Hey Guest, welcome to ChevyBolt.org. We encourage you to register to engage in conversations about your Bolt.

Yes, there some places and times where a Tesla might be worth the money; maybe

6406 Views 64 Replies 21 Participants Last post by shrox, Dec 17, 2021

Packard V8

Discussion Starter · Nov 27, 2021

Some family members have a place in Moab, UT and we love to send time there with them hiking and visiting the six state and four national parks. Seeing is not believing; just beyond human comprehensionl

The roads through the parks are always crowded, 30 - 45 MPH speed limits, curves, hills and spectacular scenery on both sides and sometimes straight up and straight down.

They have a Tesla with autopilot and follow cruise; these two features our Bolt lacks makes the day in the park in a Tesla a walk in the park. Thanksgiving weekend is crowded and there was a twenty-minute-stop-and-go line just to get into the park; follow cruise made that cake. Then, set the autopilot at 45 MPH and the Tesla does the rest. If the car in front doesn't hold a steady speed, the autopilot can be set to maintain 1 - 5 car lengths behind the car in front and follow the road. A gentle hand resting on the bottom of the steering wheel is all that is necessary and the driver can enjoy the scenery as much as the passengers. Tesla knows when the speed limits change and will slow and go as necessary.

Having said how much I love autopilot in that situation, there are times it gets it wrong and will scare the shite out of everyone in the car. A cyclist on the shoulder will cause autopilot to panic, slowing rapidly, beeping warnings and switching off. Coming down the mountain toward the park entrance, there are a series of 15 - 25 MPH 180-degree switchbacks. The autopilot had been slowing for most of these, but the last one it ran straight into it at 45 MPH, not noticeably slowing. The Tesla's owner says, "Trust the technology." but there was a vertical sandstone bluff staring us in the face; trust, but verify.

Bottom line, the Tesla autopilot is almost as smooth as a really good driver; but it's not yet anywhere near autonomous, but in the situations for which it is suited, it's magic.

jack vines

See less See more

Save

Reactions: 5

1 - 3 of 65 Posts

EVolved

· #16 · Nov 29, 2021

cyaopec said:
With HW 2.5 it goes fast into turns and then brakes coming out, which is the opposite of how normal people drive. There's no way a Tesla engineer could ride in my car and say that it feels "normal" when turning. So it must be a sensor/computer issue because if it could be "smoothed out" with software it would have been done. I'm obviously talking about higher speed, twisty roads, which you should not use AP on. It's fine on the freeway.

Are you on 10.4 or 10.5. I haven’t had much opportunity to run it through its paces but from what I’ve read, it’s a much bigger improvement than previous .X releases.
And for those interested in getting firsthand feedback, I’d recommend the TMC forum on FSD. With ~13,000 beta users logging millions of miles/month, there’s plenty of feedback. Of course you have to sift through the noise and filter out the negative Nancy’s and Tesla worshippers but the median is filled with tons of anecdotal data, so much so that it can be looked on as just data. Similar to the wide range of opinions on this forum related to EA chargers. In the past, some have claimed the experience, strategy, locations, density, business plan is superior to Tesla’s superchargers while others claim a 50% success rate a major win. Truth lies somewhere in the middle.

Save

EVolved

· #26 · Nov 29, 2021

RichCapeCod said:
I wonder if the variations are due to differences in vehicles. I don't have phantom braking in my Tesla Y. Others do. I think the same variations might well exist among FSD users. Just a guess.

Rich

Most certainly. @cyaopec has HW2.5 in a Model S I think that probably differs in number and locations of cameras as well as compute power. If radar has been disabled for all, then fewer cameras should result in lesser performance.
Not sure what release will activate Dojo nor how that affects the on board computer. Somewhere I think I read that even HW3 is not up to task for 100% vision and they will need to upgrade all FSD cars again.
I still get occasional phantom braking and as mentioned earlier, will attempt to put some miles on 10.5. My few miles so far seem smoother but still too hesitant taking off from a stop sign but accelerates much faster than before which is better. Before, it wouldn't keep up with the blue hair in front of me leaving a stop light.

Save

EVolved

· #28 · Nov 29, 2021

bolt-ish said:
First off, RADAR is not a camera.
Second, there are processing efficiencies gained from not having multi-modal inputs. The trade-off net result is just about impossible to guess unless you are Tesla, but they obviously think that as the NN improves the trade-off will too.

I was alluding to a 2016 Model S may have fewer cameras than a Model Y and without the help of radar in both, the one with fewer cameras "should" result in lesser performance.

Save

1 - 3 of 65 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month