I'm at the end of my 30-day evaluation and it's now decision time. My thoughts echo those of others who compare EAP's driving style to that of a nervous, inexperienced teenager. For example, the system gets way too intimidated by the aggressive nature of freeway drivers here in greater LA/OC making it nearly impossible to execute a lane change without re-taking control. It also slows down abruptly and unexpectedly for situations that us humans would completely ignore. When that happens, I worry about what other drivers might think of my driving style; could EAP invoke a middle finger or two? Would a cop think I'm drunk and flip on the lights?
"EAP Lite" - ie Traffic Aware Cruise Control - has been largely excellent. When traffic was moving freely, I preferred this to full-blown Autosteer.
EAP in stop and go traffic was also excellent.
Navigate on Autopilot, on the other hand... Not particularly useful. I admit it was astonishing - and somewhat fun - watching the car activate the turn signs and execute merges on/off freeway ramps on its own, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't ready to take over in a nanosecond. With traffic around me, it was nerve wracking.
I also ran into one situation where if I didn't take over manually, EAP would have plowed into a dead coyote. They're not kidding when they say you always need to pay attention. But if this is the case, how much value does EAP bring?
I'm still torn as to whether or not I want to pull the trigger. After having just watched a few of the Model 3 Tear Down videos easily found on the interwebs, I find myself being quite impressed by the amount of engineering that went into making this car and its driver assistance systems. It gives me some confidence that if I do decide to buy EAP, my money won't be going to waste and the probability of improved performance via future software updates is reasonably good.
I guess I'll sleep on it...
