TACC in bad weather

[green1]

Here is the manual, TACC is on page #60.
http://www.teslamotors.com/sites/default/files/Model-S-Owners-Manual.pdf

Tell me where does it specifically say "Use TACC only on the freeway"?

Second paragraph on page 60.

Traffic Aware Cruise Control is primarily intended for driving on dry, straight roads, such as highways and freeways. It should not be used on city streets.

 

[bancroftc]

My (limited) understand is that you should not use cruise control - adaptive or otherwise - in any vehicle in the rain or inclement weather. A quick google search for "cruise control rain" and you'll see what I'm talking about. It would seem that there is an increased risk of losing control in the event of hydroplaning while using cruise control. My outgoing 2012 Toyota Sequoia has very effective adaptive cruise control. However, every time it starts raining, it automatically shuts off with a warning. I can still use standard cruise control, but the adaptive function is clearly designed to shut off in rain.

I would say that my Toyota's adaptive cruise control is great, but not perfect. It's highly dependent on the reflectivity of the vehicle in front of me. It picks up 95% of vehicles no problem. But the occasional older pickup truck with flat rusty paint, an obscured license plate, and a bunch of junk in the open bed will not return a signal to my truck, and therefore my vehicle has no idea something is in front of it. Point is, it's not always going to work and that's likely why Tesla has outlined this for the Model S in their manual. I would have to believe that rain, snow, fog or any other environmental factors that would come between the forward TACC sensors and the vehicle in front of you are going to adversely impact its effectiveness. That said, I'm not sure how Tesla's TACC technology varies from other manufacturers. It certainly has the total sensor package loaded up to blow my Sequoia out of the water (particularly with v7.0). Traffic aware (adaptive) cruise control in any car is designed to maintain a particular distance from and speed based on the vehicle in front of you, not to allow one to sit back and relax because it's dumping rain outside. The latter MIGHT work, but I'm not going to bet my life on it. Same for hoping that the car is going to stop itself while barreling down on another car from behind at a stop light. From my limited Tesla experience, and more so from what I've read and videos I've watched, the TACC on Tesla is no more sophisticated at this point than my 2012 Toyota. Would love to be corrected there!

Disclaimer - I have not spent much time with Tesla's TACC yet (just during test driving) where again, it seems to operate no differently that what I'm used to with other vehicles. 85D on order for late Oct delivery.

 

[jbcarioca]

Used TACC in very heavy (worst rain Ive experienced while driving) and I was very very pleased with it. Definitely helped me focus on the road as other ICE vehicles started stopping on the side of the road due to poor visibility.

I have used TCC in heavy Florida rain showers with never a single problem. I also use it routinely in dense city stop and go traffic.

Also, I was quite aware of the disclaimer about use. In any event I use TACC in the same way i use an autopilot in an airplane. This is, I maintain constant vigilance and use the device as a workload reducer, not a tool to lessen driver attention. When traffic is dense and/or weather is inclement i am doubly careful.

I fear that many people confuse TACC and Autopilot with autonomous driving which is an entirely different proposition. I do not presently wish to be a passenger in an autonomous vehicle on public streets.

 

[BerTX]

I have used TCC in heavy Florida rain showers with never a single problem. I also use it routinely in dense city stop and go traffic.

Also, I was quite aware of the disclaimer about use. In any event I use TACC in the same way i use an autopilot in an airplane. This is, I maintain constant vigilance and use the device as a workload reducer, not a tool to lessen driver attention. When traffic is dense and/or weather is inclement i am doubly careful.

I fear that many people confuse TACC and Autopilot with autonomous driving which is an entirely different proposition. I do not presently wish to be a passenger in an autonomous vehicle on public streets.

You use autopilot in your plane in bad weather and in heavy air traffic? Scary. :wink:

 

[Usatyke]

I use TACC all the time, I consider it one of the best features of my car. Never had an issue with rain (Seattle isn't the driest place on earth).
The only problem I've had is the stopped car issue that we all know about and just need to be aware of whilst driving.

 

[hacer]

Yesterday in light rain, I got the "Cruise Unavailable" message which it explicitly blamed on poor front camera visibility. It was night and it was definitely hard to see the lane markings on the wet pavement, but then I wasn't try to engage autopilot. It was no problem at all to see the cars ahead and I can't image the radar would have a problem tracking them. Elon has said he doesn't like LIDAR because it isn't all-weather capable whereas radar can be mostly immune to rain and snow.

The curious thing is that it turned on once, in the same conditions and was fine until I manually turned it off, whereupon it refused to turn back on for the rest of my drive. I was making a quick shopping trip, so when I got back in to drive home in the same conditions, the first try it turned on and worked fine until I turned it off manually, after which it refused to come on again all the way home.

The dash would occasionally show the lane markings on the road, but not the cars in front of me which were much easier to see than the lane markings.

I've previously used TACC in much worse rain with no problems at all.

 

[mblakele]

Yesterday in light rain, I got the "Cruise Unavailable" message which it explicitly blamed on poor front camera visibility. It was night and it was definitely hard to see the lane markings on the wet pavement, but then I wasn't try to engage autopilot. It was no problem at all to see the cars ahead and I can't image the radar would have a problem tracking them. Elon has said he doesn't like LIDAR because it isn't all-weather capable whereas radar can be mostly immune to rain and snow.

The curious thing is that it turned on once, in the same conditions and was fine until I manually turned it off, whereupon it refused to turn back on for the rest of my drive. I was making a quick shopping trip, so when I got back in to drive home in the same conditions, the first try it turned on and worked fine until I turned it off manually, after which it refused to come on again all the way home.

The dash would occasionally show the lane markings on the road, but not the cars in front of me which were much easier to see than the lane markings.

I've previously used TACC in much worse rain with no problems at all.

I had a similar experience this week. I've complained to my service center about it, and I suggest you do the same. At the very least I want to know why they think it's unsafe to use TACC when the camera is offline. So far the response has been along the lines of "functioning as designed".