Software Fix for Autopilot Engaging Accidentally

[S4WRXTTCS]

Moderator note: Wording of thread title has been updated to more precisely reflect the issue.

Apparently it looks like the Chinese regulators discovered that autopilot would engage automatically in some cases leading to unintended acceleration, and Tesla is fixing it through an update.

If this indeed is a glitch (versus a User mode confusion issue) then what's the story with North American cars?

Does anyone have more information on both the problem, and the SW fix?

Tesla Dealt ‘Black Eye’ in Recall of Cars Sold in China

Tesla Inc. will make a software fix to more than 285,000 cars in China, or most of the vehicles it delivered there in recent years, to address a safety issue identified by the country’s regulator.

www.bloomberg.com

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

This article says its an accidental activation, but not much detail.

Tesla Model 3 News and Reviews | InsideEVs

Get the latest on new Tesla Model 3 models including first drives, in-depth reviews, concept car photos, new features, recalls and more.

insideevs.com

 

[powertoold]

This seems to be more related to TACC. I've accidentally activated TACC on occasion because it's easy to accidentally bump the right stalk (especially when you're new).

It seems like an easy fix. I guess Tesla can simply prevent TACC activation when the steering wheel is over 10 degrees or something.

 

[DanCar]

I've had the TACC surprising on a couple of times. Today I made a right turn, while applying the brake. I would think this would turn off TACC. Several seconds later the car is accelerating on its own. Did I accidently turn on TACC?

 

[powertoold]

I've had the TACC surprising on a couple of times. Today I made a right turn, while applying the brake. I would think this would turn off TACC. Several seconds later the car is accelerating on its own. Did I accidently turn on TACC?

As you turned the wheel, your hand may have pressed the right stalk. It has happened to me as well. I think new drivers would get confused, especially ones that aren't used to activating TACC or AP.

For example, I've found that the most effective way to deactivate AP or TACC is to press up on the right stalk. Many people don't know about this and have to resort to braking / torquing, which isn't ideal if you don't want to brake or turn the car.

 

[MP3Mike]

Apparently it looks like the Chinese regulators discovered that autopilot would engage automatically in some cases leading to unintended acceleration, and Tesla is fixing it through an update.

No, not engaging automatically.

This article says its an accidental activation, but not much detail.

Yep, it sounds like Tesla is going to release a update that helps avoid accidental activation. (In other words the user hit the stalk to turn TACC on and the car is going to say "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.")

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

Yep, it sounds like Tesla is going to release a update that helps avoid accidental activation. (In other words the user hit the stalk to turn TACC on and the car is going to say "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.")

If that is indeed the case I could see them only allowing TACC to be turned on while driving straight.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

No, not engaging automatically.

That was from the first link I posted

"The cars’ autopilot systems can be activated automatically, potentially leading to crashes from sudden acceleration, the Chinese agency said."

Anyways the other article is more accurate.

 

[thewishmaster]

This seems to be more related to TACC. I've accidentally activated TACC on occasion because it's easy to accidentally bump the right stalk (especially when you're new).

+1. I’d like a sound when activating TACC. One time I was in Drive, on hold mode, parallel parked with another car in front of me 20 feet away, allowing for TACC activation. I was distracted talking to someone outside the car, then absent-mindedly hit the stalk, and the car started accelerating. I doubt it would’ve hit the car in front as this would defeat the purpose of TACC, but it would still be nice to know when you’ve activated it, something beyond the thin blue circle on the screen.

 

[Tam]

...but not much detail...

This article has a bit more but not much more detail:

Tesla to recall 285,000 cars in China and fix cruise control

"China’s State Administration for Market Regulation said that under certain conditions drivers could accidentally activate cruise control. If the car is traveling slower than the cruise control setting, the car will accelerate “and in extreme cases,” could cause a crash."

 

[Lon12]

I have mine set so that it activates your current speed. Not the posted speed limit. I find it more predictable and lets me accelerate at my own pace. Maybe Tesla will just make that the default setting for those that might "accidentally" hit the TACC. I like the idea of an audible chime for TACC activation as well.

 

[MP3Mike]

Here is a tweet with a video of the OTA fix. Apparently just adding a single bong to let you know that you enabled TACC:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1409432699874459652

 

[McFlurri]

In over 3 years of owning my Model 3, this has never happened to me...

 

[ecarfan]

This article has a bit more but not much more detail:

Tesla to recall 285,000 cars in China and fix cruise control

"China’s State Administration for Market Regulation said that under certain conditions drivers could accidentally activate cruise control. If the car is traveling slower than the cruise control setting, the car will accelerate “and in extreme cases,” could cause a crash."

As I’m sure everyone here knows, one can set TACC such that when you engage it it accelerates to the speed limit in the nav map database or maintain the speed the car was at when TACC is engaged. If the car is set to the former, some users may not understand how that works and complain of “sudden acceleration“ when engaging TACC at a speed below the current speed limit. That is not a bug, it’s user ignorance.

Of course a user could conceivably accidentally bump the gear stalk while driving and press down hard enough to engage TACC but in 9 years of driving multiple Teslas I’ve never done that. Anyone who does that is simply being sloppy with their hands.

I regard this “issue” as being similar to the Chinese customer who complained loudly about Model 3 “brake failure” and it was soon determined the complaint was bogus.

 

[linux-works]

If that is indeed the case I could see them only allowing TACC to be turned on while driving straight.

I'd go further than that! only allow it to activate if the car has been 'settled down' long enough. no user hysteresis, so to speak

see guys, it takes YEARS to find the final 2% architecture bugs (this one would be easily fixed) but no one apparently thought of it until now.

I'm not going to try this in real life, but I am curious, now, if you can activate tacc while the wheel is not within 10deg of center, say.

this is a good find, actually. the more 'we' (people) find tunings to the algorithms, the better everyone will be. I just wish this was a truly human-wide effort where we shared discoveries across countries and brands. this kind of info is just too valuable to be kept in company A or B.

I still feel that this should not be a profit motive and that 'self driving tech' should be a shared common investment, like kennedy's 'going to the moon' goal.

if governments put serious investment into this and we all benefited from it, imagine the kinds of gains we WOULD see!

 

[Tam]

...some users may not understand how that works and complain of “sudden acceleration“ when engaging TACC at a speed below the current speed limit. That is not a bug, it’s user ignorance...

Agreed.

It's a matter of not reading the manual as the function works as designed.

It's possible that a driver is used to shifting gear with gasoline cars such as to "Neutral" to glide the car for hypermiling... and didn't mean to engage TACC.

But as you pointed out, they could have configured how TACC should behave such as the option of setting to the actual current driving speed and not posted speed sign.

The Twitter on message 12 above shows how it was set to posted speed sign 80 KPH while the actual current speed was 61 KPH.

The audio status is nice but it still doesn't solve the problem of skipping reading the manual because they wouldn't understand that audio status anyhow.

But it's a nice gesture that Tesla is responsive to drivers' concerns.

 

[mark95476]

Yes. This is a driver configuration and I have my car set to the use current speed as well.

I have mine set so that it activates your current speed. Not the posted speed limit. I find it more predictable and lets me accelerate at my own pace. Maybe Tesla will just make that the default setting for those that might "accidentally" hit the TACC. I like the idea of an audible chime for TACC activation as well.

I have FSD so I always do the double pull and I'm ~certain I get the chime when it enables and disables.

I don't recall if I've enabled TACC by itself. In any case, having a chime for TACC is a good idea.

Here is a tweet with a video of the OTA fix. Apparently just adding a single bong to let you know that you enabled TACC:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1409432699874459652

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

This whole thing is more about how to do business in China than about an actual problem.

In any case it's likely we'll get the chime. I've never activated TACC accidently, but I use TACC only enough that a chime wouldn't be a bad idea.

 

[Gratulin]

I’d like to be able to have a setting to disable TACC completely. I am always worried if friends drive my car who normally drive Japanese cars. In right-hand drive countries Japanese cars typically have turn indicators on the right - same as gear lever in Tesla. So, instead of accidentally turning wipers on in my car they might accidentally turn on TACC!

 

[AndreP]

If ya'll are interested, you can translate the following page for more detail straight from the Chinese regulator

特斯拉汽车（北京）有限公司、特斯拉（上海）有限公司召回部分进口和国产Model 3、国产Model Y电动汽车