If the AP system is warning of a potential problem - there should be an audible and visible notification (and maybe a setting to control that).
I've seen these notifications pop up on the dashboard display - but they tend to only be there for a very brief time. If I'm not washing the dashboard frequently, it's easy to miss the message - or have it disappear so quickly, that I couldn't read the message.
With the notification about an upcoming lane change showing up on both the dashboard and console display (at the top of the turn list), they should do the same with the other notifications - and also show them on the console - and keep them there for a longer period, along with an audible notification that the driver should look at the message.
If you're doing what you are supposed to be doing - keeping your eyes on the road ahead and monitoring the operation of NOAP, the way they are displaying the messages now doesn't work well - because the messages are only visible for a short time and quickly disappear - with no way to get them back.
When the messages disappear, it means the problem is resolved, it wouldn't make sense to continue to display them at that point, and there isn't really any reason for you to need to go back and review them. Moreover, of these warnings:
- High Curvature Detected; Autopilot Limited: This was a relatively sharp turn and though the car handled it without intervention, the message was displayed constantly. (Seattle area folks can duplicate by merging onto 90E from Edgar Martinez Drive...it’s the turn to the right after you cross over I5.)
- Unsupported Tunnel; Autopilot Limited: This disabled Nav on Autopilot and activated “regular Autopilot” for the length of the tunnel, then re-enabled Nav on Autopilot. Again, any Seattle area folks can duplicate this on I90E.
- Poor Weather Detected; Autopilot Limited: Self explanatory during the recent rainstorms.
- Autopilot Features Limited; Contact Tesla if this issue continues: This just happened for a 10 second stretch on I5S. Again, regular Autopilot was activated...then Nav on Autopilot was reactivated. Perhaps a dirty camera or some other obstruction?
- Lane Change Canceled: Can’t figure this one out. Nav on Autopilot suggested a lane change, I signaled, it made about 40% of the move then abandoned it and displayed the message. I’ve had lane changes abandon before and the X swerve back to the original lane, but never seen a message confirming it.
In four out of the five provided, the behavior in V9 with the warning is the same as the behavior in V8 without the warning. If you were doing what you were supposed to do in V8 and could deal with those four, then why do you suddenly need an audible notification in V9? The four I'm referring to are also pretty self-explanatory. The visual warning may give you an extra cue to be alert, but the argument that you need the audio alert because you're paying attention to the road is a straw man. Either you need an audio alert because you're not paying attention to the road, or you don't need an audio alert.
- When you're going around a sharp corner, if autopilot doesn't handle it well, you take over, warning or not, audio or not.
- When the weather is really bad and autopilot misbehaves, you take over, warning or not, audio or not.
- When autopilot features are limited and something doesn't work, you take over. If the issue persists, you contact service.
- When the vehicle swerves back into its lane, you don't even have to be paying much attention to notice it, and if the lane change was safe and you are paying attention, you cancel before the swerve completes and finish the lane change, warning or not, audio or not.
When driving in a very wet environment recently, I had the surround view limited warning come up every time I went by a vehicle, I would NOT want it chiming constantly just because it's raining, I'm paying attention and can take over if need be. The existing audio alerts are already too loud in some vehicles and too quiet in others. Further, their volume can't be adjusted. The V9 interface shows the lengths Tesla will go to make the interface simpler even at the expense of functionality, so while the suggestion that they could be optional is commendable, it's not very realistic.
The only warning out of these 5 (6 if you count surround view limited) that even arguably needs audio is the unsupported tunnel message, and to the extent that it needs audio, that audio should be included in the navigation voice, which can be muted, not separately as a mandatory or optional audible alert.
It would also be reasonable to mention the unsupported tunnel in the directions on the MCU, but the rest of the warnings are already indicated on the MCU by the warning icon and don't really need reflected there in any other way.
