WARNING: I rear-ended someone today while using Auto Pilot in my brand new P90D!

[msnow]

Not trying to be a snob - I went through many years of low income and low net worth myself. We've all been there.

But with this poster there were long discussions where people tried to tell this guy he was in no position to buy one, that he was shooting himself in the foot financially, etc. etc. He wouldn't listen to reason. Then he didn't financed anyway and publicly told everyone so. Now he's back claiming there are multiple "deal breakers" with the car itself preventing him from buying one.

Yeah but the best way to deal with trolls is to ignore them.

 

[Andyw2100]

Just to clarify, TACC step calibration is in seconds rather than car lengths. thus a setting of 2 means the Tesla will occupy the same space of the vehicle ahead right now, two minutes in the future. That setting of 2 yields a pretty decent interval, probably quite close to the classic driver training recommendation of one car length per ten mph of speed.

This isn't true. Ignoring the simple mistake of replacing "seconds" with "minutes" in the second part of the above, the documentation for TACC explains that the settings are relative, but don't represent any particular unit. I'd have to dig up where I've read that, but I've read it a number of times. I'll check the manual and see if I can find it there.

Edit: This is what the manual says--

--
Adjust your following distance

To adjust the distance you want to maintain between Model S and a vehicle traveling ahead of you, rotate the cruise control lever to choose a setting from 1 (the closest following distance) to 7 (the longest following distance).Each setting corresponds to a time-based distance that represents how long it takes for Model S, from its current location, to reach the location of the rear bumper of the vehicle ahead.
--

 

[calisnow]

Yeah but the best way to deal with trolls is to ignore them.

Very good point lol

 

[Electroman]

Any time someone refers to the fire boogeyman, they lose my respect. And especially so when they have 'explosion' in the same sentence.

 

[Todd Burch]

I was skeptical about this thread, so I've been looking for evidence of odd TACC-related behavior. I hadn't seen anything odd. Until today. (Note: I've been driving the S since Dec. 2012, and I have over 70,000 miles driving the Model S. I have probably logged an average of about 20 miles a day on autopilot since it came out. So this isn't just a misinterpretation of something).

I was in the center lane of a three lane urban/suburban road with no traffic directly ahead of me and Autopilot on. About a quarter mile ahead, traffic was stopped at a red light. Since TACC brakes a little harder and later than I'd like, I disengaged it and started regenning. When I got to the point that the stationary car ahead of me (waiting at the light) was about 100' ahead, I reengaged autopilot (at this point I was probably going about 25mph). On the dash display, the stopped car appeared "fading in" from a distance in front of me in my lane, as expected.

My car gently slowed and stopped with appropriate spacing behind the car in front--so all good here. But I noticed after sitting still for a few seconds, that the brakes very slightly released and the car inched forward (I had no feet on any pedals at the time--autopilot still engaged). After stopping for a few more seconds, the car inched forward a bit more.

Throughout this time, the car was depicted on the dash in front of me.

Finally, after a few more seconds, the brakes released and I started accelerating toward the car in front! The acceleration was slow--exactly like you would get with TACC engaged and stopped traffic starting to move in front of you again. So if you're paying attention, you can stop the car without a collision risk. But if you've closed your eyes or are not paying attention, I can see how you might run into the car in front of you at about 10mph.

Again--throughout this time, the car in front of me was depicted on the dash display. It seems like the radar got a little confused. The car in front had been stationary, and TACC seemed to get a lock on it, but that lock didn't seem to hold.

So, word of advice: don't space out completely when sitting behind stopped traffic with TACC engaged...particularly if the car in front of you has been completely stopped since TACC first acquired it.

 

[drsaab]

In the latest autopilot I have seen my car go from a full stop waiting behind a car at a traffic light to accelerate towards the car still stopped in front. And the car in front always in the display.

My car did stop again about 13" inches behind the car in front.

It was not just a creep forward but was actual acceleration.

Also when it did stop it ended up in hold status (not The new brake hold feature) and I had to manually accelerate when the light turned green vs normally it stays on autopilot and will continue the journey when the light turns green.

Quite strange.

 

[Todd Burch]

Drsaab,

Your experience sounds similar to mine. I did not let the car get close enough to see if it would have stopped again--it's certainly possible.

 

[JimmyAZ]

This has happened to me as well! It's usually a much slower creeping movement. I don't notice any acceleration, so I just assume that it's getting to a closer distance that it feels is acceptable. But it keeps getting closer and closer and closer. When you're within parking sensor range, I feel like this is unacceptably close and I dissing gauge autopilot. I have no idea what's happening, but if I disengage autopilot and reengage it in the same location, it seems to be fine again. I hope they figure out what the issue is!

 

[orlenok]

Same happened to me a couple of times. I don't see how this could result in a collision though. I never disengaged (although was ready to do so every time) and the car came to a stop by itself in "hold mode".

 

[zambono]

seems like a bug or at the very least not acceptable behavior that should be reported to tesla via their official means

 

[Andyw2100]

seems like a bug or at the very least not acceptable behavior that should be reported to tesla via their official means

Yes, definitely!

I expect Todd has already submitted a write-up similar to what he posted above to [email protected]. Anyone else seeing odd behavior like this should definitely report it. That's how important, potentially dangerous problems in the software get fixed.

 

[Whitmarsh]

I was skeptical about this thread, so I've been looking for evidence of odd TACC-related behavior. I hadn't seen anything odd. Until today. (Note: I've been driving the S since Dec. 2012, and I have over 70,000 miles driving the Model S. I have probably logged an average of about 20 miles a day on autopilot since it came out. So this isn't just a misinterpretation of something).

I was in the center lane of a three lane urban/suburban road with no traffic directly ahead of me and Autopilot on. About a quarter mile ahead, traffic was stopped at a red light. Since TACC brakes a little harder and later than I'd like, I disengaged it and started regenning. When I got to the point that the stationary car ahead of me (waiting at the light) was about 100' ahead, I reengaged autopilot (at this point I was probably going about 25mph). On the dash display, the stopped car appeared "fading in" from a distance in front of me in my lane, as expected.

My car gently slowed and stopped with appropriate spacing behind the car in front--so all good here. But I noticed after sitting still for a few seconds, that the brakes very slightly released and the car inched forward (I had no feet on any pedals at the time--autopilot still engaged). After stopping for a few more seconds, the car inched forward a bit more.

Throughout this time, the car was depicted on the dash in front of me.

Finally, after a few more seconds, the brakes released and I started accelerating toward the car in front! The acceleration was slow--exactly like you would get with TACC engaged and stopped traffic starting to move in front of you again. So if you're paying attention, you can stop the car without a collision risk. But if you've closed your eyes or are not paying attention, I can see how you might run into the car in front of you at about 10mph.

Again--throughout this time, the car in front of me was depicted on the dash display. It seems like the radar got a little confused. The car in front had been stationary, and TACC seemed to get a lock on it, but that lock didn't seem to hold.

So, word of advice: don't space out completely when sitting behind stopped traffic with TACC engaged...particularly if the car in front of you has been completely stopped since TACC first acquired it.

Could Creep have anything to do with this?

 

[Todd Burch]

Could Creep have anything to do with this?

No. Creep is disengaged on my car.