Tesla Visualization Fail

[ukrainetrain]

I've had my model 3 for a year now and I've flirted with the idea of adding the autopilot which made me pay more attention to the visualization of other vehicles on the screen. I have noticed that 18 wheeler are constantly an issue. My model 3 will display them as too far in front of me and when I'm right next to the 18 wheeler it will show me as behind it. Flat bed trucks are another problem and I can see why a tesla on auto pilot might run into it while switching lanes, its because it doesn't see it.

My commute is basically passing 18 wheeler for an hour so I've put my upgrade on pause to see what the community says. Are you guys experiencing similar issues?

I attached a video link to what I'm talking about.

 

[RTPEV]

I think what you are seeing is more of a shortcoming of the visualization than an actual data error (with one caveat). Typically what I see when passing a semi is that the visualization shows what looks like two trucks: one for the tractor part, and one for the trailer. This could in fact be that the car doesn't "see" the middle part of the trailer because it's looking at the empty space below the trailer bed, and it only sees the back wheel section of the trailer (as one truck) and the front wheel section of the trailer plus the tractor as the second truck. This is the caveat.

The other option is that the visualization is simply not designed to show an object as large as the semi really is and it shows a small looking object (or two) even though the car really knows that there is a truck adjacent to the car.

Not being a Tesla insider, I don't know which is true, but I do know that that the repeater cameras can "see" the truck, and at least while in NoA I have never seen the car mistakenly attempt to cut over into the lane while passing a truck. It's usually extremely conservative when it comes to changing lanes. The closest I've seen it to doing something dumb was while merging onto a highway and having a truck in the right lane. I was quickly running out of merge lane and the car was happily going along, pacing the truck. I didn't care to see how it was going to resolve that so I disengaged by tapping the brake.

Net is, I wouldn't put a ton of stock on the visualization. It's a good guide, but the FSD computer has a far better view of what's going on around the car than what it's trying to show you in the visualization. Still, if you feel uncomfortable, and don't feel that you can monitor the situation well, then I would agree you should not get Autopilot.

 

[animorph]

Buying "Autopilot" now should get you only TACC (traffic aware cruise control) and Autosteer (steer within one lane). Basic Autopilot does not change lanes at all, much less on its own. Changing lanes will drop you out of autosteer. You need to get FSD for auto lane changing and Navigate on Autopilot.

I second RTPEV. We know the car sees more than what is displayed. I've never tried to change lanes into a semi, but other than aborts for no apparent reason a few updates ago lane changes have been very solid for me.

 

[JulienW]

Visualizations are generalized eye candy renders.