Tesla Model ≡ Thread

[dan]

Maybe Elon will hire Ye as a spokesman to really test the loyalty of the Tesla owner

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by dan

Maybe Elon will hire Ye as a spokesman to really test the loyalty of the Tesla owner

[ZBB]

Originally Posted by Alan

I was away a couple of weeks ago and was happy to see the hotel had a few chargers on the premises. It actually gave me some hope until I realized that it would be roughly a 270 mile drive and I would have had to stop on the way anyway because I would not want to take the chance of using all of the battery especially considering the factors of heated seats, or AC, cold weather (which reduces the miles) and driving at speeds of 80mph might reduce it as well.

Anyway I wanted to know if this charger is good for all cars or only a Tesla ... the reason I mention the Tesla is because i had seen one using it.

Those are L2 chargers -- great for overnight charges and fairly common at hotels. The one in the foreground is a J1772 standard charger. The one in the background is a Tesla charger.

Teslas can use the J1772 with an adapter. Non-Teslas an use the Tesla with an adapter also (here's on on Amazon)... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09M6KFV9T...63CMWRIQ2&th=1

[Alan]

All I can say is WOW that is scary ... A tesla comes to a full stop on the Highway for no reason under the Auto pilot.

https://twitter.com/kenklippenstein/...230046762.html

[robg]

Originally Posted by Alan

All I can say is WOW that is scary ... A tesla comes to a full stop on the Highway for no reason under the Auto pilot.

https://twitter.com/kenklippenstein/...230046762.html

Scary indeed. Unfortunatley, there is a strong financial incentive for Musk/Tesla to push the myth that their cars are capable of "self driving". Without investors believing that, Tesla would be valued like any other car company. Although the recent market correction has brought it closer to reality, its market cap is still 100B higher than Toyota's...which makes no sense.

[John V]

On another forum, a known Tesla fanboi dismissed this by writing (paraphrased): "My car's never done this, I don't think it's an issue" before explaining that he's had to take control of the car at the last minute a few times the car has started to drive off the road

It's odd to me that the government hasn't cracked down on Tesla's reckless disregard for safety, but

[FC]

Originally Posted by John V

It's odd to me that the government hasn't cracked down on Tesla's reckless disregard for safety, but

This is incomprehensible to me.

[Alan]

Originally Posted by John V

It's odd to me that the government hasn't cracked down on Tesla's reckless disregard for safety, but

Not sure if this will get anywhere but they did say in the article
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, has said that it is launching an investigation into the incident.

[robg]

And I'm sure this incident was also the impetus for California's recent law that bans deceptive self driving claims (i.e the phrase "full self driving):
https://cleantechnica.com/2022/12/29...riving-claims/

[ZBB]

Originally Posted by Alan

All I can say is WOW that is scary ... A tesla comes to a full stop on the Highway for no reason under the Auto pilot.

https://twitter.com/kenklippenstein/...230046762.html

Still comes down to driver error... The driver should have taken over (or pushed the accelerator to maintain speed) when the "phantom braking" occurred. The driver should never have come to a full stop -- tells me they were not paying attention.

I use Autopilot in my car and FSD in my wife's car for at least ~90% of my driving, and have had phantom braking instances occasionally on both cars. Most of the time its just a slowdown, and I almost always take over if it lasts for more than about a second (I don't take over if it just feels like a brake tap with speed immediately resuming...).

"Phantom braking" is an issue primarily on the older Autopilot software stack that is available to cars with both the "AP 2.5" and "AP 3.0" hardware in them. We happen to have both sets of hardware -- my 3 is 2.5, and my wife's Y is 3.0... Where I've noticed it is somewhat randomly on freeways, but usually more of a brake tap -- like the car "saw" something ahead, and tapped the brakes (it could be a reflection); most of the time its just a brake tap, sometimes I have to push the accelerator to keep the car at speed, but only for a couple seconds. I also have noticed it on one city street near my house -- speed limit is 35, and there is a gentle curve to the right, then back to the left (the road's right of way shifts west by about 50 feet...); my car almost always slows to ~20 on this curve unless I push the pedal; once through the curve, it maintains the set speed (I have it

For reference, Tesla has 3 "levels" of Autopilot:

• "Basic" Autopilot. All their cars since late 2014 have come with this (including the 1.0 and 2.0 hardware versions). This is a combination of radar cruise control and lane keeping. It also includes safety features like automatic emergency braking to avoid hitting something (even if cruise is off) and the newer hardware versions (at least 2.5, may also work in 2.0) use the cameras and proximity sensors to do emergency steering -- to help avoid someone sideswiping you, it will move the car out of the way. Even this basic level is great for things like stop-and-go traffic and the best way to think about it is that its like a more modern cruise control that also keeps you in your lane. The driver has to make all lane change and freeway exit decisions. This also included a speed limit database to be able to set speed based on the database -- either the limit or 1-10 MPH above the posted limit.
• "Enhanced" Autopilot. This adds auto lane changes and following exits on access-controlled divided highways to follow your navigation route. This reverts to "Basic" Autopilot when on city streets or divided highways without controlled access (where traffic can cross the divided highway...). This requires the AP 2.5 hardware (which is what is on my Model 3). I purchased this for my 3, but Tesla removed that option shortly after -- although, they've recently brought it back. Generally, this works really well. Cars with the AP 3.0 hardware also get stop light / stop sign control and will come to a stop for a sign or red light (if this is enabled, the car will also start to slow down for a stop light even if its green -- the driver has to tap the AP stalk down or tap the accelerator to indicate its OK to go through the light, unless its following a car ahead). AP 3.0 cars also have speed limit sign reading capability, so will use the posted limit instead of the database limit (which is often not correct...)
• Full Self Driving. This adds the route following on city streets, including stopping for stop signs/lights, making turns, etc. Requires the AP 3.0 hardware. We have this on my wife's Model Y. Having used it for the last 3-4 months, its amazing and generally does a good job. But its not perfect and I take control multiple times on each drive -- mostly since its really slow at some stop signs, especially entering a busy street (its really cautious). This mode is currently enabled as part of a separate software stack -- and the car will switch back to the older "Enhanced" stack when on a divided highway, and only uses the FSD stack on city streets. There are rumors that an update coming soon will merge these stacks...

When I got my car in 2018, FSD was still vaporware, so I wasn't going to pay for it. But most of the Enhanced Autopilot features were avail, so I paid for that. Shortly after I took delivery though, Tesla dropped the Enhanced AP option and only offered Basic or Full - which was the case again when my wife ordered her Y. Since Enhanced works very well most of the time, we went ahead and purchased Full since going back to just "Basic" would feel like a huge downgrade (I recently had a Hertz rental Tesla, which only had Basic, and was able to confirm -- it is a huge downgrade when you are used to at least Enhanced).

However, now that Tesla is raised the price for FSD to $15k (it was a $5k option on my wife's car...), I don't think its worth it to pay up front. They recently brought back the Enhanced option. FSD is also avail for a monthly subscription ($199/mo for Basic cars, $99/mo for Enhanced cars...). However, if I wanted to enable the subscription for my car, I'd have to pay $1k to upgrade the hardware in the car from 2.5 to 3.0 (makes no sense on a 4+ year old car...)...