Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Self-driving cars UK Discussion

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Absolutely, however as an owner of a Tesla car, all I really care about is the progress Tesla is making. Is Mobileye or Waymo going to deliver automonoy capability into my current car without me having to spend ££££££ on a new car?

What it clear plenty of very very very clever people believe automonoy is possible, and very soon. Competiton is good, and there is plenty of it in this area. Someone will get there sooner rather than later, that is good news for all of us.
Are you truly convinced that, despite what Musk the Messiah says, your car has the necessary hardware to run FSD? Tesla have entered a multi $billion contract with Samsung to provide cameras with more than three times the resolution of the current cameras, and I can’t help thinking this is a tacit admission that the current kit isn’t up to the job. There have also been questions about adequate processing power.

There are lots of very very very clever people who think that true autonomy is just too difficult to be achieved anytime soon, and that it certainly can’t be achieved with vision only. Problem is if you have an opinion it really isn’t difficult to find a bunch of “experts” to back you up.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Artiste and Wol747
FSD beta in the States looks impressive. If I had that I’d be happy. I never actually believed that my 2020 car would end up being able to drive from A to B unaided, ala level 4 or 5, not without hardware upgrades that I didn’t feel like Tesla would necessarily retrofit.

As it is, though, Tesla told me on the ordering form that “Automatic driving on city streets” (which is FSD beta) was “coming later this year”, in 2020. Obviously that never happened and likely isn’t going to happen in the lifetime of my car. What Tesla also didn’t mention - except in the broadest of terms - is just how different all of the autonomous features are in Europe relative to the US. Everything is crippled severely to the point of being unusable.

If I’d put my £5800 into TSLA instead, I’d be sitting on 10x that now. Instead, I’ve got a feature that you can now effectively get for half the price (EAP) which just doesn’t work.

As was said above - other than in general terms I’m interested in what my car does over here, and the answer to that is - not a lot. Other manufacturers seem to care a lot more about Europe than Tesla does. As I mentioned before Kia and Hyundai have more effective summon capabilities, though most would be surprised by that revelation, such is the power of Tesla’s “they drive themselves” reality distortion field.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CWT3LR and Wol747
I drove my friends 2011 Audi A4 earlier to give it a run while he is on holiday. Although the auto main beam was perhaps half a second too slow to turn off when facing distant rear lights or oncoming headlights, it worked in every situation and I didn’t have to turn it off at any point.

They didn’t turn off when facing reflections from signs, they turned off (and stayed off) in areas of moderate ambient lighting. They just got on with the job in the background and I didn’t have to think about them or hover my hand over the stalk.

God I miss having such basic functionality that actually works when driving my £60k car that is nearly 10 years newer.
 
I drove my friends 2011 Audi A4 earlier to give it a run while he is on holiday. Although the auto main beam was perhaps half a second too slow to turn off when facing distant rear lights or oncoming headlights, it worked in every situation and I didn’t have to turn it off at any point.

They didn’t turn off when facing reflections from signs, they turned off (and stayed off) in areas of moderate ambient lighting. They just got on with the job in the background and I didn’t have to think about them or hover my hand over the stalk.

God I miss having such basic functionality that actually works when driving my £60k car that is nearly 10 years newer.
I still have my 2019 A6 and I still drive it regularly. In fact I’m finding I’m driving it much more often than my M3P. One of the reasons is because the tech just works. As a long time Audi owner I can assure you that the latest headlight technology is infinitely better than that on cars of 10 years ago. It’s quite shameful that Audi’s 2011 lights are so much superior to Teslas’s 2022 lights which are, frankly, complete sh*te. Add to that the fact that Audi’s windscreen wipers (along with just about every other manufacturer) just work. And, being an Audi, my A6 is much better built and hugely more refined and comfortable than my M3P.

Hardly surprising that my first Tesla will also be my last. I was sold the car on so many lies, but I’m sure Tesla’s T&Cs have a get out clause for everything. I was promised auto steer on city streets by then end of 2019, but where is my comeback on a failed promise? And yet people still believe the irresponsible hype peddled by Teflon Tesla.
 
Couldn’t agree more. The more I drive other cars the more annoyed I become at the basics on my Tesla being so poor. Worse still, there’s absolutely no indication that is ever going to improve.

I find it incredible also that MIC cars have had discrete matrix headlight hardware since the start of last year and absolutely nothing has been done with them. There’s no indication Tesla is even working on this stuff, whereas other manufacturers (especially Audi, as you mention) are iterating on their systems with every new facelift.

Although people often suggest the wipers etc have got better after an update, I’m sceptical. I don’t feel like there’s been any tangible change in the 2.5 years I’ve owned my car in either system. Neither is functional on anything but the most perfunctory level in my opinion.

I’d be surprised if the Audi I drove - which has no autonomous capability - has more than one camera. It may even have none. Whatever it’s got, it just works, and it’s a decade older than my car. Ridiculous.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Dilly and Artiste
Technology for technology’s sake becomes a tad self-defeating, and made worse when the promise fails to materialise. Trading Standards aren't going to do anything unless there are complaints in quantity. I also got conned into FSD by promises of self-driving robotaxis by the end of whatever year.
Good matrix headlights are a great idea but little point in putting them in if they don't function as matrix lights. I've had both headlights on my S swapped under warranty due to failures, and doubtless now it’s coming out of warranty they'll go again at silly money. In contrast my 28yr old other car is still on it's original headlights and pennies to swap the bulb if it ever goes. It has few fancy modern refinements but everything it needs to do is convenient, findable by feel with important information right in front of the driver.
Folk rave about Tesla minimalism - but it's just a cheapskate way of saving build money and every time component pieces are combined to make manufacture more efficient and cheap then repair costs shoot up followed by sky-high insurance.
If all you ever do it drive down motorways or stay in well serviced mobile phone signal areas then the Tesla way is reasonable but I've pulled over more times than I can count to access the screen for stuff - like switching lights to manual - because it's a country road you can't take your eye’s off.
 

Oh great.. actively removing features. It's definitely in the 'citation needed' camp though - not many people have 24.5 yet.
... In Brasil

Please don't spread deliberate misinformation like Facebook trolls.

I've had 24.5 for a week, no difference to these features in the UK.
 
Anyone know if Tradings Standards has ever shown an interest in the selling of FSD in the UK that doesn’t, errr, full self drive…? and where the service it isn’t even something that is legally allowed?

Wish there was a way that UK owners got more attention, unlocking FSD capability.
Tesla are very clear on what you are buying with FSD, not a chance that you could claim that the tweets of Elon are part of your contract

1661850681267.png
 
Tesla are very clear on what you are buying with FSD, not a chance that you could claim that the tweets of Elon are part of your contract

View attachment 846926
Sure, but when I bought my car almost exactly three years ago the website quite clearly said “autosteer on city streets coming later this year”. That was a lie. For nearly two years it’s just said “coming soon”, but as we know with Tesla time that could mean 2030.
 
Sure, but when I bought my car almost exactly three years ago the website quite clearly said “autosteer on city streets coming later this year”. That was a lie. For nearly two years it’s just said “coming soon”, but as we know with Tesla time that could mean 2030.
Same here. There is nothing ambiguous about “coming later this year”, but I’m sure someone will come along soon and explain why it wasn’t an inaccurate statement at all.
 
... In Brasil

Please don't spread deliberate misinformation like Facebook trolls.

I've had 24.5 for a week, no difference to these features in the UK.
I don't have yet, and in Romania the same situation like in Brasil.
I posted to see if someone in Uk can confirm or not.
Yeah it definitely said 'later this year' in 2019. Nobody got it in 2019, not even americans.

At the time I actually believed it.. I didn't know it was a pipedream until somewhat later.
From January to May 2020 was the same.
 
I find it incredible also that MIC cars have had discrete matrix headlight hardware since the start of last year and absolutely nothing has been done with them.
They can write Tesla on the wall which excites 9 year olds, what more do you want?

You do watch people arrive on here, all excited about buying a Tesla to a level they've never been with a car before, then they go through the torture of EDDs moving around, enticed into wantng to know which ship they've on, details about whether there is a hook for a grocery bag still in the frunk or not, have slightly mixed emotions following the collection experience, seduced by the instant torque and the neighbours all gathering round to take a look, then the grelins start to surface that were initially over looked but become an increasing irrirtant. Then they try to do something even marginally out of the norm with service and get left unable to talk to someone, and slowly they fall away with buyers remorse and in many cases not unreasonably.

You also get the ones that feel very differently, it takes all sorts and neither are wrong as such. I don't like when people are told they should just sell the car if they don't like it. Looking at the nuimber of cars for sale, there are plenty that are just selling it. I think the ones who stick around and comment actually want things to change, and want the car to live up to the promises, rather than just throwing in the towel and flogging the car on, because lets face it, unless you're locking into a really poor finance agreement you're not going to take a bath on depreciation at the moment.

Specifically on FSD, I think any advertisment that says "coming soon" needs to be reasonably credible, and "soon" in the context of a car which most people keep for 3 years on average needs to be within 6 months or so. Maybe people need to lobby trading standards, I know they've been made to make changes before regarding matters such as "after savings" prices etc. which they used to lead on.
 
Curious, I went to wayback machine..

Screenshot 2022-08-30 at 11.37.38.png


I love how smart summon is listed as current, available feature in May 2019.. from what I've seen of videos in the US it doesn't even properly navigate car parks even today.

I'd argue we still don't have 'recognise and respond to traffic lights' - it knows only how to stop (and will stop twice in complex junctions - a frequent annoyance when I had FSD) and requires manual interfaction to go.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Durzel