Model 3 without Ap

You need the Enhance Auto-Pilot option (EAP) in order to get Adaptive Cruise Control, which Tesla calls "Traffic Aware Cruise Control" (TACC). Note that everything in EAP is officially considered a BETA feature, but in my and most people's experience, TACC works really well.

BTW, you can use TACC without Auto-Steer in Model 3. Single slide down activates TACC; double down activates both TACC and Auto-Steer.

 

You do however get regular (non-adaptive) cruise control if you do not get EAP.

 

The regular old cruise control comes with the Model 3. It's a little scary after having AP on the 75 Model S. Even my 5 year old Honda Accord PHEV came with adaptive cruise control (bought in 2013) for 10K less than I paid for the Model 3. So please Tesla, ACC is a safety feature and should be activated.

I tested the cruise control today and the car didn't show any signs of breaking even when getting closer (within 15 feet) to the vehicle in front of me so I'm not really sure how well the auto breaking works and how that works together. The car in front of me was seen as it shows up on the screen.

 

What was the following distance you had set on the UI ?

 

@EscoguyS75 is saying that he has the base cruise control and even at 15', the AEB (Automatic Emergency Braking) didn't activate to prevent the impending collision. There is no "following distance" when you are using a standard cruise control. That only comes into play when using TACC (Traffic Aware Cruise Control) or Radar Cruise Control or whatever the vendor calls it.

@EscoguyS75, I think you have the wrong idea about what AEB is supposed to provide. It will not PREVENT you from running into things. It will simply limit the impact of an inevitable crash. I don't know the exact numbers, but let's say you're driving directly at a brick wall with the cruise control set at 40 mph. Without AEB, you would hit the brick wall at 40 mph. In a car with AEB, you would maybe hit the brick wall at 10-20 mph, but you could still hit it. There is not guarantee that it will trip and also no guarantee that you will avoid hitting whatever is in front of you.

To put another way, let's say you're in a car with a regular cruise control which is set and 65 mph and you come upon a vehicle that is moving at 64 mph. There is a good chance that your car will blindly drive right into the rear of the vehicle in front of you, because you are telling it to do that. There is no real chance of injury from a 1 mph speed delta, so AEB will not activate to reduce the injury caused by the impending collision.

This is covered on page 76 of the copy of the Tesla Model 3 Owner's Manual that was posted here on TMC a while back. It was in the section labeled Collision Avoidance Assist.

 

Thanks swaltner, your points are well taken.
The settings were for a medium distance, but as swaltner points, out it likely doesn't matter.

All the same, the Model 3 really should have TACC/ACC as a base feature. The Honda Accord I bought in Feb 2013 has it and it wasn't a $5K add on. Of course, as this car is for my wife, she wouldn't use it so fortunately it is largely a moot point for us as I often use AP on the Model S.

 

My wife doesn't use cruise control and she would certainly not use AP. I'm curious why? Is it too tedious, more trouble than its worth, does it feel less safe? I think the answer has important implications for how successfully we can leverage the next level of autonomous capabilities to make driving safer.

 

The OP in this thread below posted what the config window has changed to for him. Check out the section that tells about AP (as opposed to the Extended AP). Should answer your questions on it.

New Official Model 3 Configurator

 

Lots of people including my wife and I like to control the car. Until AP can make better decisions I don't want it and don't miss it on my S. I sometimes try it out on service loaner and don't like it. As a motorcyclist I have learned space is my friend and adjust my lane position based on vehicles next to me. While in the carpool lane I hug the lane edge away from traffic as people frequently cut into the carpool lane. Likewise I adjust my lane position next to a semi or inattentive driver. AP plants the car squarely in the middle of the lane as I suppose it should -- in a world of only cars driven by AP.

 

Is it possible to add AP after purchase?

I am totally sold on AP and my next car has to have AP. My wife never uses cruise control but she sees the benefit of AP and I see her using it time to time in her MS.

If you can add it later then I think you can skip it for now. But if this is something that you have add at the time of purchase, I would get one. I think AP is the main benefit of Tesla. Might also affect your resale value. Just my $0.02

 

I've never had a car with adaptive cruise control. In my very short drive in a Model 3, I engaged EAP and it felt weird. It functioned perfectly, but was creepy. I'm sure I'll get used to it.

What I'm unclear on is auto-steer. It seemed to function properly, but they say you are supposed to keep your hands on the wheel. I'm not sure at what point the car is steering, and when I'm supposed to be steering. I never got to try auto-lane-change because my drive was short and we never got to open highway where I could have tried it out.

I'm looking forward to learning by doing. As a Day-2 owner, I figure that every owner who reserved on Day 1 in my state is ahead of me. So it will be a while for me. I'm okay with that.

 

Yes. It will cost $1000 more after purchase. You can also wait for them at some point offer it as a trial like they did with the Model S.

 

If I am not mistaken, you have to wait something like 1500 miles for your AP to kick in.
For my MS, I had to manually turn on auto lane change.
Regarding keep your hands on the wheel, you just need to apply small resistance (left or right). Too much will disengage auto steer.

 

Most owner reported AP is enabled after 50 miles

 

More like 35 miles. Upon delivery of Model 3 drove straight home and AP indicator didn't kick in until I was getting off Laguna Blvd. There was already 13 miles on the odometer so if you include that it's closer to 50.

 

Everyone is different. My wife and I both use adaptive cruise control. We would never own another car without it. It is much safer than controlling the car (speed, brakes, and lane change) manually. We have been using it for 4 years now and we became dependent on it after about a week of ownership. EAP is a must have for us. AND we are an older demographic than the average on TMC.

 

Proof AEB won’t prevent an accident. It should slow enough to prevent you from being killed.

Tesla in Autopilot mode crashes into fire truck