Quitting Autosteer use

[teethdood]

Let me preface by saying that I'm an adamant Tesla supporter to my family, friends, and everyone that I talk to.
I've been driving the X for 4 months now. I have a 21-year accident-free driving record.

Last night on a return trip home with my family, my X 17.17.4 decided to try to ruin my driving record. I had AP2 engaged, hand lightly on wheel as always. The CA-99 freeway was very straight at that point, so I was in relax mode even with cars everywhere being a holiday weekend. Lane markers were clearly marked. Autosteer suddenly veered to the right lane as if it was doing a lane change right into a car next to mine. Reflex kicked in and I was able to jerk it back, but not without a violent swerve back and forth at 80mph. I'd understand if it was curvy, but this section was so straight!

Overhead signs read, "Report Drunk Drivers. Call 911." I'm fairly certain that a few 911 calls were made reporting a drunken white Tesla X. I drove the rest of the way myself, not trusting AP anymore after that, not with my family on board.

I've had close calls in the past in ICE cars, perhaps once a year if that, just part of the driving experience. In the past 4 months though, I've had at least a monthly scare. The latest incident had me swearing never to use AP until it improves significantly, until it reaches the stated yearly scare and not monthly scare.

I just have to ask, is there anyone else not using AP at all? Don't get me wrong, I love driving my X and would buy it again in a heartbeat. I'm just curious if there's anyone else who completely lost trust in AP to do any of the driving.

 

[Eclectic]

I have an S, not an X, and after way too many incidents like the one you've described, I stopped using autosteer as well (this was months ago).

 

[Garlan Garner]

If you are an avid Tesla fan.......what is the reason for the post/thread?

 

[Tequesta]

This is probably not relevant because I am using AP-1, but I just got back from a 6000 mile epic road trip in my Model X and i used the auto pilot 90% of the time and had zero problems...I love it...is this something that version 2 is causing?

 

[thecloud]

I tend to rely much more on the Traffic-Aware Cruise Control feature than Autosteer at this point, but I still find Autosteer helpful on long drives, and expect it will get better over time.

What you described sounds different from the usual slightly-jerky, reactive-motion driving that Autosteer is known for at this point, and at 80 mph any sudden jerking of the wheel is obviously not good.

Since you're an adamant Tesla supporter, you should really let them know about this incident, along with the time and location, so they can check your logs and see what happened. Perhaps it falsely detected an object, or there is some map anomaly along this section of road, or some other unexpected software behavior that they can correct if they know to look. Your experience might be a positive benefit to others here.

[email protected]

 

[teethdood]

If you are an avid Tesla fan.......what is the reason for the post/thread?

I am an avid Tesla fan, just not a "fundamentalistic" one.
Like I said, I love the Tesla driving experience and would buy it again. I cannot go back to an ICE car. Tesla car without AP is still a Tesla. Loads of people bought Model X/S without EAP/FSD package. At least one other person in this thread also stopped using AP completely. It doesn't make us anti-Tesla.
Elon said that Tesla AP1/AP2 results in at least 40% less accidents than without (I guess by without AP, he meant ICE cars as well). I'm not so sure this statement is true. By virtue of Tesla being expensive, Tesla owners tend to be a bit older and more cautious than a typical driver. This fact alone could skew the "40% less accident" to make it true, and not necessarily the result of having AP.

 

[ps004ynos]

I never bought autopilot. Dealing with the fit finish and small repairs is enough. Would hate to suffer through insurance claims and the body shop process.

 

[brkaus]

I still use it. I monitor it very closely with a hand on the wheel at all times. I feel it evens out my looking around and/or changing the radio. I don't use it significantly over the speed limit.

I do use TACC nearly all the time I am driving.

 

[Garlan Garner]

I am an avid Tesla fan, just not a "fundamentalistic" one.
Like I said, I love the Tesla driving experience and would buy it again. I cannot go back to an ICE car. Tesla car without AP is still a Tesla. Loads of people bought Model X/S without EAP/FSD package. At least one other person in this thread also stopped using AP completely. It doesn't make us anti-Tesla.
Elon said that Tesla AP1/AP2 results in at least 40% less accidents than without (I guess by without AP, he meant ICE cars as well). I'm not so sure this statement is true. By virtue of Tesla being expensive, Tesla owners tend to be a bit older and more cautious than a typical driver. This fact alone could skew the "40% less accident" to make it true, and not necessarily the result of having AP.

I just don't understand the reason for the thread.

 

[Carl]

Autosteer will not do a lane change unless you ask for it, or there is some other good reason to change lanes (e.g. lanes merging), unless your car really has a problem! Video would be handy to make your case. In any event report to Tesla.

I use AP (AP1 in my case) all the time on highways (have done probably at least 50,000 km on AP) and have never encountered such behaviour. Apart from when there are road works, or when a truck driver next to me won't keep his lane, I have more or less never had to intervene with AP doing its job. In any event AP never tried to change lanes (let alone abruptly) without me initiating that.

Please let us know what feedback you get from Tesla on this issue.

 

[BerTX]

My feeling is that AP drives about as well as a teenager in Driver's Ed. I wouldn't let one of those drive my $100k car with my family in it at 80 mph in holiday traffic.

 

[Tam]

....Reflex kicked in and I was able to jerk it back, but not without a violent swerve back and forth at 80mph...

Yes, it is an art to override the autosteer without oversteering it and lose control.

I've been enjoyed my AP2 for the past 3 months and almost 4,000 miles and yes, there are times that I have to manually intervene but it is still very useful and much safer than manual driving.

 

[NerdUno]

I just don't understand the reason for the thread.

Let me spell it out for you. It's to warn fellow AP2 drivers that you are never safe with AP2 engaged, even on a well-marked straight stretch of highway. If you're not always vigilant, you can end up in a ditch in a split second. We've experienced the same types of incidents regularly, and they're almost totally random occurrences. We've started calling them Tesla Brain Farts.

 

[Carl]

True, always keep a hand on the wheel of course. And then report back whether driving long distance with AP gives less or more fatigue and less or more safety than driving without AP. Just try it please, and report back to us!

 

[Garlan Garner]

Let me spell it out for you. It's to warn fellow AP2 drivers that you are never safe with AP2 engaged, even on a well-marked straight stretch of highway. If you're not always vigilant, you can end up in a ditch in a split second. We've experienced the same types of incidents regularly, and they're almost totally random occurrences. We've started calling them Tesla Brain Farts.

Doesn't Tesla's screen indicate that warning ( pay attention ) when you engage autopilot? No matter if its 1.0 or 2.0?

 

[Garlan Garner]

Folks,

I'm just tired of all of the threads here that badmouth Tesla in-necessarily. Tesla has announced over and over that their cars AREN'T fully autonomous ( level 5 autonomy ) yet.

Use Autopilot or not. Makes no difference. My point is....its not the systems fault YET if its not perfect once a driver accepts the warning screen risk.

Drivers have to accept responsibility before AP is turned on.

If anyone ignores appropriate warnings...then the system is not at fault. Level 5 autonomy isn't here yet.

 

[Tam]

Doesn't Tesla's screen indicate that warning ( pay attention ) when you engage autopilot? No matter if its 1.0 or 2.0?

To be fair: The fact that the driver was able to override the system and caused no accidents means there's sufficient driver's attention.

Some people are just surprised that Autopilot is still in its infancy as described by Dr. Peter Mertens, Volvo research and development chief: “Every time I drive (Autopilot), I’m convinced it’s trying to kill me".

 

[ChuckLosAltos]

I'm a new S 75D owner (roughly 3 weeks in). On the factory installed software 17.something.50, I had a bad lane change event that scared me pretty badly in traffic. This was on I-580 outside Livermore, CA, going east. I did command the lane change, which it started normally, then suddenly LUNGED, dramatically accelerating the lateral motion. I luckily had hands on the wheel, so was able to stop it and not hit the car that was one lane beyond the lane I was shifting to.

I was having other issues with this version of AP software. It was failing to even wake up about 50% of the time, leaving me with no TACC or autosteering. I reported this, and the service center pulled logs remotely, diagnosed it as a known bug, and updated me to 17.26.17. This version works great, with no intermittent functions, and so far, much better lane change performance.

Note this: when your car acts strangely, make a "bug report" using the voice system. Just press the voice command button, say "bug report" and describe the problem. This will put a mark in the vehicle log near the point of the incident, along with a transcription of your comment. Then call the service center, give them the approximate time of the incident. They'll pull logs, find your "bug report", and look for symptoms that will help them diagnose the problem.

Worked for me, and maybe you'll end up with an over the air update!

Regarding the lane change behavior itself, a Tesla engineer shared that the AP2 software is still "pretty rough", and they have had issues with lane changes over uneven surfaces. Apparently if the roadway isn't very level (ie, most California highways...), the steering controller can overshoot and otherwise get confused. At least with the version I was running.

Be careful out there!

 

[ChuckLosAltos]

If it wasn't clear from my previous post, I am driving with AP2, not AP1.

 

[Garlan Garner]

To be fair: The fact that the driver was able to override the system and caused no accidents means there's sufficient driver's attention.

Some people are just surprised that Autopilot is still in its infancy as described by Dr. Peter Mertens, Volvo research and development chief: “Every time I drive (Autopilot), I’m convinced it’s trying to kill me".

A Dr. made that quote? A Dr. of a competitive company?

So...A Volvo development chief is criticizing his own AP? He certainly isn't driving a Tesla....is he?
Volvo has AP of its own.
His ( Volvo's) AP is trying to kill him?