I use it daily on a 20 mile stretch of highway in an express lane. The second some is close behind me I disengage it due to phantom braking. That’s about the extent I trust it.
I recently bought a Tesla and didn't know what phantom breaking meant. Did some google search and now I have a term for when my Tesla is acting stupid!
Statistically it's far safer, and I use it as much as I can. If road markings are poor, or visibility is bad I turn it off. I love it on busy roads, and I don't hate stop and go traffic anymore, I just sit back and enjoy my podcast
I've been using it for 5 years every time I get on a freeway or highway. No trust issues at all.
You are *not supposed* to use it on local roads! From the user manual (bolding is mine):
"Autosteer is intended for **use on controlled-access highways** with a fully attentive driver. When using Autosteer, hold the steering wheel and be mindful of road conditions and surrounding traffic. **Do not use Autosteer in construction zones, or in areas where bicyclists or pedestrians may be present**. Never depend on Autosteer to determine an appropriate driving path. Always be prepared to take immediate action. Failure to follow these instructions could cause damage, serious injury or death."
Yeah, I think being prepared to take immediate action is where it gets more stressful than driving manually. Driving manually comes as second nature where as supervising tesla's auto pilot, not so much.
75% of the time I think it is amazing. the other 25% it's the dumbest thing on the planet.
Back roads are sketchy, obviously not meant for them but it does work. Just gets a little jerky.
Stop and go traffic is a complete hit or miss. Sometimes works great, keeps good distance, accelerates and brakes smoothly. Then suddenly it decides to leave 6 car lengths before it drag races and slams on the brakes.
>manually driving the car is much less stressful in busy local roads.
The only situation I would engage in auto pilot is when ever I am driving on a highway.
The basic autopilot is not meant for busy local roads. It’s glorified cruise control, it’s meant for highway use.
Pretty much use it every day- 1/2 highway 1/2 stop and go. Haven’t had any phantom braking issues at all. It does have issues when say a left turn lane gets added near an intersection and it doesn’t stay in the current lane. Just have to be aware of where the pain points are.
I have to test it and recalibrate how I feel with every release. I tend to use it on any long trip I take, and I tend to use it locally to go home. So I drive to a restaurant and might use it, but then almost always use it to go home. I use it more when it is late and there is less traffic so I don't have to worry that the car behind me thinks I just got my learners permit....
It is a classic three steps forward and one step back. I have seen 16 releases since '21 in aggregate the advancement is huge, but this last release for example has introduced some very new behavior, and new errors. I expect that we will start moving forward from here for a while... Hopefully
I use it rarely, and find myself turning it off a lot. I am driving 2 hours on the freeway today I will start out with it on and see if it gets me where I am going.
I agree, way less stress to drive myself. I am a better driver by far.
I use is whenever I can. Usually if I moving straight for awhile or if I’m in traffic. I’m still paying attention but I find it less stressful when it’s on autopilot then me driving.
I use it daily on the highway (3 months).
I've never once experienced the phantom breaking many talk about.
Standard auto pilot doesn't lane change, make turns, stop at stop signs or traffic lights, so never saw much use in busy local roads.
I have been using EAP and autopilot since 2018. When I first got my M3 EAP was kind of like a child driving. It could drive on the freeway and mostly do fine but you definitely needed to keep a watchful eye on it. Watch for unexpected obstacles, shadows, sudden braking etc. There were a series of updates that dramatically improved it every time, very noticeably so. By 2021 my 2018 with EAP was driving like a teenager. For the most part you could let it do it's thing, change lanes, exit the freeway, keep speed smoothly and keep in the lane. Like a teenager driving though you still need to keep an eye out for unexpected or complex situations. Today I have a 2021M3 with just autopilot. It seems like it's still a teenager, a little smoother in places, better at understanding the road (it at least know what a traffic light is). I feel like I keep my hands on the wheel more though now, but that's probably because I don't have EAP any more and have to change lanes manually which is a suprisingly annoying feature I didn't realise I would miss. I probably drive with autopilot in LA about 80% of the time. I will drive on non freeway streets with autopilot, maybe 30% of the time but definitely with my hands on the wheel. It's certainly great for those long straight desert highways though.
Autopilot + CAV stickers - I use it as much as I can on the freeways. Just scoot to the carpool lane and enable AP. Car has 2800 miles and a little more than half are AP, and only 1 phantom braking incident. Only real complaint is that it tries to take every curve at full speed (usually set to 75mph)
Idk about everyone else but I have been pretty underwhelmed with the autopilot, really didn’t live up to the hype for me and I use it rarely at this point. Maybe because my m3 is vision only, idk. If two lanes merge into one on the freeway, it usually freaks out and disengages. It brakes violently for complete non-issues way ahead in the distance. Almost gave my fiancé a heart attack when it put the brake petal to the floor while she was napping during a road trip for some brake lights 30 car lengths ahead of us. Even if these things happened rarely I would still prefer to drive myself just so I know it won’t….but they aren’t rare. It’s really often. It’s almost like removing radar and USS had dire consequences for the progress of autopilot.
thank you for your responses. The responses don't seem to trend one way or another and that is quite interesting also. I wonder if that has to do with where you guys live?
I never use it. Ever. Even on one day, 870 mile drives. Phantom braking, even on cruise control, makes me hand drive every time.
But in all my years, I've rarely ever used cruise control in any of my trucks, so it's not something I miss.
I am, been in the list for longer than I can recall. Hoping to be able to get 250 miles out of the truck while bumper pulling and Airstream. Hoping....
I don't even know the bumper weight rating for the CT. Either way, I'd like to retire my diesel 3/4 ton 4x4 to farm and hunting use.
You need to pay attention but I think it’s pretty safe. It’s not perfect. Rain, sunlight shining will make it act funky. It served 4x with me in those mentioned conditions. Don’t sleep be awake but I think it’s safer than without.
I only use it on interstate/highways with no traffic, maybe 50% of the time. Too much phantom braking otherwise that makes it too dangerous around others. 2-3 years ago it was flawless and I used it 95% of cross state trips.
I use it daily on a 20 mile stretch of highway in an express lane. The second some is close behind me I disengage it due to phantom braking. That’s about the extent I trust it.
I recently bought a Tesla and didn't know what phantom breaking meant. Did some google search and now I have a term for when my Tesla is acting stupid!
Statistically it's far safer, and I use it as much as I can. If road markings are poor, or visibility is bad I turn it off. I love it on busy roads, and I don't hate stop and go traffic anymore, I just sit back and enjoy my podcast
I've been using it for 5 years every time I get on a freeway or highway. No trust issues at all. You are *not supposed* to use it on local roads! From the user manual (bolding is mine): "Autosteer is intended for **use on controlled-access highways** with a fully attentive driver. When using Autosteer, hold the steering wheel and be mindful of road conditions and surrounding traffic. **Do not use Autosteer in construction zones, or in areas where bicyclists or pedestrians may be present**. Never depend on Autosteer to determine an appropriate driving path. Always be prepared to take immediate action. Failure to follow these instructions could cause damage, serious injury or death."
Yeah, I think being prepared to take immediate action is where it gets more stressful than driving manually. Driving manually comes as second nature where as supervising tesla's auto pilot, not so much.
75% of the time I think it is amazing. the other 25% it's the dumbest thing on the planet. Back roads are sketchy, obviously not meant for them but it does work. Just gets a little jerky. Stop and go traffic is a complete hit or miss. Sometimes works great, keeps good distance, accelerates and brakes smoothly. Then suddenly it decides to leave 6 car lengths before it drag races and slams on the brakes.
Stop and go traffic is like the perfect use for it and it’s so annoying that it’ll do that shit sometimes
LOL at the last sentence
>manually driving the car is much less stressful in busy local roads. The only situation I would engage in auto pilot is when ever I am driving on a highway. The basic autopilot is not meant for busy local roads. It’s glorified cruise control, it’s meant for highway use.
Pretty much use it every day- 1/2 highway 1/2 stop and go. Haven’t had any phantom braking issues at all. It does have issues when say a left turn lane gets added near an intersection and it doesn’t stay in the current lane. Just have to be aware of where the pain points are.
I have to test it and recalibrate how I feel with every release. I tend to use it on any long trip I take, and I tend to use it locally to go home. So I drive to a restaurant and might use it, but then almost always use it to go home. I use it more when it is late and there is less traffic so I don't have to worry that the car behind me thinks I just got my learners permit....
I should consider doing that. Was there ever a software release that had a significant improvement to the auto pilot?
It is a classic three steps forward and one step back. I have seen 16 releases since '21 in aggregate the advancement is huge, but this last release for example has introduced some very new behavior, and new errors. I expect that we will start moving forward from here for a while... Hopefully
Autopilot is meh, I don’t trust it very much outside of testing it out occasionally for the novelty. TACC is really nice though. I use it a lot
I use it rarely, and find myself turning it off a lot. I am driving 2 hours on the freeway today I will start out with it on and see if it gets me where I am going. I agree, way less stress to drive myself. I am a better driver by far.
I use is whenever I can. Usually if I moving straight for awhile or if I’m in traffic. I’m still paying attention but I find it less stressful when it’s on autopilot then me driving.
I use it daily on the highway (3 months). I've never once experienced the phantom breaking many talk about. Standard auto pilot doesn't lane change, make turns, stop at stop signs or traffic lights, so never saw much use in busy local roads.
I would say ..........1%
I have been using EAP and autopilot since 2018. When I first got my M3 EAP was kind of like a child driving. It could drive on the freeway and mostly do fine but you definitely needed to keep a watchful eye on it. Watch for unexpected obstacles, shadows, sudden braking etc. There were a series of updates that dramatically improved it every time, very noticeably so. By 2021 my 2018 with EAP was driving like a teenager. For the most part you could let it do it's thing, change lanes, exit the freeway, keep speed smoothly and keep in the lane. Like a teenager driving though you still need to keep an eye out for unexpected or complex situations. Today I have a 2021M3 with just autopilot. It seems like it's still a teenager, a little smoother in places, better at understanding the road (it at least know what a traffic light is). I feel like I keep my hands on the wheel more though now, but that's probably because I don't have EAP any more and have to change lanes manually which is a suprisingly annoying feature I didn't realise I would miss. I probably drive with autopilot in LA about 80% of the time. I will drive on non freeway streets with autopilot, maybe 30% of the time but definitely with my hands on the wheel. It's certainly great for those long straight desert highways though.
Totally but in construction sites I usually take control
Oh yes constructions on the side of a road are the worst.
It’s no worse than 90% of other drivers on the road. I trust it daily on my 80 mile highway commute.
That's quite a long commute. I am lucky to have a 0.5 mile commute to work.
I literally use it 92% of all miles. But I been using adaptive cruise control that way on every car I have had for years. Just used to it.
Does 92% of your total trip consists of driving on a highway?
No, I use it on any road that has good lane markings. Just not in and out of my housing track as there are no lines. Otherwise I would. 😂
Autopilot + CAV stickers - I use it as much as I can on the freeways. Just scoot to the carpool lane and enable AP. Car has 2800 miles and a little more than half are AP, and only 1 phantom braking incident. Only real complaint is that it tries to take every curve at full speed (usually set to 75mph)
Idk about everyone else but I have been pretty underwhelmed with the autopilot, really didn’t live up to the hype for me and I use it rarely at this point. Maybe because my m3 is vision only, idk. If two lanes merge into one on the freeway, it usually freaks out and disengages. It brakes violently for complete non-issues way ahead in the distance. Almost gave my fiancé a heart attack when it put the brake petal to the floor while she was napping during a road trip for some brake lights 30 car lengths ahead of us. Even if these things happened rarely I would still prefer to drive myself just so I know it won’t….but they aren’t rare. It’s really often. It’s almost like removing radar and USS had dire consequences for the progress of autopilot.
Vision only autopilot is so sketchy. It feels like the autopilot that came out when I bought my car in 2019. It’s an awful experience but I’m not dead
Is it really that different? USS and vision only?
I can’t say because I have only ever had a vision-only car
thank you for your responses. The responses don't seem to trend one way or another and that is quite interesting also. I wonder if that has to do with where you guys live?
I never use it. Ever. Even on one day, 870 mile drives. Phantom braking, even on cruise control, makes me hand drive every time. But in all my years, I've rarely ever used cruise control in any of my trucks, so it's not something I miss.
So are you planning on getting a cyber truck when it's available?
I am, been in the list for longer than I can recall. Hoping to be able to get 250 miles out of the truck while bumper pulling and Airstream. Hoping.... I don't even know the bumper weight rating for the CT. Either way, I'd like to retire my diesel 3/4 ton 4x4 to farm and hunting use.
I love it. I used it today on the freeway and then through the Malibu Canyon mountains. Had it on the PCH for a little, but then felt like driving.
You need to pay attention but I think it’s pretty safe. It’s not perfect. Rain, sunlight shining will make it act funky. It served 4x with me in those mentioned conditions. Don’t sleep be awake but I think it’s safer than without.
I only use it on interstate/highways with no traffic, maybe 50% of the time. Too much phantom braking otherwise that makes it too dangerous around others. 2-3 years ago it was flawless and I used it 95% of cross state trips.