What do I actually get _today_ for "Enhanced Autopilot?"

[nigelboid]

Hey Folks,

I ran some searches, but came up empty. I chatted with Tesla on-line and got the same canned marketing blurbs they already have on their web site. Is there a FAQ somewhere for this which I missed?

Anyway, what do I actually get today, in terms of real and active features, by paying for "Enhanced Autopilot?" Please don't use acronyms in your replies as I will likely not know what they mean.

Here's what I think I know (please correct where inaccurate):

1. All new cars have the same hardware. The fee merely activates features, pre-order (cheaper) or after delivery (more expensive).
2. Without "Enhanced Autopilot," I get some lane departure and collision warnings and possible emergency braking. What else do I get?
3. With "Enhanced Autopilot", I get summoning, automatic parking (parallel and otherwise), autonomous highway driving. What else do I get? What does "automatic lane changing" actually do?
4. I have read that some people use Autopilot on non-highway streets. How effective is that versus stop signs, traffic lights, traffic, and all such?
5. "Full Self-Driving" gets me nothing new today.

Many thanks!

 

[alcibiades]

With EAP there is autonomous highway driving only in a very limited sense. On a highway it will do its gosh-darnedest to stay in the lane and manage speed/follow spacing. It might even change lanes for you when you activate the clicker. That is, it will slide over to the next lane without you steering - but you have to initiate it. It is better to think of it as a driver-aid and not as autonomous (people exploit the word and equivocate on levels of it in order to sell stuff). Also, your experience may vary. The reports of its quality (including images and video) suggest radically inconsistent behavior.

Summon works in a straight line, preferably with lots of side-clearance. That is all.

EAP on non-highway streets again does its gosh-darnedest to stay in the lane and manage speed/follow spacing. It DOES NOT read stop signs or traffic lights. Also, it might not see a stopped car at a light, so you have to be ready.

The speed limit database for EAP is not exact, so you have to be aware of that as well.

But don't worry, EAP is expected to be complete in December 2016, at which time you'll get loads of new features enhancing your experience.

 

[ecarfan]

• All new cars have the same hardware. The fee merely activates features, pre-order (cheaper) or after delivery (more expensive).

• Without "Enhanced Autopilot," I get some lane departure and collision warnings and possible emergency braking. What else do I get?

• With "Enhanced Autopilot", I get summoning, automatic parking (parallel and otherwise), autonomous highway driving. What else do I get? What does "automatic lane changing" actually do?

• I have read that some people use Autopilot on non-highway streets. How effective is that versus stop signs, traffic lights, traffic, and all such?

• "Full Self-Driving" gets me nothing new today.

Without EAP you get the safety features you mention (but not lane departure warnings as far as I know) and you get "standard" cruise control (maintaining a fixed speed that you select). You cannot count on collision warns and AEB (Automatic Emergency Braking) to prevent impacts. Their goal is to reduce the speed of impacts.

With EAP you get the things you mentioned but it is NOT "autonomous" freeway/highway driving, it is "Auto Pilot" which is a "driver assist" feature. You have to keep your hand/hands resting lightly on the wheel and every minute or so apply a very slight torque to the wheel or the car will alert you. It's easy once you get the hang of it. Auto Pilot is maintaining lane position unless you initiate a lane change with the turn signal stalk and you MUST visually check to make sure it is safe to do so. In my opinion the best feature is that comes with the EAP option is TACC (Traffic Aware Cruise Control) which maintains spacing between you and the car ahead (which varies depending on your speed) and it works extremely well at all speeds below I think 90mph (limited to that).

Auto Pilot does NOT detect cross traffic in time for your to safely brake and avoid impact, it does not detect stop signs, traffic lights, pedestrians running in front of you, deer, moose, UFOs, and is NOT recommended for use on roads with cross traffic.

FSD is not yet active. But you can pay for it and you will get the features as they are released and as local laws allow. It is described on the Tesla website.

 

[IFought4U]

I've had my Model S 75 D for eight months. Here's what EAP won't do..... yet.
Hwy interchange nor exit.
See objects in your blind spot.
Stop for pedestrians.
Read Speed Limit Signs.
Activate Rain sensors for WS Wipers.
Summon on anything but a flat drive or parking lot.
Consistently see motorcycles or bicyclist.
Consistently Issue an audible warning for an impending collision.
Let you relax because you constantly have to make inputs to the steering wheel to let it know your attentive. A hand on the wheel is not good enough.

Did your sales rep inform you of these deficiencies? Mine didn't.

 

[nigelboid]

Thanks for your responses, Everyone.

IFought4U, I have not spoken to my local sales representative yet. I chatted with the on-line representative who proved less than helpful and only provided canned marketing blurbs.

I am surprised about the windshield wipers. My wife's much older Model S has this option. Packages were very different when we bought her car two years ago.

I had this suspicion and all the responses here have only reinforced my reluctance. I don't see a viable reason to shell out the extra $5K now. We did not buy AP1 two years ago, and I don't regret it for a second...

 

[ecarfan]

Activate Rain sensors for WS Wipers.

My 3 week old X with EAP does that: the auto wiper settings on the control stalk work.

Let you relax because you constantly have to make inputs to the steering wheel to let it know your attentive. A hand on the wheel is not good enough.

A hand on the wheel is good enough to stop the alerts if about once a minute you put a very small amount of pressure on the wheel pushing just slightly against what Auto Pilot is doing. I don't get alerts. I did my first week but then I got the hang of it.

I'm glad I got EAP. I think it's worth it, and I know that over the next several years it is going to continually improve.

 

[Snowstorm]

If you know what AP1 did and still didn't buy it without regrants, then you won't miss anything about AP2 now. In my view, they function similarly, except AP1 can read speed signs and show more stuff on the dash. AP2 will get better someday, but it is only near parity now.

 

[outie]

FSD is not yet active. But you can pay for it and you will get the features as they are released and as local laws allow. It is described on the Tesla website.

I wonder what if the local laws never allow it. If the law says you need redundant hardware (cameras/sensors/computer) what will Tesla do? The existing system is capable of FSD but what if the law requires more. They didn't guarantee regulatory approval.

 

[mcbarnet007]

I wonder what if the local laws never allow it. If the law says you need redundant hardware (cameras/sensors/computer) what will Tesla do? The existing system is capable of FSD but what if the law requires more. They didn't guarantee regulatory approval.

I think this is what hardware 2.5 comes in. To make sure it satisfies regulatory approval.

 

[lunitiks]

What do I actually get _today_ for "Enhanced Autopilot?"

The same features as Autopilot 1.

So _today_ there's nothing enhanced about enhanced autopilot

 

[lano]

My 3 week old X with EAP does that: the auto wiper settings on the control stalk work.

Which software version are you using?

Anyone with a never model S that confirm if it works there also?

 

[alcibiades]

Which software version are you using?

Anyone with a never model S that confirm if it works there also?

Fake news.

He is wrong. There is no rain-sensing in HW2. No idea why he said that unless he misunderstands the difference between "working intermittent settings" and "rain-sensing".

 

[electracity]

He is wrong. There is no rain-sensing in HW2.

Yes there is. It's called a camera. There is no dedicated rain sensor in HW2.

Apparently training the system to consistently recognize rain was not as easy as expected. I'll bet their test system occasionally activates the wipers when there is no rain. Releasing that kind of auto wiper functionality would make Tesla look silly.

Tesla kinda screwed S/X AP2 buyers by removing the hardware rain sensor.

 

[lunitiks]

Just curious: Is there any other car brand in the world who uses visual (cameras) for rain sensing auto wipers like Tesla is trying to do?

 

[alcibiades]

Yes there is. It's called a camera.

For those of us who use common English, there is no rain-sensing in HW2.

There is a camera that they hoped could see rain. In December 2016 it will be ready.

Similarly, there is no speed-limit sign reading in HW2. The cameras "see" signs, a pedant could argue (much like "rain occurs in front of the camera"), but of course that isn't the same thing as sign reading. When HW2 reaches AP1 parity in December 2016, this too will change.

 

[Az_Rael]

My 3 week old X with EAP does that: the auto wiper settings on the control stalk work.

Weird, I just had an AP2 X loaner and it did not have rain sensing. Drove me nuts since I had it for two days a year it actually rains here. It was actually how I figured out the car was AP2 since I didn't look at the sensors before driving away from the SC.

 

[electracity]

For those of us who use common English, there is no rain-sensing in HW2.

There is a camera that they hoped could see rain. In December 2016 it will be ready.

Similarly, there is no speed-limit sign reading in HW2. The cameras "see" signs, a pedant could argue (much like "rain occurs in front of the camera"), but of course that isn't the same thing as sign reading. When HW2 reaches AP1 parity in December 2016, this too will change.

In common english, these features don't exist in the current release of AP2.

HW2 is hardware, in common english. The functions you are describing are implemented in software.

 

[Swift]

I wonder what if the local laws never allow it. If the law says you need redundant hardware (cameras/sensors/computer) what will Tesla do? The existing system is capable of FSD but what if the law requires more. They didn't guarantee regulatory approval.

I'd be happy if they just submit something for regulatory approval. Of course, they should be able to do that by the end of the year when the car can drive from LA to NYC on its own as promised.

 

[alcibiades]

In common english, these features don't exist in the current release of AP2.

HW2 is hardware, in common english. The functions you are describing are implemented in software.

Your Claim: HW2 is capable with of rain-sensing intermittent wipers.

Your Proof: Belief.

The claim that rain-sensing wiper functions (which, let's be honest, are the only things that matter here and are available in cheap-ass cars) are capable of being implemented in this hardware by well-written software is a claim for which Tesla has to this point provided ZERO evidence. In a minimum of 10 months they have not been able to code it. They were happy to release plenty of other crappy half-baked elements to the alpha testers of HW2, but this we haven't even seen once.

Your commitment is to this nonsensical pedantry is more a sign of priapism than virility.

 

[alcibiades]

I'd be happy if they just submit something for regulatory approval. Of course, they should be able to do that by the end of the year when the car can drive from LA to NYC on its own as promised.

It's obscene, the way Tesla is treating its customers who purchased EAP.