I purchased a Model 3 in December 2018. I have taken it on about 15 road trips over 300 miles in that time frame. I was one of the first to receive a Vision Only Model Y in June of 2021. I took that vehicle on the first road trip this past weekend. 850 miles round trip. 50% interstate / 50% highway.
Based on my experience with Autopilot in these two cars, there is no comparison. The radar system is not only far ahead of the current vision-only system, but the December 2018 version of the radar system is also significantly ahead of the current vision-only system.
In 850 miles of driving, I was subjected to 13 phantom braking events. In addition to those 13 events, I also had 2 events where a truck was just on the lane line and instead of the Tesla utilizing the space in my lane to avoid the vehicle (was obvious that they were not coming all the way over), again we were subjected to hard braking. One incident nearly resulted in a rear-end collision. 3 of the phantom braking events resulted in other drivers giving me angry hand gestures.
In addition to the phantom braking, we also had to endure what I would call "a general lack of confidence". The car would consistently slow down 3-5 mph for no valid reason. Examples: Car coming the other way on a 2 lane highway fully in their lane. Car stopped at a stop sign at an intersection. Etc. No human would consider braking in the situations that VO was consistently braking.
Another "feature" that is significantly worse than in my radar car is lane-centering in a situation where turn lanes appear or lane lines move. The VO car behaves much more like the 2018 incarnation of AP where the car seems to only take into account the next 10 feet of the roadway into its decision making. IE, the car seems to think "I must center myself in this lane immediately" despite the clear fact that the "wide" lane only exists for the next 30 feet. Once the lane narrows back up, the Y then aggressively recenters itself in what I would deem an erratic way. So aggressive that oncoming cars were moving toward the ditch to make sure I didn't enter their lane.
Bottom line, I find AP in my Vision Only Model Y to be both dangerous and embarrassing. I will test it periodically to see if this has improved but I have asked my wife to not use it at all until I have more confidence in it. If I had it to do over, I would not have purchased the VO MY. I am hopeful that Tesla *can* fix this, but I'm not 100% sure that these issues can be addressed without some sort of retrofit. It would not surprise me if NHTSA forces Tesla to retrofit these cars with radar if they cannot address these issues soon. Once Tesla is forced to provide AP data to NHTSA in October, there will likely be questions asked.
Based on my experience with Autopilot in these two cars, there is no comparison. The radar system is not only far ahead of the current vision-only system, but the December 2018 version of the radar system is also significantly ahead of the current vision-only system.
In 850 miles of driving, I was subjected to 13 phantom braking events. In addition to those 13 events, I also had 2 events where a truck was just on the lane line and instead of the Tesla utilizing the space in my lane to avoid the vehicle (was obvious that they were not coming all the way over), again we were subjected to hard braking. One incident nearly resulted in a rear-end collision. 3 of the phantom braking events resulted in other drivers giving me angry hand gestures.
In addition to the phantom braking, we also had to endure what I would call "a general lack of confidence". The car would consistently slow down 3-5 mph for no valid reason. Examples: Car coming the other way on a 2 lane highway fully in their lane. Car stopped at a stop sign at an intersection. Etc. No human would consider braking in the situations that VO was consistently braking.
Another "feature" that is significantly worse than in my radar car is lane-centering in a situation where turn lanes appear or lane lines move. The VO car behaves much more like the 2018 incarnation of AP where the car seems to only take into account the next 10 feet of the roadway into its decision making. IE, the car seems to think "I must center myself in this lane immediately" despite the clear fact that the "wide" lane only exists for the next 30 feet. Once the lane narrows back up, the Y then aggressively recenters itself in what I would deem an erratic way. So aggressive that oncoming cars were moving toward the ditch to make sure I didn't enter their lane.
Bottom line, I find AP in my Vision Only Model Y to be both dangerous and embarrassing. I will test it periodically to see if this has improved but I have asked my wife to not use it at all until I have more confidence in it. If I had it to do over, I would not have purchased the VO MY. I am hopeful that Tesla *can* fix this, but I'm not 100% sure that these issues can be addressed without some sort of retrofit. It would not surprise me if NHTSA forces Tesla to retrofit these cars with radar if they cannot address these issues soon. Once Tesla is forced to provide AP data to NHTSA in October, there will likely be questions asked.
