Autopilot beta program experiences?

[+littaum]

Hi all,

 

My dad decided to spring for a 2022 Tesla Model S, and I helped them navigate it from the dealership through a Willamette valley rainstorm to get it home this past weekend.   I am not fully versed on everything Tesla Autopilot but I did get it configured so that it looks to do the "stay in your lane" assist (kind of like how my Subaru Crosstrek does).  From what my dad tells me, to get into the full "beta" to allow for more auto pilot options (like the "auto drive" capability shown in the video below in rush hour SF traffic..), there's a program you have to enroll in to show you are a safe and attentive driver.  Is anyone in this forum have the full driving option enabled on their Tesla/enrolled in that beta program, and if so, how did it go getting qualified?  Is there a certain number of "infractions" that will cause you to get booted out of the program?  

 

 

 

[Albert]

There's more information about Tesla's Safety Score here:

 

https://www.tesla.com/support/safety-score

 

I signed up for the FSD Beta, but unless you want to drive extremely conservatively, it's not worth the headache.  Especially as right now they are only letting people in with scores of, what, 100, 99, and 98?  The criteria really need to be refined a bit, for instance, it's way too easy to get dinged for aggressive braking (when you most certainly are not aggressively braking) or for taking turns too quickly (when you are not taking turns too quickly at all).  The way you have to drive would probably piss off people around you. 

 

Amusingly, you don't get dinged for driving above the speed limit or for aggressive acceleration.  Also, if you get the collision warning, which can sometimes happen for reasons completely out of your control (someone pulls out in front of you, but you still have plenty of time to slow down or stop), that severely impacts your score for the day.

 

Autopilot is just fine for driving on highways, and I don't do enough driving on surface streets to really care about FSD right now.  If I had a long commute to and from work, it would be more interesting to test.  It is fun to watch as each new version comes out and a million people upload videos to YouTube.

 

 ..Al

[+SpiceWare]

Don't have it yet either, my score's 97. 

[+littaum]

Thanks for the comments and the link.  It sounds like there's 2 levels:  Autopilot and Full Self Driving (FSD), and it is the FSD portion that requires the very high safety score (for now).  

[+SpiceWare]

That's correct.  I've found Autopilot to be awesome for trips. I don't use it very often locally as driving it's so much fun.

 

 

 

 

[Albert]

23 hours ago, SpiceWare said:

That's correct.  I've found Autopilot to be awesome for trips. I don't use it very often locally as driving it's so much fun.

Same.  I'll use Autopilot extensively on road trips and it's terrific for that, but I also don't use it very often locally.

 

 ..Al

[+SpiceWare]

I already received the Holiday Update, so was surprised to see another update. I think this might be FSD Beta. 
 

 

 

[Albert]

Nope, that's the big version 11 update, I got that earlier today. Tons of changes in that, including the new UI. 
 

  ..Al

[+SpiceWare]

I received 2021.44.25.2 with the new UI last night at 11pm. Has some things I like, and others I don't such as tapping on the album artwork now hides the media player instead of making it larger !?!?

 

The one coming in now is 2021.44.25.6.  It's installing now, will know in a bit. 

[+SpiceWare]

Yep, it was FSD Beta! While exciting, I'm too tired to try it out tonight. 

 

 

 

 

[Albert]

Awesome, have fun with it!

 

  ..Al

[+littaum]

You'll have to give us a road report when you (or the car I guess in this case?) take it out for a spin.

[+SpiceWare]

Used it to drive the 0.7 miles to my folks' house. It's very cautious at stop signs, was glad nobody was behind me.

 

I took over at the left turn from Post Oak onto Andover Glen as a car was coming but was hidden behind the trees & bushes due to the curve in the road. Talith might have seen it, but since it was my first drive with FSD I wasn't sure. 

 

[+SpiceWare]

After Xmas dinner my folks and I had Talith drive us down to Hoggs N' Chicks (a Fine Food Shack) and back, about a 10 mile round trip.

 

I've not been able to get FSD to engage while parked or in reverse in a driveway, so I backed out onto Andover Glen, put the car in drive, then engaged FSD. Just as we got to Post Oak I hit the brakes to abort as an ambulance with sirens & lights engaged was coming down Post Oak - Talith might have handled it just fine, but since I'm still new to using FSD I didn't want to risk disrupting the ambulance. Once it passed I reengaged FSD.  Talith then took us to the restaurant without any further interventions. There were 9 traffic lights and all were navigated through without any confirmation from me. After the car turned into the strip mall, on the end containing the restaurant, FSD disengaged with a "we've arrived" message. So at this point it appears to be up to you to park the car once you arrive.

The route there was:

1. left turn onto S Post Oak
2. right turn onto highway 6
3. right turn into strip mall

 

Trip back was the reverse with:

1. left turn onto highway 6
2. left turn onto S Post Oak
3. right turn onto Andover Glenn

No interventions were required for the return trip. However Talith decided to hang out in the left lane, causing faster traffic to pass us on the right. I was curious if the car accepted suggestions, so turned on the blinker and sure enough, Talith moved into the middle lane.

 

One issue I've noticed is for turns the car would often hang out in the wrong lane, resulting in having to cross multiple lanes to make a turn.  It wasn't an issue yesterday as traffic was light, but could be in issue in heavy traffic. One example - while I had recommended the car to change out of the fast lane into the middle lane, that was 2 miles before the left turn onto Post Oak. Talith stayed in the middle lane until we got to the exit lane - so it had to cross over 2 lanes for the turn.

 

 

It's possible the car is more proactive with lane changes in heavy traffic.

 

The other issue I noticed, on the drive back to my house, was it sometimes did a slow roll through a stop sign - something I don't care for it to be doing. Think I'll be switching it to Chill mode before my next excursion.

 

 

 

[+SpiceWare]

Went to a friends birthday party last night. FSD Beta worked from my place, down highway 6, and on the Fort Bend Tollroad. I did have to intervene a few times, such as after it moved into a right-turn only lane when it needing to go straight.

 

When I got to beltway 8 it fell back into Autopilot mode: the visuals dropped the red/yellow edge of the road and I was prompted for lane changes (which is how I have Autopilot configured). It remained in Autopilot mode on I-10 and on SH-99.

 

FSD returned when I exited onto FM 529.

 

Return trip was identical: FSD worked on FM529, fell back to Autopilot for SH-99, I-10 and Beltway 8, then FSD worked again from Fort Bend Tollroad on back to my place.

 

 

[+SpiceWare]

Have been informed on TeslaMotorsClub that FSD beta reverts back to NOA on highways.

 

Not the response I expected as:

1. FSD beta worked on highway 6 by me
2. FSD beta worked on Fort Bend Tollroad, which is extremely similar in layout to SH-99 where it fell back to Autopilot mode.

 

[+littaum]

Are most of your left turns with FSD with traffic lights or is it up to the Tesla to figure out when it can make it?    The Post Oak onto Andover Glen left turn seems like you really have to be ready to take control in case it makes a bad choice of when to go.

[+SpiceWare]

Getting out of my neighborhood requires 2 left turns, though they are at stop signs.  Works OK for the most part, though there is a minor issue with the 2nd left turn:

• stops at Stop Sign 1
• puts on left blinker
• when clear, goes straight thru intersection
• stops at Stop Sign 2
• when clear, makes left turn

The minor issue is anybody at the intersection for Stop Sign 1 thinks I want to turn into the club house parking lot.

 

 

 

Same thing happens if I go to my folk's house, though with the right blinker coming on at Stop Sign 1 even though the turn occurs after Stop Sign 2:

 

[+SpiceWare]

Sorry for the lack of FSD Beta updates, but:

 

On 12/27/2021 at 9:27 AM, SpiceWare said:

Went to a friends birthday party last night.

 

found out Tuesday night that one of the people there tested positive. I've not been able to get tested, and home test kits are unavailable for at least another week, so I've decided to quarantine.

 

If I caught it then I've had minor symptoms so far of headache and congestion, which is also my normal allergy response for this time of year. ?‍♂️

[+SpiceWare]

FSD Beta is now FSD (Supervised).  Got v12 earlier this week and it's a major improvement over v11. Issues I'd been having like the blinker turning on too early when leaving my neighborhood, and waiting too long to change lanes for an upcoming turn, have finally been resolved.