But I find NOA to be an extremely frustrating experience because of how it manages the lane I'm in. It wants to change lanes whenever the car in front of me is going 2 MPH slower, at which point it cuts off the guy next to me, and stays parked in front of him for the next couple miles until it decides to move over. Taking exit ramps automatically is nice, but overall I don't find NOA to be helpful, which adds no value to me.
Funny how everyone's experience is so different but I guess not surprising. FWIW, I find full EAP with NoA to be absolutely amazing. I prefer to leave auto lane changes off and am set to mad max. I cap the max speed at +15 over limit (may cheat on that but bumping right scroll wheel - killer feature). I can do a 4 hour trip up or over FL and almost never, I mean never, have to override the software. Since v10 was released, it reads the road and performs incredibly well. I particularly like the fact that it recognizes the left lane as the passing lane and will move out after a while all on it's own.
Another nice upgrade feature was the smarter lane changing -- it still will prompt me to change lanes at odd times not infrequently, but as of 10.0, even when it does that -- it knows it's stupid,
marks the lane dividers and adjacent car red, and waits for the vehicle to move out of the way, then executes the lane change. I was very anxious the first time I tried this, but have seen it execute this flawlessly multiple times and am totally comfortable with it. For instance, Max wants to pull into the left lane but there is a car coming up on your left, and the sensor sees it. It has already signaled to you it wants to change lanes -- even if I signal go ahead and change, because the lines and oncoming car are red, it waits for the car to pass me, then moves into the lane. Y'all, that's pretty dope.
The other killer application for EAP with or without NOA is the bumper to bumper, full stop, crawl, maybe get to 20, crawl stop. Repeat. Save your blood pressure: forget about changing lanes, set EAP, and chill. Text, check an email -- yes, stay in the game and pay attention -- but the experience overall is a game changer.
Auto Summon is still largely a novelty -- but I have to park in a garage at work not infrequently with insanely narrow spots and worse -- massive polls inches from your bumper. So I use "regular summon" all the time here to pull my car out so I can actually get in without contorting my body or shoving it through a space smaller than it wants to go through! In that setting which is not uncommon for me - it's hugely practical, and yes, it's usually hysterical to watch someone freak out!
Obviously the trade off on price for feature is a hugely personal thing so there's no right or wrong here per se. I paid 5k for EAP and have held off on the last 2.5 for FSD as I think for the time being I have the sweet spot on value. I would definitely do the 5k again for EAP though - no question, as every time I get in and particularly when I hit the highway I get real value. Will I pull the trigger on the 2.5 k for FSD at some point? For stop signs and traffic lights (reliably) -- probably. I already use it for the work commute (15 minutes / no highway) minimally. (Truth be told, tying the tie, checking a text, in 35 mph traffic with a car in front of you -- it's
way safer than humans imho after 14 months.) We'll see what Elon pulls off in 2020, perhaps it's v11.0?