My first real trip “review”

[TheSimpsonsMan]

So we just took our first mini trip with our Model Y and overall the experience was great. It honestly makes it so I never want a different vehicle again.

The FSD Beta was worth it on the highway but we did get a warning which honestly was BS. I noticed at nighttime it is way more sensitive to the whole eyes on the road thing (makes sense, it’s dark out)

One great thing about charging was we charged at a Buc-cee’s Tesla Supercharger. We plugged in, used the restroom, grabbed some brisket and walked to our car and it was already good to go.

One dumb thing I did notice is that there were 2 normal cars just randomly parked in the charging spots, kinda annoying but there were a bunch of open ones so it didn’t bother me much. Maybe in the future they will have some type of rule/law in place for things like this.

If anyone is on the fence about getting one I would say do it. We love ours. It does bite not having USS but it’s pretty much fine without

 

[KerrySkates]

I’ve driven over 12k miles across multiple road trips and locally in the 6 months owning my Model 3. I’ve never used FSD (I do have it on my car), but I do like Enhanced Autopilot. The adaptive cruise control is my favorite part. Lane keep is pretty great, but takes some getting used to.

It was a mistake to rely on cameras only. I had software 10.x.x on my vehicle when I bought it (used). Autopilot did better at night before the 11.x.x updates and it seems to be quite a bit worse now with the latest updates. I hope Tesla figures out their sensors soon and starts refreshing models with better hardware and software to match.

I’ve had a handful of instances where I get a message that says something like “camera unavailable” during the night and/or when it’s raining. Nothing wrong with the camera. It’s just covered or unable to see well. Another concern for vision-only driver assistance / FSD.

I doubt I’ll ever go back to an ICE or hybrid vehicle, but the competition is getting better each year. Tesla needs to do better if they want to remain competitive in the future. Especially since the charging experience isn’t going to continue to be a huge differentiator as all other EVs begin using NACS in 2024 and beyond.

I am thankful for the supercharger network. That’s Tesla’s biggest success story in the world of EVs. It’s why the other manufacturers are switching to NACS. It really makes road tripping an EV simple and eliminates anxiety about whether or not the charger will work when you get there. There’s still work to be done to expand locations, but it’s pretty great already.

People taking up charging spots is nothing new. Some places have “you will be towed signs” but I’m not sure how many actively monitor those spots and report bad actors. I’ve also seen EVs parked in spots when they don’t need to charge like it’s just some privileged parking. It’s not. People need to be respectful of the charging spots and leave them open for those that need to charge. This will be a bigger problem as more vehicles start using Superchargers.

 

[zroger73]

One of my pet peeves is people who refuel their vehicles then leave them at the pump while they go inside to pee, pay, and patronize instead of pulling up in front of the store so the next person can begin refueling.

 

[zoomer0056]

people who refuel their vehicles then leave them at the pump while they go inside to pee,

R U talking EVs or ICE ages refueling? EVs take a lot longer to refuel than ICE ages vehicles, so it's pretty easy to take a pee or even a meal and not overstay. But of course, they gotta be mindfull about when charging will be complete. Mindfulness is the marble that some are missing in their brain, but not all.

 

[zroger73]

I'm thinking of several times where I have pulled into a gas station and had to wait because there was an ICEV blocking the pump unnecessarily while the driver went into the store instead of pulling away from the pump and into a parking spot before going inside to eliminate, shop, and pay.

 

[EatsShoots]

I’ve had a handful of instances where I get a message that says something like “camera unavailable” during the night and/or when it’s raining.

I get this complaint all the time on my car. Pillar camera blocked. No, it's just dark...

 

[pinolero]

I wear my sunglasses at night
So I can, so I can
Trick FSD before my eyes

 

[Amanfromconn]

I enjoy driving EV too much for me to engage FSD or even subscribing to it. My MDYL keeps switching to the left lane eventhough I had already set it minimal lane change. Too me FSD still has a long way to go.

 

[Tomoti]

There are too many cars parked randomly at charging spots...but anyway I enjoy driving my car as well!

 

[GBMaryland]

FSDb is flaky at best when it comes to hands on the steering wheel, etc. I've had it tell me that I've got a steering wheel hands defeat device, when I don't. I've had it tell me to keep my eyes on the road, when I'm using the screen / changing car settings. I've even had my eyes on the road, and had it tell me that I need to keep my eyes on the road...

Do get me started on the car changing lanes and the inability to globally turn off automatic lane changing with the current FSDb. Tesla actually seems to be actively trying to kill people as FSDb is unable to reliably know when something is not actually a lane. ...but heck, when I do get killed my wife will get a ton of money from the law suit!

 

[TesLEEZ]

That happened to me the first time I picked up and used my phone on the highway. The internal cabin camera uses AI detection and must know that it's a phone. Therefore it got really mad at me and blocked me from using FSD for the rest of the trip.

 

[TheSimpsonsMan]

About to take another trip this weekend and this time the trip will be around 16 hours round trip. Looking forward to it.

 

[Buckeye614]

That happened to me the first time I picked up and used my phone on the highway. The internal cabin camera uses AI detection and must know that it's a phone. Therefore it got really mad at me and blocked me from using FSD for the rest of the trip.

I don't have FSD but I was using the autopilot aka auto steer ....and to prevent a collision I slammed on the gas and the tesla was so unhappy with me it too kept me from using autopilot for the rest of the trip. what BS

 

[geordi]

I don't have FSD but I was using the autopilot aka auto steer ....and to prevent a collision I slammed on the gas and the tesla was so unhappy with me it too kept me from using autopilot for the rest of the trip. what BS

I only have enhanced auto pilot on my classic Tesla, and it did the same thing when I slammed on the accelerator to avoid a collision. Trusting the stupid thing to change lanes for you just seems like a bad plan.

 

[Amanfromconn]

I have free trial FSD for 3 months and I only use it couple times on small road. Last night I was using on highway and it almost went off the road at full highway speed. I just don't think I'll ever subscribe to it. Auto pilot is good enough for me, just keep me in the center of the lane.

 

[geordi]

Be aware - even the advanced autopilot that we have is not 100% if the lane markers are not consistent. This is especially true in construction zones where I have had it attempt to aim me for barrels while the lane was shifting.

Best plan is to not use it in a construction zone at all.

 

[Amanfromconn]

Be aware - even the advanced autopilot that we have is not 100% if the lane markers are not consistent. This is especially true in construction zones where I have had it attempt to aim me for barrels while the lane was shifting.

Best plan is to not use it in a construction zone at all.

It was trying to go at full speed at a construction zone where there's only one lane open. I won't even use it even with 1 year free trial. I

 

[Resist]

That happened to me the first time I picked up and used my phone on the highway. The internal cabin camera uses AI detection and must know that it's a phone. Therefore it got really mad at me and blocked me from using FSD for the rest of the trip.

People shouldn't be holding their phone to use while driving, even if it's legal in your State. You could have just pulled over and put the car in Park, then put it back into gear and you get FSD back for the rest of your trip.

 

[geordi]

There is an unbelievably huge difference between someone using auto pilot to climb into the backseat and video an empty chair, and where the software is now, freaking out if someone picks up a cell phone.

What is the purpose of having any form of automatic pilot in any variation if it is restricted to gripping the steering wheel with an iron fist and staring straight ahead, unblinking? It is supposed to be a driver assistance system, not an electronic nanny that freaks out when it can’t tell you are there unless you are hanging with half your body weight on the wheel.

FYI, having that much force on the wheel (not balanced because it cannot detect a balanced set of hands on either side at the same time), will make you shoot into another lane when it disconnects from an error. At that point, it is more dangerous than the fools who are videoing themselves from the backseat.

Further, from the “rules for thee and not for me“ file… Lord Elon apparently has a special mode just for himself that turns off the nanny systems so he can do demos of driving for many minutes completely hands free on public roads. Double standard much?

 

[Resist]

What is the purpose of having any form of automatic pilot in any variation if it is restricted to gripping the steering wheel with an iron fist and staring straight ahead, unblinking? It is supposed to be a driver assistance system, not an electronic nanny that freaks out when it can’t tell you are there unless you are hanging with half your body weight on the wheel.

FYI, having that much force on the wheel (not balanced because it cannot detect a balanced set of hands on either side at the same time), will make you shoot into another lane when it disconnects from an error. At that point, it is more dangerous than the fools who are videoing themselves from the backseat.

To be fair, the purpose as Tesla has said many times, is to gather driving data so the neural net learns. But you obviously are not holding the steering wheel correctly if you need an iron fist. I rest one hand inside near the bottom of the wheel and it's enough for it to sense the torque it needs to know I'm in control. It also uses the cabin camera to what your head movement. I have never had the system disconnect and shoot into another lane, so not sure where you are getting that. It makes all kinds of on screen and audible warnings prior to disconnecting.

Is FSD perfect, no, not even close but it has gotten better and I still think it's at lease a decade away from being full featured and regulator approved. As it can't have any errors, even though many people are inherently flawed drivers and allowed on the roads. I use it for highway driving because it removes my stress, but I rarely use it for city driving because it increases my stress.