Tesla

Tesla has been a pioneering company when it comes to autonomous technology and was formed in 2003 by a group of Silicon Valley engineers.

4.3

Safety

4.1

Reliability

4.7

Ease of use

4.7

Recommend

4.5

Overall

Ratings and reviews

4.5
By Raphaël D on 2019-12-03
In a Tesla Model 3 2019
Same at the top
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5
By Kristen W on 2019-11-25
In a Tesla 3 2019
Everything has been very smooth
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5
By Al S on 2018-11-12
In a Model 3 2018
The most amazing car ever. You have full control of this car when you accelerate and decelerate. Auto pilot is amazing, it keeps in the lane and it. I...
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3
By Greg S on 2018-05-09
In a Tesla S 2015
Overall the auto pilot worked good but on three separate occasions jerk violently to the left and if I wasn’t being aware it would’ve been a fatal ac...
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5
By Peter L on 2018-05-04
In a Tesla Model 3 2018
Tesla's EAP is a great driver assist tool. Now that I've learned that just a slight resistance against the steering that AP is doing is enough to sat...
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5
By adam r on 2018-04-11
In a Tesla Model 3 2018
My only complaint is that I can't use it more. I'm the best driver in my family, it's already significantly better than me at most aspects of driving....
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5
By Anthony K on 2018-03-09
In a Tesla Model 3 2018
An absolutely amazing experience, this is the coolest car I have ever driven! The auto pilot works great and keeps you in the lane, and the braking di...
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4.5
By Georgios I on 2018-02-27
In a Tesla Model S 2017 operated by Myself
Tesla Autopilot is hardware 2.0 full camera suite and is probably the best I've ever seen. Updates come at least every 3 months via OTA. The car is im...
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5
By Bryan T on 2018-02-10
In a Tesla S 2017
I LOVE Tesla autopilot. I use it every chance I get. The over air updates have improved every time. There are minor tweaks and alterations that would...
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5
By Austin B on 2018-02-06
In a Tesla Model 3 2017
My experience was awesome. I absolutely loved using autopilot, especially in heavy traffic.
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0.5
By Wayne G on 2017-12-18
In a Tesla S 2017
Elon edited the video selling the Tesla autopilot 2 over 80 times to defraud his customers and there are now lawsuits over this.
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4
By Cyril V on 2017-12-16
In a Tesla Model X 2017
Tesla's Autopilot is great, but certainly not perfect. I have driven AP v2 (my model X has AP2) and for one week AP v1 in a loaner. AP1 is better for...
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5
By Jeff G on 2017-12-12
In a Tesla S 2017
With Autopilot software version 2017.46 engaged, I was traveling through a large, six-lane intersection that had no lane markings and has a slight ben...
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5
By Jen R on 2017-12-11
In a Tesla Model S 2014
My experience with AP1 hardware in a Tesla Model S (late 2014 build) is always a pleasant one with smooth and reliable operation almost all of the tim...
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5
By Markus K on 2017-12-07
In a Tesla Model S 2015
I always enjoy longer drives with a chance to extensively use the autopilot.
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3.5
By KJuan C on 2017-12-06
In a Tesla X 2017
Needs driver attention and intervention quite often.
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5
By Norm L on 2017-12-01
In a Tesla S 2017 operated by Me
Overall experience has been excellent. I use autopilot every day and it is very convenient
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5
By Caz C on 2017-11-29
In a Tesla S 2016
Amazing. It changes everything about my commute to work (2-3 hours). I trust it 100% on major highways. Once they update it to be used on local roads...
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4.5
By Peter D on 2017-11-28
In a Tesla Model X 2017
Very good. Arrived surprisingly relaxed. After driving straight through.
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5
By Justin K on 2017-06-06
In a Tesla Model X
Took a service (https://www.tescoshuttle.com) that drives Tesla's from various locations in Utah and Nevada.
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Telsa has been a pioneering company when it comes to autonomous technology. Tesla was formed in 2003 by a group of Silicon Valley engineers. The company is most well known for its outspoken now CEO, Elon Musk. Elon Musk was not the original CEO, though he did serve as Chairman of the Board and led the company’s series A round of funding in 2004. Musk did not take over the CEO role until 2008.

On October 9th, 2014, Tesla unveiled its autonomous driving technology, Autopilot. The system was announced by Musk at a company event and was composed of four parts: a forward-looking radar, a camera with image recognition, and sonar sensors that give the system a 360-degree view around the car. Musk said that some of the initial features included in the system would be automatic cruise control, lane-keeping assist, and active emergency braking. Much of the self driving technology was developed with an Isreali company, MobileEye (towards the end of 2016, Tesla decided to no longer work with MobileEye).

About a year later in October of 2015, Tesla begin releasing Autopilot Version 7.0 to its customers . Customers needed pay a one-time fee of $2,500 to activate the self-driving software when they buy a car, or $3,000 to activate the feature after delivery. Over the next several months and years, numerous versions were released to customers.

December 2015 - Version 7.1 - Tesla announced that it will remove some self-driving features to discourage customers from engaging in risky behavior and includes remote parking technology known as Summon that can park and "unpark" without the driver in the car.

August 31, 2016 - Version 8.0 - Switched the primary sensor from camera to radar.

November 2016 - Version 8.0 was updated and also required drivers to touch the steering wheel more frequently or Autopilot would turn off.

February 2017 - The first release of Autopilot for HW2 (Hardware 2) cars. HW2 cars were considered any cars produced after October 2016. It included adaptive cruise control, autosteer that was enabled on divided highways, autosteer on 'local roads’ up to a speed of 35 mph or a specified number of mph over the local speed limit.

June 2017 - Autopilot version 8.1 for HW2 - new features including a new Autopilot driving-assist algorithm, full-speed braking and handling parallel and perpendicular parking.

For HW2 cars, Autopilot is available as for $5,000, or $6,000 after delivery, and additionally full self-driving capability is $3,000 ($4,000 after delivery).

Tech Purpose Hardware
Radar With a wavelength that passes through fog, dust, rain, snow and under cars, radar plays an essential role in detecting and responding to forward objects. 525 feet (160 m)
Forward Cameras Three cameras mounted behind the windshield provide broad visibility in front of the car, and focused, long-range detection of distant objects. Wide 120 degree fisheye lens captures traffic lights, obstacles cutting into the path of travel and objects at close range. Particularly useful in urban, low speed maneuvering. Main Covers a broad spectrum of use cases. Narrow Provides a focused, long-range view of distant features. Useful in high-speed operation. Trifocal: Narrow: 820 ft (250 m) Main: 490 ft (50 m) Wide: 195 ft (60 m)
Forward looking side cameras 90 degree redundant forward looking side cameras look for cars unexpectedly entering your lane on the highway and provide additional safety when entering intersections with limited visibility. Left: 260 ft (80m) Right: 260 ft (80m)
Rear looking side cameras Cameras monitor rear blind spots on both sides of the car, important for safely changing lanes and merging into traffic. Left: 330 ft (100 m) Right: 330 ft (100 m)
Rear Camera Not just for backing up safely, the rear view camera is now a contributing member of the Autopilot hardware suite with enhanced optics. The rear view camera is useful when performing complex parking maneuvers. 165 ft (50m)
Ultrasonic Sensors Effectively double the range with improved sensitivity using uniquely coded signals. These sensors are useful for detecting nearby cars, especially when they encroach on your lane, and provide guidance when parking. 26 ft (8m)
Platform NVIDIA DRIVE PX 2 AI computing platform

Features

On ramp to off ramp

Once on the freeway, Tesla will determine which lane you need to be in and when. Autopilot will also watch for opportunities to move to a faster lane when you're caught behind slower traffic. When you reach your exit, your Tesla will depart the freeway, slow down and transition control back to you.

Autosteer

With the new Tesla Vision cameras, sensors and computing power, your Tesla will navigate tighter, more complex roads.

Autopark / Smart Summon

With Smart Summon, your car will navigate more complex environments and parking spaces, maneuvering around objects as necessary to come find you.

Adaptive cruise control

Autopilot has the ability to follow another car, maintaining a safe distance from it as it speeds up and slows down. It can observe a second vehicle in front of the vehicle that it is following. It also slows on tight curves and when a car crosses the road in front of it. It can be enabled at any speed above 17 mph.

Alerts

Autopilot alerts the driver under various circumstances, such as a surprising situation on the road or excessive inattention by the driver. If the driver dismisses three audio warnings within an hour, Autopilot is disabled until the car is parked. This is to prevent experienced drivers from excessive reliance on built-in safety features. At speeds under 8 mph on divided highways, Autopilot functions indefinitely without the driver's hands on the wheel. Under 45 mph free hands are allowed for five minutes, unless the car detects lateral acceleration. Above 45 mph free hands is allowed for three minutes if following another vehicle or one minute without.

Forward and Side Collision Warning

Helps warn of impending collisions with slower moving or stationary cars, or obstacles along the car.

Known Accidents

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