My First Supercharger, and Autopilot Inconsistencies - 2016 Tesla Model X Long-Term Road Test

Comments

• yellowbal Member Posts: 234

  July 2016

  I wonder if they made an over-the-air update after news came out about that one dude that let his Tesla auto-drive under a semi-truck trailer.

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• daryleason Member Posts: 501

  July 2016

  The range anxiety on the "distance till discharged" is about like the "distance to empty" on my F-150's 5.0 Coyote. I'll admit, I know from experience how much further I can really go on an "empty" tank in my 2013. Right now, I know I can get 16 more miles out of her, because I've done so in the past.
  
  @yellowbal : You sort of hit on the issue of the guy with the Tesla Model S. HE let it happen. He made some bad choices and it killed him, not to mention probably really messed up that truck driver's life. The truth is, you can't legislate away violence, stupidity, or poverty (although politicians try to say otherwise). You also can't add enough technology to do the same thing. You can make things easier, give people a better chance at making good decisions, but sometimes they abuse the opportunity and have to pay for it.

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• allthingshonda Member Posts: 878

  July 2016

  From a marketing stand point naming the system Autopilot was a mistake. People understand "Autopilot" in the aviation sense. Meaning a system that is fully capable of operating an aircraft without any assistance from the pilot. Modern systems can be engaged shortly after takeoff and auto land in near zero visibility right on the center line of a runway. If the Tesla had the capability of a 777 you would be driving KITT.
  

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• stever Guest Posts: 52,454

  July 2016

  Yep, should have stuck with something closer to "adaptive cruise".

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• longtimelurker Member Posts: 455

  July 2016

  stever said:

  Yep, should have stuck with something closer to "adaptive cruise".

  Thing is there, that if he had been coming up behind the truck, with the sunlight painting the REAR of the truck the same color as the sky rather than the SIDE of the truck, as the reports of this crash have it, he would have run up under the rear of the trailer until the front end of the car hit the tandems...with probably the same result.
  
  So even if it had been used as intended, the inability to discern what was trailer and what was sky would still be a big problem.
  
  We see episodes of LT test cars unexpectedly braking with these systems; now we are seeing some episodes where they did not brake when they should have, plus just the reports from Edmunds editors on how the auto-brake system on the Tesla differs in performance from that on the Civic, which differs from that on the 340, which differs from that on the Mirai, the Pilot, etc., etc....what happens when a line of cars composed of the Civic, the Tesla, the 340, the Pilot, etc. all have to auto-stop unexpectedly? Exactly.
  
  Sorry...turn off Harry Potter on the portable DVD player or in-dash screen, put down the phone; just drive the car.

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• craigo7 Member Posts: 51

  July 2016

  allthingshonda said:

  From a marketing stand point naming the system Autopilot was a mistake. People understand "Autopilot" in the aviation sense. Meaning a system that is fully capable of operating an aircraft without any assistance from the pilot. Modern systems can be engaged shortly after takeoff and auto land in near zero visibility right on the center line of a runway. If the Tesla had the capability of a 777 you would be driving KITT.
  

  The airport has to have the correct guidance equipment to allow autolanding. Most majors do of course, but smaller may not. And they only work in relatively mild wind conditions...it's a well controlled process.

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• fordescortgt Member Posts: 32

  July 2016

  I have a Hyundai with all the driver aids... I find the adaptive cruise a little odd feeling in the normal highway commute, plus with too many people on the road it feels jerky (even w/o traffic). I really think the auto stop function is a great feature, worked really well in my volvo and most likely saved me from kissing the bumper at the stop light once. the only drawback of my current system is when I am going down hill toward a light and then accelerate when making the tern (has to be fairly steep) I feel like the car reads the asphalt ahead and applies the brakes. Had no issue withe volvo system but the Hyundai one seems more sensitive. Lane keep assist is somewhat a mixed bag, overall I think it useful in certain situations (long boring drives), but the correction is not subtle and I can see it unsettling someones grip if not paying attention.

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