Newby here - Just got a Model S

[pedrob]

What a great resource this club looks to be. Forgive me if I haven't properly researched my questions - I have tried.
1) I paid an extra $5K to have FSD added to my car - how do I know it's there? Autopilot does not seem that impressive.
2) Advanced summon - again, paid up for FSD after reading about features that were represented as present - I can't find them! Yes, I can watch the car move slowly out of a parking space, but summon in a parking lot? How does one do that?
3) "Mileage" - I don't seem to get nearly the range represented. Today I measured it on a 130 mile trip - car used 180 miles of range? Yes, some A/C, and yes highway. Is this significant difference to be expected?
That's it for now - still trying to get used to everything.
Many thanks to anyone who posts a helpful reply.

 

[mathwhiz]

Congrats on your purchase.

A good start would be to read the current owner's manual, which is available for offline viewing in your MY TESLA account... On the 'mileage' question, a bit of searching will yield extensive threadage on this much discussed subject.

 

[davidc18]

welcome. drive and enjoy!

 

[SSedan]

Every ICE you ever owned got exactly the sticker mileage right?

Range is affected by weather, speed, elevation changes, cabin temp.

Precooling or heating the car while still plugged in before you leave can help as can running the HVAC during supercharging. This way it doesn't work hard and drain power to catch up once you start driving.

 

[Tam]

...how do I know it's there...

Since you are able to do a summon out of a parking space then that means you have FSD. Congratulations!

...Autopilot does not seem that impressive...

But it's very helpful for me especially for 200 miles, I didn't have to steer, brake, or make an exit through 5 freeways.

...summon in a parking lot? How does one do that?

If it's raining and you want to keep dry in the patio while your car comes to you from its parking space without a driver, you'll need firmware 2019.20.4.5.

Lots of people are still waiting for it ahead of you since October 2016 so don't lose your place in line.

...130 mile trip - car used 180 miles of range...

That's how it works.

The range is dependent on your driving style.

If you want mileage objectivity then just do the way I did on my youtube above by letting the machine doing the driving and I did not apply brakes nor steer for 224 miles through 5 different freeways.

The above is Model 3 starting at 313 miles. It traveled 224 actual miles but used only 197 battery miles and still had 116 miles left

Of course, if I manually drove that same route, I would not have any mile left!

 

[pedrob]

Since you are able to do a summon out of a parking space then that means you have FSD. Congratulations!



But it's very helpful for me especially for 200 miles, I didn't have to steer, brake, or make an exit through 5 freeways.

If it's raining and you want to keep dry in the patio while your car comes to you from its parking space without a driver, you'll need firmware 2019.20.4.5.

Lots of people are still waiting for it ahead of you since October 2016 so don't lose your place in line.



That's how it works.

The range is dependent on your driving style.

If you want mileage objectivity then just do the way I did on my youtube above by letting the machine doing the driving and I did not apply brakes nor steer for 224 miles through 5 different freeways.

The above is Model 3 starting at 313 miles. It traveled 224 actual miles but used only 197 battery miles and still had 116 miles left

Of course, if I manually drove that same route, I would not have any mile left!

 

[pedrob]

Thank you Tam for the many answers. So you mentioned being on the waiting list for a firmware update. How do I ensure on am on the waiting list? Also, you mention driving a long distance on autopilot on several different highways. I am curious about this - I am able to use navigate on autopilot successfully on many highways, but I have to take over if the highway merges with another - the autopilot does not shift to the correct lane for the merge. Nor does it exit the highway. Should it? Can it?
Many thanks.

 

[Tam]

...How do I ensure on am on the waiting list?...

You surely are on the waiting list. There's no doubt about it. It just takes a long time as I have been waiting since 2017 and others have been waiting since 2016!

...I have to take over if the highway merges with another - the autopilot does not shift to the correct lane for the merge. Nor does it exit the highway. Should it? Can it?

It should. And it can. It has done through very difficult interchanges in Los Angeles metropolitan area all by itself. The only intervention from me was to turn it on at on-ramp and to take it over after it finished its job at the destination off-ramp.

Please go to your autopilot menu and play with it.

Autopilot ->Customize Navigate on Autopilot->Require Lane Change Confirmation (swipe the slider to "NO")

 

[rweggert]

The worst advice I could ever offer is to set Require Lane Change Confirmation to Off. Your car will surely automatically lane change into oncoming traffic or into a concrete barrier whenever construction exists. Or, it'll miss the road debris in the passing lane or the car speeding up to pass you from behind. If you want to use Navigate on Autopilot, set Confirmation to On.

 

[willw64]

The worst advice I could ever offer is to set Require Lane Change Confirmation to Off. Your car will surely automatically lane change into oncoming traffic or into a concrete barrier whenever construction exists. Or, it'll miss the road debris in the passing lane or the car speeding up to pass you from behind. If you want to use Navigate on Autopilot, set Confirmation to On.

Not necessarily disagreeing with you, but I just took a trip with those settings and
It isn’t a violent lane change and you can still tap the stalk to cancel the lane change.

 

[MiamiDriver]

I have a 2019 Model S with EAP. Is it worthwhile to upgrade to 3.0 hardware and FSD?