My ride in a Tesla that was driving itself

BY TIM BENFORD, PRESIDENT OF DRIVE ELECTRIC DAYTON, PAST VICE-PRESIDENT OF ELECTRIC VEHICLE ASSOCIATION

I had to admit to serious apprehension before heading off to Miami University in Oxford, OH that day in September. It wasn’t the why I was going that was making me nervous—I was to meet a dean and a director at the Institute for the Environment and Sustainability to discuss their collaboration with Drive Electric Dayton—it was the how I was going. I was scheduled to travel the 88 miles round trip via a Tesla Model 3 with Full Self-Driving (FSD).

My fears were left behind as the adventure began. I was very favorably impressed with this version of FSD. As my Tesla and FSD-owning friend Jim Kelly has observed, “You can see where Tesla has this heading!” 

Once I found FSD is what you get when you double-tap the drive stalk—as opposed to a single tap which enables Traffic-Aware Cruise Control—it was easy operate.

By pressing the right thumbwheel located on the steering wheel and verbally speaking the address in Oxford to which I was heading, I commanded ‘Sparky’—which is what I had named the vehicle for the purposes of this test drive— to move forward. 

Sparky headed down the street, halting at the stop sign at the end of our block, the car’s  cameras looking carefully both ways before turning a sharp right and stopping at a second stop sign. It then turned left by crossing over two lanes of a four-lane highway, and stopped at a traffic light, before heading off toward Oxford. With me gently holding the steering wheel, Sparky was in control and we were on our way.  

The new user interface enhances everything

The Tesla user interface graphics provide an excellent view of what the car is seeing up ahead. With the setting I used, this image comprised two-thirds of the screen while the remaining third displayed the route map.

With FSD, Sparky stops for stop signs and red traffic lights, knows when to proceed at four-way stops (better than I would), and firmly, but gracefully, pulls away once the light goes green. There’s no need to tap the drive stalk when approaching a green light because Sparky simply drives through the intersection.

Confusion can happen

There was one point at a Y junction where Sparky chose the wrong branch. But it could have been me jerking the wheel and briefly pulling the car out of FSD by mistake. In other words, I may have been responsible, so it may have been human error.

Multiple times during the round trip, Sparky safely executed left and right turns at junctions and traffic lights. Amazing, really.

It was fascinating to watch Sparky automatically accelerate and slow down as we passed through changing speed limit zones. The screen displays the speed that Sparky is currently driving, and also the speed the passengers have targeted for the car to reach—which could very well be over the speed limit.

In fact,  FSD drives a tad faster than my usual driving speed, even though I had my default set at exactly the speed limit. I did not use speed offset to command  Sparky to exceed the speed limit by 5 mph at all times, but as I gained confidence with FSD, I began to accept that driving around a smooth curve at, say, 50 mph wasn’t scary.  

That’s not to say it was all smooth sailing. When the car failed to make a very tight right-hand bend in its usual amazing fashion, I was forced to take control and steer it through. In another instance, Sparky seemed confused at a flashing red stop sign, prompting me to take over. But again, It might have been me. 

Perhaps more concerning was my need to intercede when Sparky headed up a road ramp where a resurfacing truck was parked in the right two lanes. And, we may very well have rammed into the rear of an idling school bus full of children if I hadn’t used the brakes. In both instances, I had plenty of time to take remedial action and no one was in danger. I am hopeful my spouse isn’t put off by occurrences such as these when she is an FSD passenger!

Some very cool features

Fortunately, stressful moments are balanced by the positive improvements over usual driving. For instance, I noticed that on two-lane roads, Sparky slightly and gently leans  away from passing semi and other large trucks. This was very comforting.

It was a very wet afternoon and FSD repeatedly warned me that FSD capability was reduced. It continued to operate on most occasions, but in a few instances the screen indicated that ‘bad weather’ was identified and that FSD was ‘unavailable,’ Sparky reverting to standard autopilot. Thankfully, I did not experience any ‘phantom braking’ while using FSD.

On one stretch of rural two-lane road, the lane markings were faint and it was clear FSD was struggling to read them. I disengaged from FSD and drove manually. It was fun!

The car knows about you

I was pleased to notice that FSD kept me in the left-hand lane on Dayton’s Far Hills Avenue as I covered the last mile, heading onto a side street, making the final left turn an easy one. Tesla’s neural network must have learned my usual approach to home.

Finally, I’m left with the thought that Tesla now has thousands of new FSD users submitting driving data to the Tesla cloud so that with every new software release, the quality and accuracy of the experience will only improve. 

And, with the advent of Tesla’s powerful Dojo labeling and training computer, due to be operational later in 2022, the odds are that FSD may eventually reach Level 5—Full Driving Automation! We shall see…