or distance. They are simply a scale from minimal following interval to maximal interval. At a given number, the following interval will vary with speed. That is my experience after nearly 10,000 miles on TACC and AP in my X. Try it yourself and see.

 

[Blurry_Eyed]

This issue has been discussed extensively on TMC in multiple forums ever since TACC was introduced several years ago.

In my opinion, the numbers do not correspond to time or distance. They are simply a scale from minimal following interval to maximal interval. At a given number, the following interval will vary with speed. That is my experience after nearly 10,000 miles on TACC and AP in my X. Try it yourself and see.

I agree with your assessment based on my experience in my Model X over 30,000+ miles logged on it. However, in the Model 3 manual, this is what it says:
=====================================
'Adjust your following distance

To adjust the following distance you want to maintain between Model 3 and a vehicle traveling ahead of you, touch Controls > Autopilot > Cruise Follow Distance then touch the arrows to choose a setting from

1 (the closest following distance) to 7 (the longest following distance). Each setting corresponds to a time-based distance that represents how long it takes for Model 3, from its current location, to reach the location of the rear bumper of the vehicle ahead of you.

Note: Your setting is retained until you manually change it. '
===============================================

I should have been more accurate as I misrepresented the scale to correspond to specific seconds (1-7). I think there is some kind of algorithm that the control uses, but it is probably a bit fuzzy and adjust constantly, so it ends up being more equivalent to a scale that is always adjusting. 1 is the tightest time tolerance and 7 provides the maximum amount of time that the system will allow from your bumper to the car bumper ahead of you.

 

[DNizel]

First, let me say that I am new to this forum, new to Tesla Owners Club, and am eagerly awaiting delivery of my Model 3, hopefully this April. I am trying to learn as much as I can about the car from comments on Facebook, YouTube blogs, and now this forum.

The vehicle critique I have seen multiple times is that on Model 3, Tesla eliminated the usual windshield wiper and cruise control (aka Autopilot) related stalk controls and relocated those functions to the touch screen. I have no difficulty with that. However, it seems to me that these functions should have been moved to the driving position - left side - of the home screen WITHOUT requiring swiping to a sub menu to control these functions. Shouldn't the windshield wiper controls always be instantly accessible to the driver without having to swipe and change screens? And shouldn't the same go for activating Autopilot and changing speed and following distance? After all, these are the most often used driving controls second only to directional signals. There seems to be plenty of screen space available for this, even if the existing icons are made larger. A bit more human interface engineering fine tuning is in order, in my opinion.

Of course besides incorporating these improvements, the other solution to alleviating this clumsiness is to make Autopilot and Wiper controls voice activated functions with commands such as "Wipers On", "Wipers Auto", "Wipers Intermittent", "Wipers Off", "Cruise Faster", Cruise Slower".

Looking forward to your comments.

 

[DarthPierce]

I am not yet the owner of a Model 3, but I believe reality is a bit closer to what you're asking for than what you think.

If you have activated Autopilot with the stalk then the adjustments are always on the screen, not requiring additional swiping/menus.

If you trigger the wipers with the stalk, it will open the wiping menu, not requiring additional swiping/menus.

Agreed that additional voice commands are coming. I also think they'll add some AP related functions to the currently underutilized wheel wheels.

 

[MP3Mike]

If you have activated Autopilot with the stalk then the adjustments are always on the screen, not requiring additional swiping/menus.

Yes for the speed, no for the following distance. For that you have to go into the menus.

 

[DarthPierce]

Yes for the speed, no for the following distance. For that you have to go into the menus.

Thanks! Hopefully they'll address that soonish - seems like an important function to bury in the UI. That's a dedicated button on every TACC (or similar) car I've driven.

 

[MP3Mike]

Thanks! Hopefully they'll address that soonish - seems like an important function to bury in the UI. That's a dedicated button on every TACC (or similar) car I've driven.

My guess is that I will set it on 6 or 7 and never adjust it again.

 

[gregincal]

First, let me say that I am new to this forum, new to Tesla Owners Club, and am eagerly awaiting delivery of my Model 3, hopefully this April. I am trying to learn as much as I can about the car from comments on Facebook, YouTube blogs, and now this forum.

The vehicle critique I have seen multiple times is that on Model 3, Tesla eliminated the usual windshield wiper and cruise control (aka Autopilot) related stalk controls and relocated those functions to the touch screen. I have no difficulty with that. However, it seems to me that these functions should have been moved to the driving position - left side - of the home screen WITHOUT requiring swiping to a sub menu to control these functions. Shouldn't the windshield wiper controls always be instantly accessible to the driver without having to swipe and change screens? And shouldn't the same go for activating Autopilot and changing speed and following distance? After all, these are the most often used driving controls second only to directional signals. There seems to be plenty of screen space available for this, even if the existing icons are made larger. A bit more human interface engineering fine tuning is in order, in my opinion.

Of course besides incorporating these improvements, the other solution to alleviating this clumsiness is to make Autopilot and Wiper controls voice activated functions with commands such as "Wipers On", "Wipers Auto", "Wipers Intermittent", "Wipers Off", "Cruise Faster", Cruise Slower".

Looking forward to your comments.

I've never once used the windshield wiper controls on the touchscreen. They are on auto, and the most I might do is give them a manual sweep from the stalk if they auto wipers haven't cleared mist soon enough (if it's actually raining they will be going). Activating autopilot is done from the stalk and changing autopilot speed is always instantly accessible from the left side of the home screen without out any sub menu. Of all the things you talk about, only the following distance one seems valid to me.

 

[T34ME]

Shouldn't the windshield wiper controls always be instantly accessible to the driver without having to swipe and change screens?

Maybe you are overthinking this. Just set the wipers to 'auto' on the UI once and forget it. The wipers will automatically go to intermittent slow, intermittent fast, on slow, on fast, auto off, as conditions dictate. Absolutely no need to wade through menus. You do have the option of a single wipe and/or wash with the stalk.

And shouldn't the same go for activating Autopilot and changing speed and following distance?

Again you can make it easy on yourself. You can set the AP to speed limit, x miles under speed limit, or x miles over speed limit. The car can read most speed limits and reacts to your pre-set instructions. Set it once and forget it. Same for following distance, set it once and forget it, the AP will auto adjust speed and following distance depending on the speed of traffic ahead of you. Set it and forget it, no need for menus.

Have you had the opportunity to drive a car with TACC? We have been driving one for 4 years now and my wife cannot live without it. She thinks that EAP is a bargain at $5000 with all the extra features like self park and she is insisting on it. It makes driving easy.

 

[Msjulie]

Some folks didn't (yet?) get autopilot - even if we had it, I'm still one of those that likes to adjust the cruise control speed on occasion and +/- on the screen seems so clunky..

 

[gregincal]

Some folks didn't (yet?) get autopilot - even if we had it, I'm still one of those that likes to adjust the cruise control speed on occasion and +/- on the screen seems so clunky..

As I’ve said before, I never liked a stalk control for adjusting speed in my Model S. I always found it strange. Most cars have buttons.

 

[ecarfan]

Each setting corresponds to a time-based distance that represents how long it takes for Model 3, from its current location, to reach the location of the rear bumper of the vehicle ahead of you.

I agree.

1 is the tightest time tolerance and 7 provides the maximum amount of time that the system will allow from your bumper to the car bumper ahead of you.

Again I agree, that is a reasonable way to describe it.

In my opinion, the numbers do not correspond to time or distance. They are simply a scale from minimal following interval to maximal interval. At a given number, the following interval will vary with speed.

I was trying to say basically the same thing you have said. Each number does not correspond with a specific time or distance. The “interval” is speed related.