One Autopilot Ui Function I Wish I Could Change ...

[dmurphy]

So there's one quirk that's giving me a little tick... maybe it's just me.

Situation: Autopilot w/ Autosteer engaged.

If/when it's necessary to disengage by turning the wheel, Autosteer disengages *but* TACC stays engaged.

But if, instead of grabbing the wheel, one taps the brake OR presses up on the stalk, both Autosteer *and* TACC disengage.

To me, that's inconsistent behavior and can lead to an unwanted surprise when the car continues to accelerate even after "taking control" by moving the wheel.

I'd really, really like TACC to disengage with a wheel turn as well. This confused the living <sugar> out of my wife and I have no good explanation for why it's inconsistent. She's terrified of Autopilot enough - this pretty much did her in for driving with Autopilot anytime soon.

The number of situations where I have to grab the wheel and take it out of Autosteer but want TACC to remain engaged is practically none. I can always single-tap the stalk to put TACC back on if that's really what I want.

If I want to take control, I want to TAKE CONTROL. If I'm in a situation where I'm having to take the wheel in an emergency, I don't want to then think "oh yeah, I'm still halfway in automatic mode, I'd better disengage TACC too" - way I see it, if I need control, I need ALL the control, and I need it all right this second.

Any thoughts on the subject?

 

[Eugr]

I think the way it works now is pretty logical and I would prefer it to stay this way.

Case 1: you need to avoid a pothole while driving on Autopilot. In most cases you want to keep TACC engaged so it doesn’t start regen braking when you jerk the wheel.

Case 2: lane change. Same story.

In emergency, there is a good chance you’ll be applying the brakes as well.

 

[turnem]

I actually like the optionality that we have with the current setup.

I use autopilo on my daily commute every single day. I still need to take over to make turns. I LOVE that I can gently tug the wheel to make a turn while leaving TAAC engaged.

If I need full control I have two options - tap the brake or lift the right stalk. Either of those result in full control. So you have TWO options to regain full control. And you have ONE option to keep TAAC engaged while you take over on steering.

I personally wouldn't want it any other way.

 

[dmurphy]

Thanks folks - this is the kind of feedback I was looking for ... good use cases for why it is the way it is, and it sounds like both of you have them solid. For me I guess I need to train myself not to grab the wheel to take over, but to tap the brake and THEN grab the wheel.

 

[Kognos]

I generally agree with both the original ask and the responses. I think it could be a bit smoother though. I don't want to fight the car, and that's the root of my issue.

If you have NoA, you can use the turn signal and the system knows you want to change lanes on a highway, even if you're not really "navigating" and just engaging TACC. It'll then do the work. If I want to change lanes using TACC/Autopilot, I can hit the brake/stalk-up to disengage, OR fight the system and steer against the machine. I don't want to do the latter at all. I don't have NoA/FSD, so I'm constrained to the brake/accelerate/lanekeeping of Autopilot.

Having typed this out, I feel like the comfortable medium is that if you turn on the turn signal, the lanekeeping system should disengage allowing the driver to steer freely without losing speed, but I think I'd struggle with how and if it should reengage. First world problems that kind of dip into the realm of NoA features.

All in all though I'm a granny-esque driver and Autopilot suits me just fine to keep me in a lane. When I want to change lanes I just upstalk and do it, but my speed tends to fluctuate and it's not smooth. That's my only real complaint and its super minor. I think there should be a way for autopilot (alone) to facilitate lane changes - it's not worth an upgrade to FSD to get those features.

 

[turnem]

Thanks folks - this is the kind of feedback I was looking for ... good use cases for why it is the way it is, and it sounds like both of you have them solid. For me I guess I need to train myself not to grab the wheel to take over, but to tap the brake and THEN grab the wheel.

Or just get used to using the stalk to cancel autopilot and TAAC completely. I find this to be the best method because regen braking also kicks in so it's like hitting the break but you get some regen.

Hitting the brake seems a little abrupt to me. If I use the stalk then I can keep things nice and smooth.

 

[Eugr]

Or just get used to using the stalk to cancel autopilot and TAAC completely. I find this to be the best method because regen braking also kicks in so it's like hitting the break but you get some regen.

Hitting the brake seems a little abrupt to me. If I use the stalk then I can keep things nice and smooth.

Also, if you just want to cancel and don't want to slow down, just apply some accelerator pressure before disengaging AP - this way it won't start braking. In my ICE car it's not an issue because the car would just coast after canceling adaptive cruise, but in Tesla you need to be a bit more proactive.

 

[turnem]

Also, if you just want to cancel and don't want to slow down, just apply some accelerator pressure before disengaging AP - this way it won't start braking. In my ICE car it's not an issue because the car would just coast after canceling adaptive cruise, but in Tesla you need to be a bit more proactive.

Yep. This is what I do as well.