Solved*: AP, TACC, Auto Wipers & Lights

2022.36.5. 9/21 build Model Y LR, no FSD.

tl;dr In the most extreme dark heavy rain, without human visibility of lane lines or even the road surface, AP never gave up. Auto wipers are near perfect, auto hi/lo beams also really really good.

I've been extremely critical here over the past year of all the above, but I'm ready to say it's all ready for prime time, at least in my car. If I was in charge, I'd put it all on the list for production release candidates, if these results could be validated on all model/config variations.

So last night I drove from Portland to The Dalles on I84 in a serious deluge. From late dusk to full dark, with bad crosswinds, rain/mist blowing sideways at times, fully obscuring the road for up to 10-15 seconds at a time, hitting several bad standing water patches, getting dumped on from trucks coming the other way, AP never gave up or made any mistakes. Rain was often so hard at times fastest wipers could not keep up.

Honestly, I should have pulled over a couple times, it was so bad.

AP kept working well beyond any reasonable person's limit of safe driving conditions. To me, that's solved. Can't ask for anything beyond that.

Wipers need interventions exactly 2x over 2 hours, an extra wipe, way easier than any manual wipers I've ever owned.

Brights are not perfect, still a bit timid and flicker some both on the high and low ends, but almost never the wrong way. I did have to dip them twice in weird situations, but otherwise fine.

Today in bright daylight, AP drove through bad mirages cresting hills, the last place it still failed for me. I call that solved too.

*Caveats:

-This was one drive in one car, and not really foggy conditions.
-I'd like to see following distance basically doubled from the 7 setting.

Hats off Tesla, well done.

(Admin note: Image added by admin for thumbnail)

 

[Transformer]

Nice!

Did you bravely use AP despite the heavy rain or try it to keep going in low visibility?

+1 for >7 following distance! I'd use TACC more often with that. Tailgating is dangerous and threatening.

 

[OxBrew]

Nice!

Did you bravely use AP despite the heavy rain or try it to keep going in low visibility?

+1 for >7 following distance! I'd use TACC more often with that. Tailgating is dangerous and threatening.

I used it in very low visibility, road invisible for up to 15 seconds at a time or more, in the dark, AP never gave up, kept on through everything. On past iterations it gave up in situations half as bad.

I have a dash can clip of a really bad section, I'll pull it tomorrow.

At first I would take over when I saw standing water, but after I felt how it tractored through them, I let it drive the next few (no one around) and it handled them better than I could.

I'm not saying this is advisable, you never know how deep the water might be.

I have nearly new mud and snow tires, with great wet traction. I would not be so confident on older summer tires in the rain.

I'm a convert. 6 or 8 months ago, I couldn't use AP at all, it would brake for the mildest shadows, give up in heavy rain.

Tonight I was able to test AP driving straight into the sun, near sunset. Never flinched, worked perfectly. I could barely see the road, it was bad.

(all of this is on freeway only, not talking about anything else.)

 

[giskard]

How does it do now on 2 lane roads with cars crossing way ahead? I stopped using AP completely because of mirage and very delayed car crossing panic stops.

 

[enemji]

2022.36.5. 9/21 build Model Y LR, no FSD.

tl;dr In the most extreme dark heavy rain, without human visibility of lane lines or even the road surface, AP never gave up. Auto wipers are near perfect, auto hi/lo beams also really really good.

I've been extremely critical here over the past year of all the above, but I'm ready to say it's all ready for prime time, at least in my car. If I was in charge, I'd put it all on the list for production release candidates, if these results could be validated on all model/config variations.

So last night I drove from Portland to The Dalles on I84 in a serious deluge. From late dusk to full dark, with bad crosswinds, rain/mist blowing sideways at times, fully obscuring the road for up to 10-15 seconds at a time, hitting several bad standing water patches, getting dumped on from trucks coming the other way, AP never gave up or made any mistakes. Rain was often so hard at times fastest wipers could not keep up.

Honestly, I should have pulled over a couple times, it was so bad.

AP kept working well beyond any reasonable person's limit of safe driving conditions. To me, that's solved. Can't ask for anything beyond that.

Wipers need interventions exactly 2x over 2 hours, an extra wipe, way easier than any manual wipers I've ever owned.

Brights are not perfect, still a bit timid and flicker some both on the high and low ends, but almost never the wrong way. I did have to dip them twice in weird situations, but otherwise fine.

Today in bright daylight, AP drove through bad mirages cresting hills, the last place it still failed for me. I call that solved too.

*Caveats:

-This was one drive in one car, and not really foggy conditions.
-I'd like to see following distance basically doubled from the 7 setting.

Hats off Tesla, well done.

I had the same experience a few days ago over 120 miles of driving. The AP did not struggle at all. The wipers are for AP, not for me so I never interfered with how many swipes and speed of swipes.

 

[OxBrew]

How does it do now on 2 lane roads with cars crossing way ahead? I stopped using AP completely because of mirage and very delayed car crossing panic stops.

mirage seems fixed, at least for the ones I saw. car crossing have not tested. It slowed down really well for a car in front taking an exit (people, slow down after you hit the exit ramp, not before, please!)

 

[OxBrew]

The wipers are for AP, not for me

Disagree. As driver monitoring, I need to see.

One time, just the bottom half was obscured. I let it go for 30 seconds, but then gave in and wiped it.

 

[B_E_V]

-I'd like to see following distance basically doubled from the 7 setting.

Definitely.
I would like an 8 setting that is at least double the 7 setting, and a 9 setting that is as long a following distance as the car can implement.

I was taught to watch the car ahead pass a fixed spot such as a traffic sign, after which I should be able to count "1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, 3 Mississippi" before I pass the same spot. Even with the car set to 7 it is rare for my count to pass ""1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, 3."

 

[enemji]

mirage seems fixed, at least for the ones I saw. car crossing have not tested. It slowed down really well for a car in front taking an exit (people, slow down after you hit the exit ramp, not before, please!)

Today an idiot in a BMW X5 on my left side realized all too late that his exit was on the right side. I was on AP. The X5 crossed the lanes right in front of me and AP hit the brakes right on time and as soon as he was out of my lane, AP resumed going on. Good job AP!

 

[enemji]

Disagree. As driver monitoring, I need to see.

One time, just the bottom half was obscured. I let it go for 30 seconds, but then gave in and wiped it.

Hmmm if anything the wipers swipe more than I would ever do. I cannot speak about your habits and needs.

 

[IronCoffee_Max]

A year ago I was in a rainstorm I couldn’t see but AP was able to stay in between lines perfectly.

A couple weeks ago I drove 2800 miles with a part of it through Wyoming and it was super heavy snowing at night and AP was doing a super human job. I tried taking over and realized I couldn’t see worth anything.

If you video using your phone while the car is driving you’ll see that even your iPhone can see a lot better than you can.

 

[robd]

Wondering if it has improved when it’s not raining? Lots of reports of the wipers going on when not raining. I personally have not tried it since the update. Also high beams blinding other drivers (though at least you can turn off auto high ……until you change lanes at least)

 

[OxBrew]

Next day I drove home 4.5 hours in clear weather, AP nearly the entire way. Never had a stray dry wipe or any brights flashing. Almost completely dry the whole trip, except for about 15 minutes of hail and light rain.

I encourage anyone who had issues with AP and auto wipers/lights to give them another try. I didn't think they'd ever fix them properly, but I was wrong. I think they've nailed it.

What's really weird is it seems like it's been already solved for a lot of cars, but for a big chunk of us it was badly broken. I used to think people who said it all worked great just had low standards, and put up with poor performance. Now I have to wonder if it really worked well for some people for a long time already.

 

[Transformer]

Going by TMC, features like AP, auto wipers, and voice commands work much better for some people than others. Is it car variations? Regional road differences and conditions? Regional accents? Driving techniques? Low standards?

Detailed release notes would be great. They could just say "improved autopilot" or list the improved cases, and also list bug fixes. They could be posted on tesla.com. Then we'd know to retry those features.

 

[OxBrew]

Going by TMC, features like AP, auto wipers, and voice commands work much better for some people than others. Is it car variations? Regional road differences and conditions? Regional accents? Driving techniques? Low standards?

Detailed release notes would be great. They could just say "improved autopilot" or list the improved cases, and also list bug fixes. They could be posted on tesla.com. Then we'd know to retry those features.

Exactly. IDK, but it seems like a switch flipped in this last release. Previously, in my car, AP was broken. Phantom braked every drive, usually mirages (all mirages). Family wouldn't let me use it if they were in the car.

Maybe they just finally got around to de-bugging whatever exact HW configuration I have? Some final calibration for that set of variables? IDK, really stunning the difference.

 

[lolder]

I think these functions work better the closer you are to Fremont.

 

[Indy3]

Agree re need to offer extended follow distance well beyond 7 setting. That and auto pilot allows a lane change in front of a semi WAY too close. Auto pilot can recognize semi’s, so why can’t it apply different lane change safe distances in front of semis?

 

[Kimmi]

Rain in Southern California today. The windshield wipers still suck!

 

[Supcom]

Rain in North Texas today. The windshield wipers worked like a champ!

 

[enemji]

Rain in Southern California today. The windshield wipers still suck!

Did they swipe too fast, too slow or they wiped in a rhythm that made you uncomfortable?