Poll: EAP at Purchase or as Add-on and its value!

[Arif]

Hi all - just about to finish my EAP trial period and on the fence about ordering it on my Model 3 Performance.

Here is a poll to get some ideas on how and when folks ordered their EAP on their Model 3 and if you think it's worth it!

 

[beastmode13]

Included EAP at purchase. Worth every penny, use it every day on my commute on the highway.

 

[UngaBunga1989]

I was on the fence. As a matter of fact, I actually initially put my order in without EAP and then added it a day afterwards. I am so glad that I did. It really is just a part of the fabric of what the car is intended to do. Is its performance perfect? Nope, BUT is it pretty awesome to commute to NYC and 80% of the way there (even in stop and go traffic) have the car essentially drive itself? YUP!!!

 

[cab]

EAP seems to really come down to YOUR driving pattern. During the trial was it “life altering” for your commute or was it sort of a novelty. in my case, I work from home (note: don’t own a 3, but have an S w/o EAP), and although I’ve had loaners with it (most recently for a full week), it just isn’t nearly as compelling for me in my driving. The one use case I’d like to have it for (longer slogs out of town) are relatively infrequent and it is hard to justify it. I have to believe the take rate for EAP after purchase (when folks can’t just bury the cost in their monthly payment) is fairly low.
It doesn’t help that the coolest features or improvements always seem to be a few months away...and to make matters worse, there are the hardware upgrades that may be required (sounds like 3.0 is around the corner, and we may start to see a lessening of feature rollout for AP 2 cars at some point).
First world problems for sure!

 

[ewoodrick]

Included EAP at purchase. Worth every penny, use it every day on my commute on the highway.

So much easier when it is rolled into the loan.

 

[MoreAgain]

I voted no, but my actual answer is the value proposition was just not there for me.

I loved the EAP trial. The TACC feature is fantastic, much better than the similar 'Distronic' feature I had in my Mercedes. The ability to change following distance with a flick of the scroll-wheel allows you to react to varying traffic conditions without disengaging the system.

The actual autopilot function is very good at lane keeping, but I was rarely able to make it more than a few miles before disengaging the system. I am too picky about where I position my car within the lane. I have too little trust in the other drivers on the road, and anything more than the slightest nudge turns the system off. It would be better if it accepted my input and just kept going.

I work from home so with no commute I just couldn't justify the $5k. The day they release FSD, I'd be willing to pay up to $20k for it, but I think the odds of that happening while I still own this car are low.

So my answer of 'No desire' is not accurate. It is just that instead of using my $5k for EAP, I'd rather get lighter, wider wheels and tires, upgrade the brakes and suspension and drive this amazing car.

 

[insaneoctane]

Don't expect EAP to be FSD and it's a godsend in traffic.

 

[Matt L]

I love it for longer drives. You arrive a lot less drained. Also, it provides an extra level of safety.

 

[3TRAY]

I love it for longer drives. You arrive a lot less drained. Also, it provides an extra level of safety.

An extra level of safety in what way? It's my understanding that all of the safety features of EAP are enabled for free on every car with AP2.0+ HW

 

[Matt L]

An extra level of safety in what way? It's my understanding that all of the safety features of EAP are enabled for free on every car with AP2.0+ HW

Well...lane keeping for one

 

[pitabun]

It really excels when I'm eating a sandwich in the car on the highway.

 

[pipestem]

Nada. With Autosteer, I felt like I was helping the car too much instead of the car helping me. I am less stressed without it. I loved the TACC, mostly, but using the scroll button to control the speed of regular CC works well. Maybe if EAP gets a lot better I'll go back to it. It's ok, the car is totally worth it anyway.

 

[JGard]

Much like others, I work from home, so my vision of what's useful is a little different. I had the 30 day trial program back in the fall and it was meh. Definitely felt like a novelty. But on top of that, I felt like it's just a bad driver. The navigate on autopilot or whatever just felt dangerous to me with how slowly it would take off-ramps and merge into lanes, etc.

So as far as worth it...not for me in my situation. If they charged $3k for it, I'd have to think long and hard about it. But at $5k and up, no way. Now, if I had a daily commute, I would consider it (but not for $7k that it would cost me now). The biggest issue is there's a lot of construction going on around me, and it will be going for at least two more years, and EAP is just horrible in/around construction in my experience.

 

[Jedi2155]

I'm a terrible person and answer emails on my 50-90 minute commute.

 

[Knightshade]

If EAP didn't exist I wouldn't own a Tesla, it was the primary reason for buying the car compared to just keeping my paid-for Lexus... the model 3 has some other nice things the Lexus didn't (and lacks some the Lexus had) but none would've been worth new-car money if not for how much better EAP makes my 35+ mile drive each way to work and back daily.

 

[Sawyer8888]

If EAP didn't exist I wouldn't own a Tesla, it was the primary reason for buying the car

EAP was my primary reason for buying the car too.

Considering AP used to cost $2500, EAP is currently overpriced at $5K in my opinion considering as a whole it still performs no better than the original AP. The current price tag is based on what it will hopefully do one of these days (supposed to do more than 2 years ago).

The ultra-slow acceleration in stop-and-go traffic, phantom breaking at high speeds, and, while infrequent, it's willingness to attempt to crash into cars in adjacent lanes are just some of the reasons why EAP is not worth its price.

Simply put, it needs a lot of work. I have a long daily commute, however I could live without it. Traffic-Aware Cruise Control (TACC) is the best feature of the whole system.

 

[Arizona Willie]

Included EAP at purchase. Worth every penny, use it every day on my commute on the highway.

What what I've read the EAP is mostly for freeway / highway driving. Shouldn't be used on city streets. Most of my driving is on city streets.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Worth it...depends totally on your individual driving circumstances. If you endure stop and go commuter traffic or do long distance travel, where having the car take over much of the monotony and constant leg pressure it is fantastic and a bargain.

If you drive little, mostly in the city and enjoy the personal driving experience, then not so much...

I have EAP in my X. Sometime I just drive the car manually. Find it enjoyable and rewarding, but in heavy traffic of on long stretches of highway it totally transforms the travel experience for the better.

For the best experience I usually manually enter into a middle lane and let the computer take over. Usually gives me a smooth and enjoyable experience. I find that if I use it in the far right lane, it gets confused with merging traffic and lines going off the exits. Also if I try to use it in the far left lanes, it makes me nervous driving so close to the K barriers.

When I want to get on and off the freeway, I usually again take over manually.

 

[BrakeDome]

If EAP didn't exist I wouldn't own a Tesla, it was the primary reason for buying the car compared to just keeping my paid-for Lexus...

The primary reason I bought a Tesla was because it’s electric

But I hear ya, my daily commute is 80% city streets and 20% highway.. if it was reversed, maybe EAP might have been worth the 5k... now if Tesla cuts the price in half, they just made an easy 2.5k

 

[Dana1]

I’m a fan of EAP. I’m much less stressed during traffic and more relaxed during longer drives. I’m looking forward to its improvements over time.