Modern cars have a lot of great features to handle some of the stress of sci-fi driving. But no driver-assistance system is as well known as Tesla’s Autopilot, which has been driving the development of self-driving cars for years.
While Autopilot has drawn some Tesla backlash over the years, it’s still one of the main benefits of owning a Tesla, aside from having access to the Tesla Supercharger network.
When you drive on Autopilot, the car appears to drive itself. But it’s up to you to figure out what it can do and how to use everything correctly. So, if you’re already a Tesla driver, or planning to risk the Tesla wait time to buy one, here’s how to use Tesla Autopilot.
Once you’re on the road, activating and using Tesla Autopilot is easy. But it really depends on what kind of Tesla you own. Here’s how to keep things running smoothly.
3. The vehicle will beep twice and the grey steering wheel icon and lane markings in the centre display will turn blue.
4. Turn the wheel on the right side of the handlebar up and down to adjust the maximum speed, and turn left and right to adjust the braking distance.
5. To disengage, lightly depress the brake pedal or lift the shift lever. Turning the steering wheel a little will disable automatic steering, but you won’t be able to disable cruise control based on traffic.
1. Press the start button switch on the right side of the steering wheel . If Traffic Aware Cruise Control is enabled in the vehicle settings, press twice.
2. There will be a dedicated control start switch button on the left side of the steering wheel of the old version of the two cars . Quickly press the reset button twice to activate autopilot – just like a Model 3 or Model Y.
3. When the autopilot is engaged, the vehicle will beep twice and the steering wheel icon and lane markings on the driver display will turn blue.
4. The top speed can be adjusted by turning the same wheel up and down. Following distance can only be set in the autopilot menu in the centre display.
5. Press the red button about 16mm next to the direction mounting hole again or lightly depress the brake pedal to disengage the autopilot. If the TACC function is enabled in the settings, you can disable automatic steering and keep cruise control on by turning the steering wheel slightly.
Unlike Autopilot activation (which varies slightly depending on which Tesla model you are driving), Auto Lane Change is the same for all four types of Teslas. Here’s how to use it:
5. Let your car automatically switch between lanes , but make sure you don’t have to take control again.
Parking can be a bit of a hassle, but your Tesla Autopilot can handle most of the tricky things—even finding the right parking spot. That’s all :
1. Make sure you are driving very slowly – less than 25 km/h for parallel parking and 10 km/h for vertical parking. This will force Tesla to automatically find potential parking spaces.
2. Locate the grey P icon on the instrument panel or centre display. Here’s what happens when your car finds a suitable parking spot.
Summon basically does the opposite. Here’s how to get your Tesla out of those awkward parking spots:
3. Press the call sign logo button , then press the forward or reverse button switch , depending on how you want to pull the car. Model S or Model X owners can also do this by pressing and holding the center of the key fob for 3 seconds, then pressing the trunk (forward) or trunk (reverse) button .
Smart Summon goes a step further by allowing you to remotely call your Tesla to your location from the parking lot. It has a limited range, but it can save you from chasing cars.
4. Select “Come to Me” to call a car for you. Alternatively, press the destination button , select a location on the map, then press and hold the go to destination button . In both cases, you will need to hold the button until your vehicle is in the correct position.
Tesla Autopilot in its current form is a so-called Level 2 Autopilot system. Broadly speaking, the car is able to steer and accelerate simultaneously without driver intervention, but not to the point where the driver stops noticing. For more details, here’s what all levels of autonomous driving mean.
Traffic-Aware Cruise Control (TACC) is Tesla’s name for adaptive cruise control, a Level 1 autonomous system. The key difference here is that the Tier 1 system controls acceleration and steering, not both. But it differs from classic cruise control in that it reacts to other vehicles on the road.
On the open road, TACC accelerates to whatever top speed the driver sets. If you find yourself behind a slower vehicle, TACC will automatically brake and adjust this speed to avoid the vehicle behind. If a vehicle ahead closes the road or overtakes, the system automatically accelerates to the previous maximum speed.
TACC is a critical part of the autonomous driving system, but itself relies on the driver to control the position of the vehicle. Only when Autosteer is enabled can the car start doing this on its own. In this way, the car can stay between well-defined lane markings even if the road itself is not perfectly straight.
The main thing to remember about Tesla’s Autopilot is that it won’t start unless the right conditions are met. Generally speaking, as long as the car can detect clear lane markings, it will happily use automatic steering, as it would on any highway or arterial road.
However, just because autonomous driving can be enabled doesn’t mean it has to be enabled. Keep in mind that despite its name, this isn’t really a standalone system, it’s just a basic form of advanced cruise control.
Autopilot is best for long, relatively straight roads without many sharp turns and turns.
Also note that some features are locked behind different layers of Autopilot. For example, automatic lane changes are part of the $6,000 Enhanced Autopilot package. Meanwhile, traffic light and stop sign controls are exclusive to Full Autopilot and currently cost $15,000. Before driving, make sure you know the difference between the two.
If conditions are suitable for Autopilot, you will see a grey steering wheel in the driver information display. In this case, the TACC availability symbol is a form of the maximum speed you set, which is also grayed out. They all turn blue when their respective systems start up.
On Model S and Model X, you can find these two symbols on the dash next to the speedometer. On the Model 3 and Model Y, they’re at the very top of the center display, on the driver’s side.
TACC can be activated even when autopilot is not available, but without these symbols the autopilot system will not engage – no matter how hard you try.
Despite what the Tesla brand might suggest, there are no real self-driving cars on the road yet. Instead, we have automated driver assistance systems (ADAS). To the casual observer, it may look like the car is driving itself, but there are some serious limitations to what ADAS systems can actually do.
While they follow pre-programmed instructions very well under optimal conditions, any changes will impact performance. That’s why all car companies, including Tesla, try to stress that there should be an alert driver behind the wheel, ready to take control.
Because in some cases, the car doesn’t react properly or does stupid behavior that the average driver can’t even imagine. The numerous reports of phantom braking from Tesla and other manufacturers are a case in point.
So when the car tells you to keep your hands on the steering wheel, it’s for good reason. You definitely shouldn’t try to get the car to think differently, and you shouldn’t do anything other than pay attention to the road ahead. This includes texting, playing games on the Tesla screen or taking a nap in the back seat.