Who is upgrading to self driving?

[Az_Rael]

I just have less faith in people than Elon does, I guess. I can forsee a fun game for teenagers, playng chicken with driverless Teslas they see approaching from the opposite direction, seeing how far they can get them to jump into the ditch to avoid a collision, or herding the Tesla around in a parking lot like a game of Pacman.

I don't think autonomous driving will work until cars are networked and communicate with each other, knowing what each vehicle will do because they are in control of the whole mess. And that certainly won't happen in my lifetime. And that's fine with me.

I saw a post a while back about someone doing a milder form of that already with the Google cars. If they found one in the left lane driving too slow and blocking them in, they found they could "aggressively tailgate" it and get it to speed up so they could get around. People will figure out tricks for Teslas as well, I am sure.

 

[Shumdit]

Yes they do raise prices later. Anyone who hadn't upgraded to Autopilot before they raised the price from $2500 to $3000 had to pay the higher fee even if they bought the car when the fee was $2500, so it ended up being $1000 more for them (with the $500 change fee).

Also, the extended warranty almost doubled in price at one point, but they ended up giving folks a grace period to get in on the old price in that case. No garuntees they do it again though.


Safest bet is to buy it with the car. It seems like all price changes have been increases, I don't think we have seen a price decrease for software stuff yet.

True, on the Model S the rear jump seats were originally $1500 but are now $4000. Air supension and panaorama roof were both $1500 and now are $2500 each. There is no guarantee that they won't decide the work to get FSDC approved and on market justifies a much higher price.

 

[theboom1]

I just have less faith in people than Elon does, I guess. I can forsee a fun game for teenagers, playng chicken with driverless Teslas they see approaching from the opposite direction, seeing how far they can get them to jump into the ditch to avoid a collision, or herding the Tesla around in a parking lot like a game of Pacman.

I don't think autonomous driving will work until cars are networked and communicate with each other, knowing what each vehicle will do because they are in control of the whole mess. And that certainly won't happen in my lifetime. And that's fine with me.

Yes I agree. It would need to be at least highly automated for everything to work perfectly. You stated that you like driving and I was just saying a way that we could keep driving. In the playing chicken thing, if the teen's car had autopilot in shadow mode (again like you said, assuming everyone had it) when the cars got close the computer would force the car back into its lane because that's what it would do if it was in full autonomous mode.

 

[speedygonzalez]

Doesn't the answer also depend on whether you are leasing or buying? If on a two year lease, upgrading to EAP may make sense, but self driving may not if it does not come to market by then. Likely the same for a 3 year lease。

 

[RocketGoBoom]

True, on the Model S the rear jump seats were originally $1500 but are now $4000. Air supension and panaorama roof were both $1500 and now are $2500 each. There is no guarantee that they won't decide the work to get FSDC approved and on market justifies a much higher price.

Some options that used to be extras are now standard on the car.
When I bought my Model S, folding mirrors and parking sensors were new and an extra option.

Supercharger access used to be a $2,000 option on 60 kwh cars. Now it is standard for everyone.

HD backup camera used to be an upgrade. Now it is standard on all cars.

Those are just a few items I found and going from my memory of my 2013 purchase.

 

[MXWing]

True, on the Model S the rear jump seats were originally $1500 but are now $4000. Air supension and panaorama roof were both $1500 and now are $2500 each. There is no guarantee that they won't decide the work to get FSDC approved and on market justifies a much higher price.

Were you to in a position of deciding to pay for FSDC now or pay later - what would you do?

 

[Corsair66]

Having ordered my Model S90D on 10/14, I chose to upgrade to both Enhanced Autopilot and Self-Driving before my order locked last Friday. While I doubt that the full suite of self-driving features will be made available during the term of my 3-year lease, some of them likely will and paying $3K now spread over 36 months made more sense to me than paying $4K later in a lump sum. The monthly bump is trivial, so I'll consider any 'extra' features I receive down the road to be a net win.

Can't wait for my car to get here. Currently tracking "Late December - early January".

 

[Buddy]

Having ordered my Model S90D on 10/14, I chose to upgrade to both Enhanced Autopilot and Self-Driving before my order locked last Friday. While I doubt that the full suite of self-driving features will be made available during the term of my 3-year lease, some of them likely will and paying $3K now spread over 36 months made more sense to me than paying $4K later in a lump sum. The monthly bump is trivial, so I'll consider any 'extra' features I receive down the road to be a net win.

Can't wait for my car to get here. Currently tracking "Late December - early January".

What will you do if none of the options become available by the end of your lease? Or what options, at minimum, would you want to see made available for you to not regret paying for that option?

Example: Freeway exiting and stop sign recognition become available by the end of your lease, but nothing else. Would that be worth paying the extra $3,000 for "fully autonomous"?

 

[Corsair66]

What will you do if none of the options become available by the end of your lease? Or what options, at minimum, would you want to see made available for you to not regret paying for that option?

Example: Freeway exiting and stop sign recognition become available by the end of your lease, but nothing else. Would that be worth paying the extra $3,000 for "fully autonomous"?

A fair question. I'm looking at it more as a gamble. As with any gambling, one should be prepared to lose one's entire wager, which I am. If I lose the gamble, three years down the road, then those are the breaks - at least I gave myself a chance to win.

Now, what would I like to see become available in the next three years, short of full autonomy? Any level of point-to-point navigation (highway or surface street) would be neat, as would some degree of self-parking and retrieval (Summon).

 

[Beckler]

On the verge of reserving and can't imagine not getting self-driving. I think some people underestimate the revolution SD will be. It massively upends everything about transportation that we are currently used to and even entire lifestyles for some - or many. The safety reason alone is 100% sufficient for me to get it tho. Driving cars can lead to some very ugly methods of dying - ones which I have no interest in. Manually driving a vehicle will seem downright ridiculous (if not idiotic) very soon after full SD is here, I predict.

 

[martinicus]

I haven't yet received my upgrade email. Is there anyone who has the email who can post the format of the URL link to upgrade? (I.e. Strip out any of your identifying codes)

 

[RocketGoBoom]

On the verge of reserving and can't imagine not getting self-driving. I think some people underestimate the revolution SD will be. It massively upends everything about transportation that we are currently used to and even entire lifestyles for some - or many. The safety reason alone is 100% sufficient for me to get it tho. Driving cars can lead to some very ugly methods of dying - ones which I have no interest in. Manually driving a vehicle will seem downright ridiculous (if not idiotic) very soon after full SD is here, I predict.

I will also likely eventually get FSDC. But I don't see the rush in paying for it now in 2016. It is a late 2017 or 2018 feature and based on Tesla's history, it might not actually happen until AP version 3 with more sensors or radar or cameras, etc. The enhanced feature list seems achievable. The FSDC list seems optimistic. Just my opinion.

 

[theboom1]

Manually driving a vehicle will seem downright ridiculous (if not idiotic) very soon after full SD is here, I predict.

Unless you know.....you like driving or you have a sports car or a p100d Luda. But if your in manual driving mode for those reasons you would probably be paying a bit more attention.

 

[Buddy]

A fair question. I'm looking at it more as a gamble. As with any gambling, one should be prepared to lose one's entire wager, which I am. If I lose the gamble, three years down the road, then those are the breaks - at least I gave myself a chance to win.

Now, what would I like to see become available in the next three years, short of full autonomy? Any level of point-to-point navigation (highway or surface street) would be neat, as would some degree of self-parking and retrieval (Summon).

I really like your perspective and expectation. I think with your outlook, you wont be disappointed.

 

[MXWing]

I really like your perspective and expectation. I think with your outlook, you wont be disappointed.

On a 3 year lease, why would you likely pay 2/3rds of the product with no benefit when you can roll the cost into the next car and be assured to have it?

I went with the "own" option my Tesla and I have to decide between paying for FSDC now where I can't use it or pay later for a higher price. By higher price, I mean above and beyond the FSDC feature + 1000.

 

[Corsair66]

Well, as I said, it's a gamble. I'm betting that I'll accrue, sometime over the course of my 3-year lease, enough benefit to feel that spreading the FSDC cost over 36 months was worthwhile to me. Since the monthly bump for FSDC is effectively nil, that's a fairly low bar to clear.

 

[Tony8489]

I do not have a pending order, but I was curious about the hardware differences between EAP and FSDC. So I asked at the store in Pasadena, "Which 4 of the 8 cameras are not activated if you choose only EAP?" To some surprise, the answer was the 4 side cameras. So with EAP you get the 3 in the front plus the backup camera. I was surprised because I view blind spot detection as the biggest flaw in AP1. I think you need the rear facing side cameras to fix that problem. The new ultrasonics have longer range, but I don't think that solves the problem of a car overtaking from behind at high relative speed the way the camera would.

FYI the design studio shows that $1,500 is still the price for the pano roof.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

I do not have a pending order, but I was curious about the hardware differences between EAP and FSDC. So I asked at the store in Pasadena, "Which 4 of the 8 cameras are not activated if you choose only EAP?" To some surprise, the answer was the 4 side cameras. So with EAP you get the 3 in the front plus the backup camera. I was surprised because I view blind spot detection as the biggest flaw in AP1. I think you need the rear facing side cameras to fix that problem. The new ultrasonics have longer range, but I don't think that solves the problem of a car overtaking from behind at high relative speed the way the camera would.

That answer doesn't match the online upgrade text which indicates two front cameras and two rear cameras are used for EAP:

Enhanced Autopilot adds new capabilities to an already advanced driving experience. The enhancements include going from one to four cameras – two redundant forward facing, left rear and right rear to see fast-approaching vehicles in adjacent lanes, 360 degree ultrasonic coverage with twice the range, and a computer that is over 40 times more powerful than before. Your Tesla will match speed to traffic conditions, keep within a lane, automatically change lanes without requiring driver input, transition from one freeway to another, exit the freeway when your destination is near, self-park when near a parking spot and be summoned to and from your garage.

 

[Tony8489]

I stand corrected. I would have assumed the left right and rear cameras to be a high priority to correct the blind spots. This is the second occasion where I got incorrect info about the new autopilot in a Tesla store.

Since the rear backup camera is presumably active, EAP in reality has 5 cameras not 4, if 2 of the 3 front cameras are active.

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

Based on my limited experience with Tesla sales people, they often don't know what they are talking about. I wouldn't trust anything they say. Back in June, when I was at a showroom, I was told that the current hardware was enough for full autonomy. I knew better, but I was a little shocked when he said that.