[UK] Hands free (Level 2) driving has arrived

[Ant M3]

It’s embarrassing that Tesla have been beaten to releasing this level of autonomous driving when they’ve been the ones crowing about it for years and years and years…
I was one of the mugs who believed Elon etal and purchased FSD for £6k with my car in 2019… I might actually get some of this functionality now - assuming I don’t sell it before then !
That said, I bet it’s dependent on a hardware upgrade

 

[Fursty Ferret]

There seems to be a lot of picking and choosing when it comes to the UNECE regulations anyway, whether by Tesla or others. Whether this is due to particular sections only being ratified by the relevant authorities, I don't know, but if you read them you'll find that it's almost impossible to have even borderline level 2 legally (ie if you let your navigation maps get more than a year out of date, you have to inhibit items like auto steer).

 

[pgkevet]

Where did you read/hear that?

The vid you linked also says that circa 13.40

 

[Zilla91]

The vid you linked also says that circa 13.40

You're right, just rewatched it and I've clocked he was initiating the lane changes

 

[Mrklaw]

if you have to pay attention then its still level 2. whats the difference in implementation that allows for the hands free - is it the backup of camera monitoring as an alternative?

How far off would Tesla be from this with EAP? a lot of the limitations seemed to have been from UNECE regs - time to initiate lane changes after indicating etc which the Ford seems at least not to have an issue with? If they replaced the hand detection with in-cabin camera could Tesla also do this?

 

[Durzel]

It’s embarrassing that Tesla have been beaten to releasing this level of autonomous driving when they’ve been the ones crowing about it for years and years and years…
I was one of the mugs who believed Elon etal and purchased FSD for £6k with my car in 2019… I might actually get some of this functionality now - assuming I don’t sell it before then !
That said, I bet it’s dependent on a hardware upgrade

The state of Tesla's self driving can - sadly - easily be explained by looking at the other stuff they do, or don't do.

Tesla doesn't develop FSD in any serious way outside of the US. They aren't interested and don't appear to develop it in any meaningful way for foreign markets. Their attitude is essentially that those markets will get FSD if/when their regulations are relaxed enough to allow it to be provisioned "as is", without any substantial tweaks, etc. Matrix lights is another good example - legal in Europe for many years, but Tesla hasn't done anything with it here because it's only been made legal in the States very recently.

There has been talk of Tesla testing FSD on UK roads with some testers, but it all seems to be for naught really because I've not seen any evidence that anything has changed with any of the self-driving aspects in the 3+ years I've owned my M3P. By contrast American peeps get new stuff in FSD beta regularly.

It's all very disappointing really, and no great surprise that another company that actually gives a *sugar* about Europe has beaten them to the punch.

 

[GRiLLA]

This is a distraction, it's just a different mechanism of monitoring driver awareness, otherwise no different to EAP/FSD today. What we are waiting for is the first cars to be added to the list of allowed L3 autonomous cars. That will be a step forward.

 

[Zilla91]

otherwise no different to EAP/FSD today.

EAP/FSD allows hands free driving?

 

[NewbieT]

EAP/FSD allows hands free driving?

So it’s a teeny weeny little benefit over EAP/FSD. You still can’t use your mobile phone or watch a film. = not such a big deal.

 

[Artiste]

So it’s a teeny weeny little benefit over EAP/FSD. You still can’t use your mobile phone or watch a film. = not such a big deal.

I’d say it’s a significant benefit. I find having to keep my hands on the wheel completely tiresome. I can never keep just the right amount of pressure and keep on getting warnings.

 

[Type2]

I’d say it’s a significant benefit. I find having to keep my hands on the wheel completely tiresome. I can never keep just the right amount of pressure and keep on getting warnings.

I also get the steering wheel nag far too frequently and it’s very irritating.

Had Tesla been the first to implement this people would have been crowing about it here and describing it as a game changer. The fact that Ford has beat them to it will make a lot of people want to barf.

 

[Hurricane]

So it’s a teeny weeny little benefit over EAP/FSD. You still can’t use your mobile phone or watch a film. = not such a big deal.

That may be true, but it’s a more significant development than anything that’s happened to FSD in the nearly 4 years I’ve owned my M3. I’m highly amused that Ford have got there first.

 

[qwickshot]

That may be true, but it’s a more significant development than anything that’s happened to FSD in the nearly 4 years I’ve owned my M3. I’m highly amused that Ford have got there first.

The system has been available in Chevy cars for years in the states. It’s not actually new at all.

 

[browellm]

The system has been available in Chevy cars for years in the states. It’s not actually new at all.

The crux of the the thread is that is has regulatory approval in the UK. That is new.

FSD beta and Chevy cars in the States are as much use as a fart in a space suit in the UK.

 

[Medved_77]

The system has been available in Chevy cars for years in the states. It’s not actually new at all.

Just for clarity, BlueCruise has been available for several years, but it's BlueCruise v1.2 available on 2023 Mach E and Lincoln ActiveGlide v1.2 on the Lincoln Navigator that allows 'hands free driving'. Only the Mach E is available in the UK.

Hands free driving until you wish to change lanes, then you need to make contact with the indicator stalk, but do not need to touch the wheel.

Watching demos of prior versions of BlueCruise, you had to hold the wheel when changing lanes and when going around tight bends, or when the lane marking were ambiguous.

I'm not sure why it's only the 2023 versions of these cars that allow 'hands free' driving, whether it be a change in ADAS hardware or a delay in rolling out software updates to older models.

 

[Casss]

That may be true, but it’s a more significant development than anything that’s happened to FSD in the nearly 4 years I’ve owned my M3. I’m highly amused that Ford have got there first.

Not surprising though really because it’s entirely dependent on high definition mapping, which is essentially the short cut strategy to ‘solving’ self driving. I’m surprised it hasn’t happened sooner with a mapped adas system. Probably has something to do with the fact that none of the worlds largest manufacturers felt a need to prove they could do it until Tesla started to be seen as a real threat.

The only ‘step’ forward this represents is in regulatory precedent.

The whole ‘blue zone’ thing - which seems to be being overlooked by most, very clearly puts this firmly in ‘gimmick’ territory for me. Just like FSD in the U.K currently. The main difference is that when/if Tesla do crack FSD worldwide it will actually be impressive. This is an abacus cosplaying as a smart phone.

 

[NewbieT]

I don’t know about gimmick (assuming BlueCruise does actually work). I find EAP one of the most useful features of a Tesla, even with its foibles (and I bet BlueCruise has them too). EAP/FSD should only be used in motorway/dual carriageway so the scope of the blue zone is probably very similar to Tesla.

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

I’ve always found the steering wheel starting to pull in a different direction to what I expected was the first sign it was getting things wrong, and having your hand in the wheel meant you’re ready to intervene saving what might be a fraction of a second, but they all add up. I’d therefore not be a good passenger with anyone who felt hands off was a good idea. We’re all different in where we draw the line and what we find acceptable, but I look at it as how best to deal with it when it gets it wrong, because it will, and it’s L2, over the comfort of when it’s getting it right.

 

[NewbieT]

Second Hand Car Prices - Ford Mustang Mach-E - Car Price Tracker. Let’s see if the value moves.

If I was a Mach-e owner I’d be chuffed right now. The donkey just caught the carrot. Or did the carrot swing too close to the donkey. Anyway promise/potential fulfilled.

 

[LiamPope]

So it’s a teeny weeny little benefit over EAP/FSD. You still can’t use your mobile phone or watch a film. = not such a big deal.

I'd call 17.99 a month vs 3400 not transferable to a new car a significant benefit!