Tesla 'full self-driving' in my Model Y: Lessons from the highway
- by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
- May 02, 2024
- 0 Comments
- 0 Likes Flag 0 Of 10
USA TODAY
I woke up on April 1 and noticed an email from Tesla on my phone: What! Free self-driving mode on my Model Y for the entire month?
For the past four years, I'd used standard autopilot on every out-of-town trip. It's made longer drives so much less taxing. So how much better would full self-driving be? Could it really be worth the then $12,000 price tag?
Since it was April Fool's Day, I guessed Elon Musk was playing a joke on tight-wad Tesla drivers. I'd hop in the car, fire up the feature and trigger a video on the center screen of Musk wagging his finger and laughing at me.
But no, he was good to his word. And now I'm no longer curious: It's cool but still a work in progress.
Key capabilities in Tesla's full self-driving mode
A few numbers and initial thoughts about Tesla's full-self driving mode
◾ 10%: That's about how frequently I kept self-driving mode on when driving around the town. It felt more like I was playing a game of chicken with parked or on-coming cars than getting a helping hand. I probably wouldn't have kept it on that often if I weren't testing it out. Details below.
◾ 80%: About how often I used it on road where speeds were consistently over 50 mph. That kept my stress levels in check until we neared cities where I trusted my fellow drivers even less than Tesla's system. Details below
◾ 100% amazing: The first moments of the experience never got old. After setting my destination and flicking a stalk on the steering column, the amusement park ride started: The wheel turned in my hands and the car rolled forward. On went the turn signal. We glided to a stop at the intersection, paused and paused for traffic, and turned up the hill. Even on the unmarked road, the Tesla hung to the right side of the road – easily avoiding the parked cars.
Tesla's earnings and autopilot take turns for the worse
But even as Tesla was trying to tempt us owners to pay up for the full self-driving mode in April, the news hasn't been great for the feature or the company's financial results.
Just a few days ago, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration said it's investigating an Autopilotfix Tesla made in December to the more than 2 million Teslas on the road. The over-the-air update attempted to solve issues that led to nearly 1,000 incidents involving the three levels of the driver assist. Since the update, 20 more incidents have been reported.
Types of Tesla crashes when Autosteer was engaged
The most concerning accidents appear to stem from 211 drivers who weren't monitoring the system. The full self-driving system is clearly labeled "supervised," but it's pretty easy to get complacent. NHTSA wants assurances that drivers will remain attentive to potential dangers.
Part of that fix may already be made. On my final free-trial day, I received more frequent messages to keep my hands on the wheel. There's also a tiny camera in the rearview mirror that keeps tabs on you. If it decides you're checking your phone or not watching the road, you'll also get a blue-screen reminder.
Warnings drivers receive from the Autosteer technology
Please first to comment
Related Post
Tweets by elonmusk
To get the latest tweets please make sure you are logged in on X on this browser.